Sophia Cortes

Requiring a complete blackout to be fixed, a fallen pole caused by the heavy rain led to an early dismissal on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Benefitting inconvenienced students and faculty alike, the day off in the middle of the week allowed for a break from the academic pressure of the week.

Just after the first bell rang to start the day on Wednesday, Dec. 4, a spontaneous turn of events changed the course of the seemingly normal rainy school day. A fallen pole that would require a campus-wide blackout to repair led to an unexpected early dismissal, surprising all students and staff. The day now turned into a moment of excitement for students and faculty alike.

As soon as the pole fell, Principal Erin Campbell and the admin team sprung into action and called for Austin Energy to investigate the situation, and help restore the school’s power before the following day.

“Mrs. Campbell went on the announcements to let students and teachers know what was happening,” Assistant Principal Bradley Walker said. “To address the situation, we planned on how to get the kids out of the building safely and quickly because we didn’t know when the power would go out or for how long it would last. We collected flashlights in case it happened while students were still in the building and most of the plan was facilitated by Mrs. Campbell.” 

Even for longtime faculty members, the sudden nature of this power outage causing an early dismissal was unprecedented, making this announcement more intriguing to them.

“I was super excited — that’s never happened at Westwood before,” AP Environmental Science teacher Ms. Christine Mihealsick said. “We’ve had the power go out other times when we’ve had snowstorms, but it was totally surprising this time because we didn’t really have bad weather.”

With midterms looming and the weight of stress being carried on student’s shoulders, the unexpected day off offered a break from the pressure of assignment deadlines and tests.

“I was really relieved because I had a Spanish presentation later in the day that was delayed,” Gabriel Lacey ‘26 said. “I don’t think I could have made it through the week without that day off.”

Although the news of the early dismissal overjoyed most everyone in the school, the unprompted event inconvenienced some who had meetings to reschedule and duties to take care of. 

“Initially when being informed that there is a day off, you would be excited,” Assistant Principal Bradley Walker said. “However, just knowing that you have meetings set up that you have to push back made me feel more indifferent about the situation. It’s like missing a day of work while you’re out sick, it pushes things back.”

After hearing the news, students were prompted to celebrate as soon as the dismissal was in motion. Many took this opportunity to recharge and rest.

“I was very happy when I heard the news and I’m sure everyone else was too,” Eric Arnett ‘26 said. “As soon as I left the school, I went to my friend’s house with 10 other guys, we just played games for the rest of the day.”