On Jan. 9, 2025, only days after their warm welcome back to school following winter break, students at Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) were met with an unwelcome, yet warm, series of Santa Ana winds and dryness which peaked fire risk. The city of Ventura, Calif. and Foothill Tech, have subsequently endured repeated power shutdowns, not only lowering the danger of wildfire that has gone rampant in cities like Los Angeles, but shutting down the normal functions of day to day life in and out of school. These outages have occurred throughout Ventura from Ventura Ave. to Wells Road.
According to Southern California Edison, a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is a, “temporary shut off of power to your neighborhood during dangerous weather conditions to prevent our electric systems from becoming a source of ignition,” and it is this type of shutoff that had recently been commonplace in Ventura. By Jan. 15, 2025, Ventura County had the second highest population of powerless customers out of all counties in the Los Angeles area.
Generally, a PSPS is uncommon, though due to dry Santa Ana winds that form from high density air in high elevation areas moving to lower air density and elevation areas, and the ongoing fires in LA, turning power off has become a far more pressing and precedent necessity to ensure safety in Ventura County.

At Foothill Tech, electrical power and safety has been a crucial issue during these windstorms. On Jan. 9, 13 and 15, 2025 students were called to dim classes by staff, as even the bell had stopped working. Along with the nonperformance of the clocks, computers and lights, students and teachers alike found themselves devoid of internet connection. The finicky connection and sudden drop in once common resources majorly affected the workings of many classrooms, shifting many students and teachers’ reintroduction into the school during semester two.
Liam Mairena ‘28 seemed to express a common opinion when he said, “it’s kind of difficult because you can’t do the assignments you need to” while at the same time pointing out a perplexing struggle that, “once you get home, if you have power, you have more work,” yet if you don’t have power it is difficult to participate in school at all. Similarly, Nathan Kreil ‘27 and Amelia Schmidt ‘25 expressed the hardships that come with a lack of power. Kreil said, “In [classes like] Yearbook we suddenly cannot do anything at all we were supposed to be doing” and then Schmidt went so far as to add, “most of my classes are rendered useless because of the lack of technology.”
Due to differing uses of technology, some classes have been hit harder than others and teachers have had to adapt in unique ways. One very affected class is Computer Science in which, according to Mairena, students were only, “taking notes about the subject [they] are learning” making it harder to learn. In most classes, however, it is still possible, yet less enjoyable, to go through class in a semi-normal way. As Word History and Ethnic Studies teacher, Claire Adams, put it, “It just means having to rethink how you still want to teach that lesson, without using technology, while at the same time trying to make it engaging. When you have books and paper, it’s more difficult to make it engaging but still very possible for class.”
After just less than a week with on and off power, interrupted tests, low light and general difficulties, power finally became far more consistent starting Jan. 16, 2025. At Foothill Tech, students and teachers’ issues ranged from great enough to elicit Schmidt’s opinion that students should have, “technological snow days” to Adams’ troubles, where she claimed, “my biggest problem was I couldn’t make tea.” Either way, students and teachers alike powered through this difficult phase and, in the end, got through each period, with natural lighting or without. To keep up with more possible public safety power shut offs visit SoutherCaliforniaEdison.com