On Monday morning of September 17th, The Webb Schools experienced a campus-wide power outage for one hour and twenty-eight minutes. At 8:52 a.m., during D block, the power crashed. The lights went pitch-black as hundreds of students and faculty members simultaneously disconnected from Webb Connect.
During the power outage, Malik Mbengue, language department faculty member, was having his French 3/4 students take a quiz in the Old School House. When prompted to elaborate on his initial reaction, he said, “I hoped the power outage didn’t last long because some of my plans involved using the internet.”
During the outage, Doris Yuan (‘19) was taking a math test in Mr. Walker’s AP Calc AB class. “At the moment when it went dark, I thought we were going to end the test, because it was really dark.” However, Doris’ hopes were crushed when Mr. Walker continued the test.
Shortly after the power outage, the tech department revived the internet by turning on the generator in the schools. At 10:20, the power came back. The moment the lights and fans turned on in the library, students began cheering and clapping to express their excitement.
Some people had a very personal investment in keeping the power on. Tom Jurczak, science department faculty member, said, “I had a free block, so I was off campus getting groceries—fresh fish for dinner. Then the power’s out. Great. I threw the fish into the fridge and closed it immediately. We still ate the fish and it was really good.”
Tim Coates, Director of Information Technology, informed journalists that the power outage occurred because the utility company accidentally shut the power down.
![Student researcher Elaine Tang (‘24) created a comic for the Fossil Fest to explain the two ways fossils are formed in a tarpit. “I chose to explain my research by comic because there are a lot of kids coming to the [Fossil] Fest,” Elaine said. “They are all very interested and even painted on my comic with their favorite colors.” Fossil Fest is one of the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology Discovery Day events during which scientists and museum visitors are invited to celebrate paleontology.](https://webbcanyonchronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/9eae070d6f5f12b684fd6d4ff457a01.jpg)
![Blue, white, and gold colored balloons surround the doorway to the new Bonnie Johnson Hall. Dr. Theresa Smith and Blake Johnson pose with large scissors, prepared to cut the ribbon as many faculty, alumni, and others watch and applaud. “I look at [the science lab] as a space where students are pursuing their own scientific questions, where they can collaborate with their other peers, and where discovery is happening,” said Lisa Nacionales, Science Department Chair.](https://webbcanyonchronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Smith_and_Johnson.HEIC.jpg)
Mr Caddy | Sep 24, 2018 at 1:21 PM
I’d also like to inquire what kind of fish Mr Jurczak had and how he prepared it.
Mr Caddy | Sep 24, 2018 at 1:17 PM
My Internet did not start working. In fact it didn’t work until the power was restored. Maybe chandler is too far. Also I’m with sprint so my hotspot didn’t work because they are terrible service providers.