Should Arrowhead Show Its Colors?

Students at Arrowhead High School are curious as to what would happen if Arrowhead’s walls were painted different colors. The topic of changing the walls to more environmentally pleasing colors has been casually discussed amongst the student body, but has not been brought to the attention of faculty.

Senior Mitchell Bringe said, “I don’t like how boring the walls are. It makes student life pretty dull. Maybe if some of the walls were more colorful I would have more energy and excitement.”

According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, color undisputedly helps humans retain information because it increases attention levels and focuses attention on particular stimuli giving neurons in the brain a better chance of encoding information.

Senior Jakob Sulzer said, “Making the school a more colorful place would definitely increase awakeness, productivity, and the general happiness of the people.”

According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, the cognitive system is most responsible for the memorization process. Memory is the process of encoding, retaining, and retrieving information. Color is believed to be the most important visual experience to human beings.

Senior Alex Lemke said, “I don’t like how everything is so mundane in Arrowhead. I think color would be a great addition to school.”

The US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health states, “Color functions as a powerful information channel to the human cognitive system and has been found to play a significant role in enhancing memory performance.  Color can be very effective in a learning and educational setting… studies have found that color can increase recognition by up to 80%.”

Bringe said, “Surprisingly in my classes that have colored walls I have higher grades than the classes with white walls. Personally I like the colored walls; it makes the classroom seem less like a prison and more like a classroom. The school should definitely paint classrooms with different subtle colors that aren’t white.”