At 10:35 a.m. or 12:05 p.m. there is a rush of students that leave the school for seemingly senior option. Yet, the crowd is not entirely full of students with senior option, there are a few who sneak out with the crowd to eat somewhere other than the crowded cafeteria.
Some students leave during their assigned lunch periods to run home or to Washington Square to grab food. The school administration has, on numerous occasions, explained how students should not leave for lunch. Students caught are punished for leaving. However, neighboring Hoover High School has an option called “Open Lunch” which allows certain students to leave during their lunch period.
Hoover allows juniors and seniors to leave during their 44-minute lunch as long as they meet the minimum GPA requirement. If students who have open lunch miss too many classes or their GPA falls below the expectation, open lunch is taken away.
“I love having open lunch especially because there’s so many possibilities. When the weather is nice, we grab Starbucks and take it to the park. It’s so sunny and relaxing,” Hoover senior Alec Pilati said.
The ability to leave the school just for 30 minutes or so would be especially rewarding for students who are at the school late due to extracurriculars.
The students from GlenOak who were interviewed asked to remain anonymous.
“When my sport is in season I’m here so late, especially on days where we have games, so leaving just to run to Pulp just gives me a little break,” an anonymous senior said.
Many students who work on top of school have no time to themselves and that 30-minute break to eat is the only time they get to choose what they do.
“I have such a full class schedule, and then work, and then after work I have to do homework. When I know I have work after school I leave to grab lunch somewhere else, it gives me a meal I know that I’ll like and a little something to look forward to when I have a busy day,” an anonymous junior said.
Seyara Wanigarathne is a senior at Hoover who through her open lunch option has become a regular at a local coffee shop, Tremont.
“I have an early lunch so I always want to stop and grab brunch and coffee. I go out for open lunch every day,” Wanigarathne said. “I think it’s honestly a much-needed break from the overcrowded cafeteria. It’s nice to be able to go outside and see my friends.”
An open lunch would not just be to give students the ability to go grab food but many students have responsibilities at their houses that, if they live close enough, they would be able to take care of.
“We have a puppy right now so the last few weeks I’ve been leaving during my lunch just to run home and let the dog out. I only live like seven minutes away so it doesn’t take long, plus I get to grab food when I’m home,” an anonymous senior said.
Students at our school will continue to leave during their lunch for a variety of reasons, having an established program with regulations would allow the school to be aware of the students that are leaving.
An established system like Hoover’s would still reward students with the ability to leave for their lunch while also providing administration the ability to manage who leaves for lunch instead of students sneaking out.
