Bob Jones is now bigger, both inside and out, and you’d be surprised by the important changes that have been made since 2014.

One of these changes is the wider halls, which came with a price: no more lockers. Most students are indifferent about this, including several 9^th graders.

“Sometimes I wish I had a locker, but other times I think they’d be pretty useless,” Grace Billmann admits.

“I don’t know how my life would have been with lockers, so I have nothing to compare it to,” says Jane Newberry.

Even though most students may have not used the lockers in the first place, some students are left to deal with heavy backpacks. Studies from doctors as early as 2004 say that heavy backpacks cause back pain in at least 64% of kids and teens.

Were wider halls worth it, especially with 26 AP courses being offered, which have heavier textbooks?

Another such change is the new, smaller courtyard that is split in two.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Abby Ogle, 11^th grader.

Several seniors also dislike the new courtyard, but for a different reason. Senior Adam Hallman says, “They don’t let us go there during lunch.”

Other changes include a revamped lunchroom, the “glass staircase” and “the Fishbowl,” a better gym, and a remodeled band room.

One or two changes are still to come. The auditorium, art rooms, and parts of the S wing will be completed over the summer.

So, then, was the $20 million renovation worth it?

Sarah Patton, a junior, thinks so: “{The renovation} definitely improved the learning environment and makes the classes seem less old school. Mr. Parker was right when he said that they were revamping the entire school. It certainly has been revamped.”

Coach Kevin Rose also weighed in on the issue, stating, “I like most of the renovation. It made it really hard to do our jobs, but I guess that’s part of it.”

Though teachers and students have moved classrooms and been detoured, most of the teachers and students who were interviewed approve of the changes.