In October, Los Osos High School (LOHS) had its first blackout since August 2023. The power went out during the third period, and it lasted the whole day.
It had left many students and staff very confused. These types of things don’t normally happen, and this was very eye-opening to how unprepared we are as a school.
The school doesn’t have any backup generators, which is really strange since power is vital to our learning in today’s world.
Around 11:12 a.m., LOHS sent out a text saying the power would be back on around 12:30 p.m. Yet, my mom, Ilianna Ramirez, who works for Edison, understood that this may not be truthful, but a lie. Edison doesn’t restore power that quickly, no matter who has lost power. This was surprising to learn as LOHS sent out this message to hundreds of parents, staff, and students.
We are at the top of the list but, still not within an hour will they have restored it.
During something like this, a lot of people do not know what to do, which can cause panic. London Pickens, a senior here at LOHS, stated, “I felt scared, and it made me really nervous. I think the school should have some plan and be prepared for when incidents like this take place.”
I personally agree and think that schools should have some sort of pre-established plan for all the different types of things that can take place, especially while we’re at school. Such as a blackout.
If they should just come up with a plan, or if so many minutes or hours have gone by that they will send out a message for everyone to be released for the day.
When things like this happen at home, it’s relatively easy to assess the situation. You just stay off your devices and read or color, just do some activity that doesn’t deal with power. You spend time with your family at home.
Meanwhile, at school, what can we do? Just sit around and daydream in class? Or do we continue to work in the dark?
This could probably differentiate what is going on in class.
If it’s bright enough outside and the work is on paper, we should just continue to work if it’s not too difficult. While if it’s on the computer or some project, everything should just be placed aside for the next day.
My mom told me that, “The power went out due to an emergency outage because of the rain. Electricity isn’t guaranteed. Once Edison is aware of an outage, it needs to be assessed. Assessment starts with how many customers are out and how long they have been out.” She explained, “The trouble man goes out there to see what happened and what they can do. Once that is assessed, then someone determines what material is needed and how long that’ll take to complete.” This alone makes for a lengthy repair that would not only take an hour or two to complete.
She explained the rest of the process: “How many guys will be needed for the job? An initial automatic restoration time is given by the system based on ‘previous similar outages ‘. That is estimated before the trouble man goes out. Once the trouble man determines how many man-hours will be needed, they notify the dispatcher. Another estimated time of restoration is given. The dispatcher updates the order with the new estimated time of restoration. Troubelman works the order, and the power is restored.”
At the end of the day, all schools should have a plan. They should also hold some type of assembly or make a video for all of the different things that could happen while we’re at school.
So in case such things happen, we are all prepared and know what we need to do.
This will help so many students who go into panic and start stressing when incidents happen, and no one knows what to do.