Between Dec. 20-21 an estimated 1.64 inches of rain hit Paso Robles. Students, staff, and families were notified via ParentSquare of power outages on campus caused by the weather around 9:45, the morning of the 20. 

A message from the district read:

At this time, students were well into the first of two finals scheduled for the day. 

For some, exams were on paper and classes proceeded as normal. Others whose exam plans did have to change, expressed mixed opinions on the alternatives they had. 

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“We had three things due in Animal Health: our notebook, a multiple choice test, and a heart dissection. We couldn’t do our multiple choice test and only did the notebook and lab.”

— Laila Shea

Senior Gavin Blythe, who was in the same class, enjoyed the changes made to his final.

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“We were taking a test when the internet shut off, so our teacher had us do a heart and lung dissection instead. It was awesome.”

— Gavin Blythe

For other students, the experience was much more inconvenient.

Welding student Kameron Paine (12) was assigned five different welds as his last project of the semester. Paine and others in his class were forced to wait until they had power to continue as their tools wouldn’t work otherwise. 

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“People in the class were getting really annoyed. We’d be doing a good bead for the weld and our tools would shut off. We had to stop when the power was off and when it turned back on we worked until it happened again.”

— Kameron Paine

Computer Applications student Tristen Salgado (12) was assigned a website design as part of his final. 

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“I couldn’t take a multiple choice test online or make a website in my class. He had to print out the multiple choice but otherwise there wasn’t much we could do.”

— Tristen Salgado

Despite the challenge, students and teachers managed the best they could on the final day of the semester. Classes will resume Jan. 8.