With the blaring of the fire alarm becoming an increasingly common occurrence at the school, many have found a way to make light of the disruptive situation in the form of the #FireAlarmSelfie. Since 2017, someone, or a group of people, have been pulling the fire alarms for no reason, consuming vital classroom time. To some, perhaps, the pulled fire alarm is a savior from a test or a project in class, but to the vast majority, it is a nuisance. When pulled, the fire alarm sends a signal to the fire department that there is an emergency, resulting in firefighters speeding to campus to discover yet again that there is no fire. Moreover, every time the alarm is pulled, the school has to pay money to the fire department, as well as waste their time that could be spent responding to real emergencies. The pulled fire alarm, that to many is just a fact of life on campus, depletes from funds that could go to athletics, school supplies, and events. Spanish teacher Kim Fowler explains her opinion on the frequent disruptions.

“It’s really disruptive, it’s hard to get settled, and we lose instructional minutes. We have less time practicing and going over the material that the students need to know and we just spent a lot of time outside hanging out,” said Fowler. She adds that if students were familiar with the punishments of pulling the fire alarm, she thinks they would be less likely to cause the matter in the first place.

Though students and teachers both consider the fire alarms an annoyance and a waste of time, some people have found a creative way to bring light to the phenomenon. Band teacher Sean Millard is among those who are trying to find a positive outlook on the situation. Millard explains why he has turned to taking selfies while waiting on the blacktop.

“Laughing off [the fire alarms] a little bit helps people, including me, deal with certain things, even though it is very aggregating for teachers because it intrudes on their teaching time. But, rather than getting angry all the time, I just figured that I would put a humorous spin on the fact that we have so many of them,” said Millard.

Though he tries to find a positive and humorous outlook on the situation, he notes that he feels that everyone needs to follow the safety precautions every time it is pulled.

“But, before I ever take the pictures, I always do everything that I am supposed to do because my thought is, even if it is the third alarm of the day, we need to do it by the books. I feel that if we start taking the alarms too lightly, then the one day that we have a real thing, we won’t know what to do,” said Millard.

Not only is #FireAlarmSelfie for staff members: students have also tried to find humor in the frequent disruptions by taking and uploading selfies while waiting to go back into their classrooms. So, whenever the familiar blare of the alarm sounds, exasperated students and teachers head to their respective areas, taking amusing “Fire Alarm Selfies,” as they go. This selfie, dubbed the #FireAlarmSelfie, is a way of reclaiming some of the joy that is lost, the second the alarm sounds.