Rumors have recently circulated regarding the termination of Lunch and Learn. Rising concerns, especially among IB students, have resulted in a large number of student testimonials on L&L posted to the wall of a Facebook group devoted to the subject as well as an accumulation of letters to the editor on this subject.
Principal Jay Pearson addressed the situation publicly on March 4.
In a discussion inspired by junior Brandy Allen and specifically targeted towards worried IB students, Pearson outlined the fate of next year’s lunch.
Pearson said via email that “the objective of the meeting was to provide a clear explanation as to why alternatives to the bell schedule were investigated. ”
According to Allen, the meeting also touched on “how we can still preserve what we have now.”
Students had the opportunity to ask questions and express their concerns to Pearson, including the issue of not getting enough learning time.
However, according to Allen, Pearson confirmed that the loss of Lunch & Learn in its current format would most likely be certain.
“Everyone was obviously sad that we’re losing Lunch & Learn next year,” Allen said, “but Pearson responded well and a lot of people [felt] comforted because they knew what was going on next year.”
Several solutions have been proposed by Pearson along with the Lunch & Learn Committee that was created to decide on a plan for next year. The committee is comprised of teachers from each department, including Geometry and IB Math SL I teacher Cheryl Fischer.
“The [main] idea is that there will be three lunches and a ‘learn’ period in the morning in between two classes,” Fischer said. The lunches will be embedded in the middle of each block period.
The change of the Lunch & Learn program is fueled more by the school’s population increase rather than the interference of construction.
“We could have said that, oh, we have to figure out a plan during the construction period, but no one wanted to do that,” Fischer said. “We needed to find a solution that would mix in well with the increase in population.”
According to Fischer, the school has reached a point where “it will not be maintainable to have the whole school eating lunch at the same time.”
Allen learned about the change of Lunch & Learn early on and quickly became active in the discussion. Hoping to preserve the values of the outgoing system, Allen said she scheduled a meeting with Pearson, assitant principal
Jeffery Litz, and history teacher Tim Kane prior to the address on March 4.
The Facebook group Allen created for this cause received much support. It has over 350 members and 132 wall posts and continues to be updated.