I can't remember if I have mentioned this, but my school was moved to a new campus this year. Our old campus was taken over by a charter school in my district, and we were moved to a brand new campus that had been built the year before and was only about a mile or so down the road.
One of the things about my new campus that I found intriguing is that we have an all-weather track, and the infield inside the track is astroturf instead of grass. It's pretty funny to think about, but in my 37 years, I had never walked on astroturf until the other day, when I finally stepped onto the infield. It was quite squishy because of the bits of ground up black rubber that are underneath the green turf.
Unfortunately, I found out something else about astroturf. It may look inviting with its dark-green hue, but it doesn't retain the same cooling properties as good old fashioned grass.
On an extremely hot late-summer afternoon, the entire student body and staff went out to the infield for the first rally of the year. The students were to sit on the field in a large U-shaped pattern, with the rally activities going on within the U. The air temperature was just under 100 degrees, and I swear the temperature of the turf had to have been somewhere between 110 and 120. While real grass provides relief from the heat, astroturf actually reflects heat back and makes it even worse!
I was not the only person who has never dealt with astroturf. It turns out that our Principal knew nothing about it either, and didn't realize that holding a rally on astroturf on a hot Sacramento afternoon wasn't the best move. The rally had to be called off after just 10 or 15 minutes and the students were returned to their classrooms. The students had staged a mini-mutiny by refusing to stay seated because their butts were burning. I can't say I blamed them.
Good Day to You, Sir
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson
6 comments:
For the past 3 years, after RB installed their astroturf football field, V has hated cheering during afternoon games. She's told me that the tracks surrounding the astroturf fields at other ball fields is actually cooler than the "grass". It's that black rubber they put in the turf. Not only does it make it way hotter, but it ends up getting in your shoes in clothes just from walking on the field. Looks great, lasts a long time, but what a pain.
Plus, if a school like Willows High burns a big "W" into your new astroturf field, like they did at Oroville High, you can't just easily plant new grass like a regular field. Cha ching!
T
I don't recall knowing that your school moved!
Artificial Turf - the perfect symbol for Postmodern America.
Chanman,
I'm going to use your title in my pre-reading lesson this week in my freshman English classes with your permission. I won't teach the lesson until Thursday so let me know either way.
Please, Vegas, be my guest.
Thanks! I'll let you know how it goes.
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