LTHS Students Don't Use These Anymore

LA GRANGE, IL – Lockers used to be a big part of the high school experience, often depicted as gathering spots in movies.

But like in most places across the United States, few Lyons Township High School students use their lockers anymore. And officials see an opportunity in the trend.

In planning for renovations, the school is considering eliminating lockers and using the space for "hallway learning."

"There are additional spaces in the corridor that we can carve out if we don't have as many lockers as we have now," Heather Juhl of Itasca-based DLA Architects told the school board this week. "We don't need all the lockers we have. We would like to carve out some of that space for counter areas for students to work in, nook areas to sit in. This school doesn't have a lot of opportunity for that."

The school could also consider a system in which students get digital codes and use any locker in the school, rather than being assigned to a specific one.

Board member Kari Dillon liked that idea.

"Every student I've talked to in the last four years says, 'I never go to my locker. I just carry that bag in the hall with me,' And those bags are really, really heavy," Dillon said. "The idea of them being able to store their stuff at different places as needed when they're going throughout the campus is huge."