Runners wanted! Guidance looks for students willing to pass on tradition

Pass runners play a key role in keeping the school running, delivering messages from office to classroom and helping to clarify communications. The job of hall pass runners is performed by students who voluntarily step out of study hall to instead take passes around the school. These “runners” deliver passes to students, informing them of where they need to be.

Recently, however, the counseling office has experienced a decrease in the number of students willing to do the job. West counseling office secretary Valerie Aronson has felt the effects of the decrease in runner population. 

“Without runners, either I have to run the passes, or I can call a classroom, but I really hate interrupting teachers during their teaching time and in between lectures,” she said. “What if they're giving a test, or if they’re giving speeches or something like that? I don't want to interrupt class, but I still need the kids, so how do I get to them?”  

Although the numbers of pass runners have decreased compared to years past, the job itself isn’t very strenuous. 

“The pass runners are available to us all hour,” Aronson said. “But when there aren’t any passes, they can use the time the same way that they’d use it for a typical study hall.”

Former pass runner Meredith Stellpflug enjoyed the job and still found plenty of time to attend to studies.

“Being a pass runner gave me time with my friends,” she said. “I also had enough time to get my math homework done.” 

Pass runner Lily Howard had similar intentions when signing up.

“I think being a pass runner instead of having a study hall is so much more fun,” she said. “You get to be with your friends, and it kind of feels like being a secretary with a lot less work.”

To Stellpflug, the application process wasn’t much more difficult than the job itself.

  “I became a hall pass runner at the beginning of the first quarter because my friend recommended it to me,” she said. “We went up to our study hall instructor and asked him if we could become one.” 

Aronson feels that the task of pass runners is pretty simple. 

“The runners will get their schedule changed to be able to run passes instead of having a study hall,” she said. “They come in and get the passes that need to be delivered to the classrooms and then they'll come back and sit at the table in front of my desk.”

Howard agrees entirely with this description.

“As a pass runner, I run passes for the counseling office, pick up any items needed from door 38 or 24, and anything else either of the offices need,” she said. 

The number of pass runners has been on the decline, which has hindered office functions.

“I don't know why kids don’t want to become runners,” said Aronson. “I wish I knew the answer because prior to COVID, I would have so many kids that I would create lists of kids wanting to be pass runners.”

Howard theorized that it simply may be for the lack of advertising.

“I think the shortage of pass runners could honestly be because of the lack of awareness towards them,” she said. “In the study halls I’ve been in, they barely announced that pass runners are an option at West.”

The job itself has created rewards for Howard.

“I chose to be a pass runner because I did it last year and had a really good time,” she said. “Also, you get special treats on holidays, which is a big incentive in my opinion.”

Aronson emphasized the vitality of pass runners in relation to office functions.

“It's a really easy job. It’s a fun place to be up here,” she said. “The runners are invaluable to us. I wish they knew how important they are.”

by Kassandra Bowlus-Jasinski

Published November 27 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue II