Classes for the school year of 2022-2023  here at the illustrious Benjamin Banneker Academic High School started on August 29, 2022. Doors opened at 8 a.m. sharp. Many students arrived bright and early, while others arrived a little later.

For the first two days of the school year, students were instructed to stand in line based on their last name, to make sure they were checked off for submitting a negative COVID test the night before. 

Students were also required to sign their name into the computer, put their phone in their designated phone locker, and stand in line to get through the metal detector. 

Abigail Bozzell, a senior, usually arrives at Banneker at 8:20 a.m.  Her advice to students that are usually stuck in long lines is to try to take an earlier train.

Nikyah James, also a senior, said her advice to students is to wake up early.

Mya Wooden, an 11th grader, expressed her anger with the lines. “You could be in line at 8:35 and not get to class until 8:50 am,” she said.

Wooden’s solution to the long lines would be to allow students to walk through the metal detector without having to remove their belongings, such as their calculators, belts, and computers, which is just too time consuming.

Senior Zakaiya Walker says that the lines are a lot, and that maybe the administration should open up the back entrance, especially as it is about to get cold outside.