Junior Editors

Last year, as puny little freshmen, the three of us would eat lunch outside, gazing up at the clocktower that sat atop the school. Devan thought it was where kids who got caught in hall sweeps were sent to rot for all eternity. Norah thought it was a romantic lunch destination for kids who liked to burst out into song with no explanation. Josephine thought there would be a chicken. We couldn’t let our curiosity get the best of us, so we asked David Thompson to take us on a tour. 

One Wednesday afternoon, our journey began. After signing a waiver promising we wouldn’t sue the school for any obtainable injuries or death, we abandoned our belongings in the atrium and set off. A lovely elevator ride later, we arrived on the fourth floor and made our way to the back stairwell. Thompson unlocked the door that would lead us to the secret fifth floor of Jackson-Reed (gasp).

We journeyed up the dusty stairwell and through yet another locked door (even bigger gasp) that took us to the attic of our school, containing the HVAC systems for every individual classroom. We asked if we could give a list of our preferred temperatures for each of our classes, and were sadly met with a firm no. As we ducked under vents and hopped over wires, we approached the ladder that would take us to the clocktower. The black ladder loomed above us, showing no mercy for those with back, ankle, and pinky problems. Trust us, it’s scarier than it looks. 

Our fearless leader Devan went first, despite not wearing the proper footwear for the excursion. One by one, we each made our way up the gigantic ladder, eventually making it to the top of the landing (biggest gasp). The sun flashed in our eyes, and we saw an incredible 360° view of the DMV. From the top of the clocktower, we could see the Washington Monument, the Capitol, and FedEx Field, which is a whopping 15 miles from Jackson-Reed. Safe to say, we took lots of selfies.  

After about 15 minutes of admiring the view, the wind started to pick up, rattling the entire clocktower. We decided we unfortunately had to travel back downstairs, at the fear of being blown off the school building. We carefully climbed down the massive ladder, trying not to look down at the floor looming below.

Luckily, we all made it down to the safety of Jackson-Reed’s attic. We descended through the locked doors, making our way back to civilization. As we thanked Thompson for his amazing tour guide skills, we exited the building and looked up at the clocktower where we had been merely 10 minutes before. It truly was an unforgettable experience that we were very lucky to witness. And spoiler alert, there was no chicken. •