Mega-Lunch Creates Divide
November 7, 2016
Melissa High School’s new mega lunch system thus far has not been the unanimous success that it was thought to be.
Moving from the A, B, and C lunch schedule to a single hour long lunch, the high school was aiming to allocate time in the day for students to seek assistance from their teachers in the form of tutorials. Mega lunch was also designed to get more students involved in extracurricular clubs.
Principal Wooten says that he believes that the process is going like he envisioned, “So far it’s going well. Most of the students are taking advantage of the extra time, and once we get more students to be plugged into clubs and tutorials, it will flow even better.” However, mega lunch has been met with mixed views from some MHS staff and students.
Librarian Mrs. Nowlin says that mega lunch “has been good for the Cardinal Cafe, and I like how there is a time carved out in the day for children to come in and work on assignments instead of interrupting classes all day, but it is keeping us very busy.” One of the supposed pros of the mega lunch system was to alleviate the congestion in the cafeteria, however it seemingly has created more congestion elsewhere. Nowlin went on to say, “If you want to come in and read, the library is not a quiet, comfortable place to be due to the sheer number of people there.”
This view seems common campus wide, as Jr. Brendon Lansford explained, “It is a very hectic environment and everything is unorganized right now “The shift from a half-hour lunch to an hour-long one is a big change, and it may take some time to get used to, but it’s not all bad news.
Sr. Zachary Weaver said, “Mega lunch is a great idea, because I can see my friends who I otherwise would not be able to see due to them having other lunches. Also, I can seek assistance from my teachers and peers so that I can achieve success in all of my classes.” It is important that students can get help when they need it; previously not all students could attend tutorials that were after school or during periods where they had other classes, and mega lunch allows for this to not be the case.
Hopefully, more students and staff will get used to the system, in time buying into it, and mega lunch will become a great success at Melissa High School.
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Kennedy Wren • Dec 9, 2016 at 8:46 am
Mega lunch has been extremely helpful in my academic career. It helps me find time to get everything done without taking more time out of my already busy day. The only current problem I see in mega lunch is the crowding. There is kids eating in the floor and in random places throughout the school. I think that more tables and chairs needed to be added to either the hallways or the cafeteria. Other than that I completely agree that mega lunch is a success!
Leah Czarnecki • Nov 15, 2016 at 9:29 am
Mega lunch so far has been a very hectic and crowded experience. Everywhere you go there are kids on the ground, the bathrooms are always busy, and I’m sure the lunch line is always long. However, in my opinion, I do like this new change in our school because it gives students the time to socialize with people that they usually didn’t have a lunch with. Also, this hour lunch gives students the opportunity to seek tutorials and help from teachers. This really benefits the seniors who have early release because nobody wants to come back to school after they just got out. In the article, it stated that the librarian, Mrs. Nowlin said that, “If you want to come in and read, the library is not a quiet, comfortable place to be due to the sheer number of people there” (Nowlin 2016). I go to the library everyday because there is no other place to go. Of course kids are going to go to the library because you have access to computers, books, and the Cardinal Cafe. I don’t think people should expect the library to be quiet because with such little space in our school, students don’t have a lot of options. In the end, not everyone is going to be happy with the changes our school makes but the teachers and students will have to learn to adapt.
Tate Whittington • Nov 11, 2016 at 1:34 pm
This article is spot on about mega lunch. Mega lunch has it’s advantages by allowing students an hour to do as they wish. Allowing tutorials during this hour period is a neccessity when you are a busy high school student. The comments mentioned by the librarian are very true, and defeat the purpose of what a library setting should be like. Walking into the library during the mega lunch period is very hectic and loud, which is never acceptable in a library. I think these problems will get sorted out as we continue to straighten out this new idea of mega lunch. Mr. Wooten is a very smart man, and we can all trust that he has a method to all this madness.