During fifth period, students scramble into the Team Room near the PE department office for Leadership class. Unfortunately, this room is isolated on the far end of campus.

Not only is it strange to have a class dedicated to leading the student body isolated on one side of the school, Leadership’s Team Room is also shared with sports and Health. Leadership students also can't leave anything in the room or anything on the whiteboards, and the room is small for the growing Leadership class — it really isn’t a room they can call home, just a temporary indoor meeting space.

Fortunately, as part of the Measure E construction, a new student center proposed to start construction this summer will solve this problem, providing a permanent classroom for the Leadership class.

This student center will be located in the 800 wing at the top of the quad steps, replacing the old music space, where the orchestra, band and choir occasionally practice.

The benefits of this facility have been long awaited and they are obvious. A proposed selling booth for the center will allow clubs to easier fundraise, and the storage space for ASB will serve as a place for posters, decorations and other materials.

While in the past, each class had to provide its own sound system for Quad Day, the new student center will also provide a microphone system for all students.

When the center is not being used by Leadership class, it will be used as a place for students to meet and hang out, which is a must for a school that has always lacked a central indoor student area. For example, during rainy days, the cafeteria is too small to hold 1,300 students, so most underclassmen disperse across various classrooms. The new student center would offer another welcoming indoor area.

Although some may say the space for the new center could have better uses, I can’t think of any that would be as important as what has been proposed.

The new student center is essential for the growth of the Leadership class in the next few years, as well as serving as a central space for students to gather and providing storage and materials to improve events throughout campus.