California and the Bay Area saw an unprecedented rise in temperatures in October, with local thermometers rising above 94 degrees Fahrenheit in Oakland’s normally Mediterranean climate.

The heat wave has caused many teachers and students to change the way they work. Teachers in the math and art departments, the easternmost segments of campus, seem to be subject to the worst of it.

As they adapt to the high temperatures, school-issued air-conditioning units have played a vital role in maintaining a quality learning environment.

Dominic Henri, a math and computer science teacher at O’Dowd, has had problems with heat in his room.

“There have been times where this room has reached the low 90s”, he explains, even with his best efforts with closing blinds and using his school-issued conditioning device. He claims that he would not want to have been through the heat wave without the current AC that he has in his room, thanking O’Dowd for their portable temperature controlling machines, a recent addition to classrooms.

But issues surrounding the heat wave impact everybody differently. Just a couple miles away, in the Oakland hills, the students of Skyline High School face similar problems. Isaac Okajima, a Trojan student-athlete, speaks on how a lack of public funding impacted their experience in the heat wave.

“Skyline can’t afford many simple things such as air conditioning, more water bottle stations, and better blinds for classrooms,” Okajima said.

At Skyline, some teachers have even resorted to moving classrooms and turning off lights.

Knowing that O’Dowd’s October could have been far more unbearable without the school-issued hardware, students and faculty are grateful for the support that the administration and leadership have offered over the past month. With Homecoming and Spirit Week soon arriving, the Dragons remain eager to enter the cooler seasons and finish the semester off strong.