Allison Terry, 17, went to elementary school at Fremont when it was new. Not until she toured the other schools for her video production class did she realize how old the schools in the district really are.
"It was a surprise to me," she said. "I didn't expect the conditions to be so poor."
Terry and her classmates last year began videotaping the projects proposed in this year's $18 million school bond issue.
With help from district officials, principals and counselors, students identified and taped footage of the problem areas at each of the schools.
The footage has been edited into a seven-minute presentation. This year, background music and titles were added to complete the project.
Now that it's done, they are ready to showcase the finished project.
The three students who have seen the project through to completion, delivered the video to Carson Access Television Thursday afternoon.
"We'll play this before every school board meeting," said Craig Swope, executive director of CATV. "We'll also play it on Channel 26 for the next week starting Monday at 7:15 a.m."
The school board will also show the video at Tuesday's meeting at Carson Middle School. After the meeting, there will be a tour of improvements planned at the school.
Philip Davies, a junior edited the tape. He originally organized it according to sites but district officials asked that it be organized by category.
He had to start all over again but said it was worth it.
"I think it's neat that I can help out the kids in the district by doing things I enjoy," he said.
Candice Chilton, 17, was also surprised to see the condition of the schools.
"I had no idea the schools were in the shape they were in," Candice said. "Bordewich can get up to 95 degrees and, in the winter, the kids have to walk through the snow just to go to the bathroom."
Director of Operations Mike Mitchell said the video will be an effective way to show the public the problems with the district's old systems.
He said last Wednesday around 5 p.m., the heater at Bordewich-Bray overheated because the fan failed to start, then the automatic shut-off didn't kick in.
"Luckily, the custodian was walking by and smelled something weird," Mitchell said. "He called building maintenance and they were able to take care of it, but the next step would have been to call 911."
The furnace was installed in 1954, and Mitchell said it is just one example of an old system that needs to be replaced.
The only damage caused was a melted gasket. Mitchell said he doesn't want to think about the result had it not been caught in time.
"I don't know what would have happened, but it wouldn't have been good," he said.
If you go:
What: Carson City School Board meeting
When: Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Where: Carson Middle School, 1140 W. King St.