An innovative and exciting change is coming to the school hallways
in September. The school board has allocated a part of the annual budget to
invest in electric scooters and hoverboards for the student body. These new
vehicles eliminate the need for stairs, which will be replaced with ramps by
the fall of the 25-26 school year.
Students already struggle with fatigue from their workloads, sports,
and outside activities, and having to walk upstairs each day adds to that
tiredness. By next fall, there will also be no lateness to classes since, with
these new vehicles and the speed at which they can travel, there should be
no reason for students to be late. Friends’ implementation of these vehicles
demonstrates what an innovative and modern school we are while still priori-
tizing our students’ learning by providing new transportation to get to classes
faster!
During staff meetings, where this idea was still being discussed, Nick
Ordway, a teacher, supported this change. “Every minute a student isn’t in
class, they cannot learn, and we want an opportunity for each student to
learn as much as they can,” Mr. Ordway says. Learning is why students go to
school, so it should be done if there is a way to optimize learning time.
Similar to computers, these vehicles are property of the school; how-
ever, they may not be used outside of campus. Mr. Ordway says, “We will use
a similar system to grocery stores’ shopping carts, where there is a perime-
ter and outside of it, the wheels of the cart lock, meaning it is unable to be
used.” This strategy is a more straightforward way to reduce the time teachers
spend monitoring the use of vehicles and restrict students from using them
outside of school grounds. This shift will also appeal to prospective students
and families, demonstrating how Friends is a school of the future, and it will
prepare students for using new technology in everyday life. Mr. Ordway says,
“Friends is using cutting-edge technology at all times. Our top priority is to
allow students to learn, which means they need to be in class, and giving each
student “a vehicle of knowledge” will help to achieve that.”
In hopes that these vehicles won’t add clutter to the school, they will
be foldable and compact to fit in classrooms or lockers. Each student will be
provided a charger, and additional ones will be provided in the classroom.
Each vehicle will have a password set by each student so students cannot use
each other’s vehicle. Just like on roads, there are speed limits; they will have a
set-top speed of 15 mph to ensure safety in the hallways.
Kate Coletti ‘28, says, “The
speed limit should at least be 15
mph, as we are trying to prevent
students from being late to class.”
Hallways will operate like
roads, with those going in one
direction on one side and others
on the other. Teenagers are not
known for their decision-mak-
ing skills, so some worry about
crashes and injuries caused by
the new vehicles. “Crashes will
happen and that’s ok. We need
drivers to take responsibility for
their actions,” Kate Coletti ‘28.
Small-scale crashes in our
hallways can prepare students to
face bigger life challenges they
will meet in the future. Learning
how to handle the responsibilities
of a collision or crash will also
teach students how to collaborate
and problem-solve.
Over the upcoming
summer, middle and high school
students must complete an online
course educating students on
safely riding electric scooters and
hoverboards. An electric scooter
is the baseline vehicle that every
student will have the choice to
use. Hoverboards require a safety
test since they have no handles
and rely heavily on balance. They
will be rolling out in the fall of
2025. However, there is a priority
list.
“The vehicles will be
implemented using a pilot pro-
gram, where the students with the
most lates will receive vehicles
first since that is the group we are
targeting and trying to help,” Mr.
Ordway says. This testing process
will assess the effectiveness of
the vehicles before distributing
them to the whole middle and
high school. “If there is any time
to start racking up those lates, it’s
now!” says Ordway.
Wilmington Friends has
started hiring vehicle mainte-
nance personnel so each student
can ensure that their vehicle is
safe enough to drive and will be
maintained over their three years
of ownership. A sliding window
similar to the Apple Core room
will be installed on an adjacent
wall so students can walk to the
maintenance office for help.
