When I was in high school, I took my AP European History class on the third floor! I sat in the southwest corner facing the windows and there was a sign on the window above the door that read: “ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE.” The main school building was built in the early 1900’s and it never received any sort of upgrades after all these years.
It was a lovely historic building with no a/c units or ventilation devices of any kind. All the students were overheated by mid-lunch since the lunchroom air quality as well as the environment was hot and stuffy. The doors were propped open with folding chairs as well as mosquitoes everywhere. After lunch, I’d go to History, with hot, muggy, no a/c. Thankfully, there were heaters. They were oil heated radiators that our teachers threatened to turn on if someone was misbehaving and it was awful. My only saving grace in high school came when I went to Miss Huber’s class located in a newer building with air conditioning on the opposite side of the gym. It was a long walk, especially on the overheated Summer afternoons but it was worth the hike. The cool, refreshing, life affirming coolness of the classroom made everyone ecstatic. Miss Huber was ecstatic too, however cool, comfortable, because she was able to do her work in the cool AC. I heard some other teachers had chosen the hottest rooms at the school in order to torment their students. I don’t assume anyone ever mustered the bravery to ask them.