Smart Lunch Review

I’m a senior at Kennedy High School and we are one of the first high schools in our area to try a new system called Smart Lunch. We’re the guinea pigs for this new type of schedule so we’re still working out all the bugs in the system. Considering I’m a senior, this doesn’t affect me as much as it does for the under classman; but it’s definitely a nice change from the previous years.

It’s called Smart Lunch because instead of having thirty minutes for lunch like before, now we have eighty minutes and the school is released for lunch all at the same time. At first I was very skeptical because I attend a school with over a thousand students and the hallways and cafeteria were crowded to begin with. Instead of limiting the students to just the cafeteria, they’ve opened up the majority of the school. There are several hallways you’re not allowed to eat in, for obvious reasons, but there are various other places in the school you can chose to eat. Many teachers have also opened their rooms for kids to eat in, and is definitely a plus if they let you watch Netflix.

The eighty minute lunch periods were not given to use just for the fun of having eighty minutes. Teachers recommend you go to at least four tutorials for every class per term. There’s tutorial A and B every day, both consisting of forty minutes each. However it is recommended, but not always required. If you are failing a class then yes you are required to attend tutorials, which I think is very fare. At the beginning of the school year I wasn’t planning on going to any tutorials unless mandatory, however my view on that has changed ever so slightly. I don’t mind going to tutorials because they’re pretty easy. I attend one or two language arts tutorials a week, normally just working in the computer lab on AP Lang. Those still count as going to a tutorial. I will also say that they are very helpful and encourage everyone to go to at least one or two a week because it’s not overly hard and it does actually help. Just having a conversation with the teacher about something you don’t understand can make a huge difference.

Freedom is one of the biggest things I like about Smart Lunch. Seeing as I’m an upperclassman, I can leave campus for lunch and even though I don’t very often, it’s nice to know that I can if I wanted to. I probably go out to eat with friends once a week, or a go home for lunch which is not bad because it sort of breaks the day in half so I’m not at school for eight straight hours. However, on most days I spend the majority of the time working on homework in the library or getting help in a class. I pack my own lunch from home and usually eat in my 5^th hour class because I’m not that hunger around noon, but that’s just me.

I feel like some kids tend to use these eighty minutes wisely by getting stuff done, while others waste their life away. People would be more interested in tutorials if they had more engaging topics, such as the brain lady that came in during October to show us real brains. I understand that it’s a new thing and you have to have strict rules in order for people to follow them, but having teachers in every hallway asking people where they’re going is a little extreme. I get it if they’re messing around, but most teachers can distinguish between the good kids and the bad kids, it’s unnecessary to be harsh kids who are following the rules.

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