If you’ve been to lunch this year, you’ve noticed that it is a very different environment than before. One reason is that students can’t have cell phones during lunch, but the other reason is that we now have games and activities for students to enjoy in the lunch room. From Uno to Connect 4 to volleyball and soccer, there are many ways you can spend your lunch. Students can still go to the library during lunch and take advantage of the games and activities planned by Mrs. Wilkerson.
According to Mrs. Dean, “When we implemented Policy 518, administrators, office staff, and our Safe School Aides thought it would be a good idea to have activities in the cafeteria for students. We wanted to allow the students to have fun without their cell phones while playing with their peers.”
Students had opinions on what could be improved and what they liked about these activities. While some students, such as sophomore Natalie Goodnight, think that phones should be allowed at lunch because it’s a student’s free time, other students love that we don’t have our phones because it has made for a very talkative and positive environment.
Student suggestions were varied. One group of seniors said it would be cool to have Monopoly available. Freshman Josephin (Pina) Contreras Baca said that getting the board game Life would be nice. Brianna Davis and sophomore Diego Silva suggested that the school could get a volleyball net to go out front for students to use: “We could put a fundraiser together for others to help out to be able to afford to get a net.”
In general, our staff helping with the lunch activities are very proud to see students more talkative at lunch. Ms. Johnson in the counseling office thinks it was a good idea to start the activities to see students connect, make friends, and learn how to have conversations with each other. We have many people to thank for these activities such as the counselors, our Migrant Specialist, administration, Safe School Aids, AVID students, and staff. If you see any of these people in the hall or throughout the day, say thank you for the work they’re putting in to keep these activities going.
