Juniors this year were given a delicious surprise in August when administration offered open campus lunch. Students began rushing out of the building for fast food, home, or just some peace and quiet in the safety of their vehicles. Thankfully for the sophomores, the Millard School Board is considering making this privilege permanent.
Currently the odds are in their favor as most administrators are in agreement; opening up this privilege to juniors has been a success, but students will have to wait until June for the school board to make a clear decision.
While many juniors do, in fact, leave during the day to go out to lunch, many just use this time to relax and get out of the chaos of the lunchroom.
“That’s not to say that many students leave every day,” Assistant Principal Michaela Wragge said. “I will be honest, a lot of juniors will go in and grab their lunch in the cafeteria and then they go sit in their car, so they’re just out of the cafeteria, but they’re not necessarily leaving campus,” she said.
Many juniors who have taken advantage of the freedom agree that it’s the most calming part of the day.
“I use it every day,” junior Emalee Tarver explained. “On B days I go with a friend to get her lunch and on A days I just like to sit in my car,” she said. “I can go out and not deal with the stress of the lunch room,” Tarver said.
While many students enjoyed the solitude of their cars, many went out to eat frequently with their friends, such as juniors Haley Geringer and Jennifer Church.
“I use my open campus lunch every day with my friends that I have the same 3rd block as,” Geringer said. “Some of my favorite memories are when we just sit in the drive-thru of fast food places and the two people in the front seat are yelling at the people in the back to stop talking and figure out what to eat.”
It’s clear that this experience has turned out to be a fun experience for many, making new memories and enjoying time away from school, although it can sometimes end in colorful ways, Church recalled one of those colorful moments.
“My favorite memory,” Church said, “was when me and my friends went to Taco Bell for lunch and I got a text from Haley during fourth block saying “the Taco Bell isn’t sitting well..” then I got a snapchat from Haley when I got home of her in her bathroom saying “I just threw up green and blue.” It was one of the funniest things that happened during lunch,” she said.
Allowing juniors to leave whether for fast food or just to sit in their cars solved the problem of an overcrowded cafeteria and difficulties with social distancing.
“For the most part, it went really, really well,” Assistant Principal Michaela Wragge said. “We did not have many issues, and I think, whether you’re a junior or a senior, it’s figuring out how long it takes to get through the line at Taco Bell, or how long it takes to grab lunch from a grab-and-go place,” she said.
It went so well that the administration is advocating that it be a permanent privilege.
“It’s in conversation,” Wragge said. “Ultimately the school board will have to approve it, but it is definitely in conversation for next year.”
