A unique feature of Green Hope High School is the modular classrooms, aka the “mods”, which where built in 2013 in place of a practice field. These four outdoor buildings are essentially large trailers with eight classrooms and a singular hallway in the middle. Both students and teachers have mixed feelings about the mods, with teachers seemingly having the more optimistic opinion. 

Sarah Darden, a Green Hope junior, has first-hand experience learning in the mods, as she has second period in mod two this semester. During an interview with the Green Hope Falcon, she remarked, “The negatives of learning in the mods are that they can get cold inside and are far from my car for lunch.” Many students make this trek back and forth between the parking lot and mods every day through the varying weather.

As a positive regarding the mods, Darden stated, “There are more fire drills in the main building.” This inconsistency is due to frequent accidental fire alarms going off in the main building, while class still goes on in the mods. However, Darden still has an obvious opinion toward the mods as she mentioned, “If I had a choice, I would want my class to be on the first floor of the main building.”

On the flip side, Mr. Regan, a Green Hope staff member who teaches history in mod two, shared his perspective. “I have never had a room in the main building, but I will teach in there [the cafeteria] occasionally if the wifi or air conditioning isn’t working [in the mod],” said Regan. A positive of teaching in the mods is that it is easier to go outside, according to Regan; sometimes, he will utilize this to take his class outside to teach.

When asked what the biggest differences between the mods and the main building are, Regan responded, “Classrooms in the main building are bigger, the mailbox is in the main building, and if I want to make copies I have to go to the main building.” These things can be a hassle for some teachers, but Regan said he likes where he is in mod two room eight. Another Green Hope teacher, Mr. Hutchinson, added that “the rooms are smaller, but class sizes are the same in terms of how many students we have to accommodate in a class period…” This means that rooms in the mods can feel more crowded compared to the main building classrooms.

Like Mr. Regan, Mr. Hutchinson has never taught inside the main building at Green Hope before. However, he has taught in trailers and main building rooms at other campuses in other states before moving to North Carolina. He stated, “The biggest issue is probably how removed we are from the main building when students have to change classes…or when I have to go into the building for meetings or for using the Media Center or other resources…” 

A common parallel between teachers in the mods is that they rarely interact with staff who teach in the main building and trailers, even with those who are in their own department. When asked about this topic, Hutchinson commented, “Part of this is a feature of COVID restrictions, and part of it is the size of our staff, but there are a large number of new staff in the main building that I have never met, that I’ve only seen once in a meeting.”

Despite the drawbacks of the mods, Hutchinson would prefer to teach in the mods if he was given a choice, as long as they are in decent shape. He noted, “It’s nice to have the smaller community feeling and support we’ve developed here in the Mods.”