The Student News Site of Mount Vernon High School

The Mustang Moon

The Student News Site of Mount Vernon High School

The Mustang Moon

The Student News Site of Mount Vernon High School

The Mustang Moon

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Block Lunch Seating Struggle

Opinion Story and Cartoon by Erin Fencl

Not enough room in the Commons

We all know that here at Mount Vernon High School it can be a bit hectic in the commons during lunch time, especially during block day when everyone eats at the same time. In the past, we’ve had kids eating in the hallways on the floor, in teachers classrooms, and even in the locker room. Why aren’t they eating in the commons like normal people? The answer is simple: we just don’t have enough tables and chairs.

The way that our staff had envisioned the students getting lunch on block days is simple, in theory. Half of the student body would get lunch right away when the bell rang and half would do other things like chat with friends or play in the gym to wait for the line to get shorter and for the first half to finish up and leave the commons. However, staff didn’t take into account that people were going to be sitting in the commons waiting for their turn in line for lunch. In reality, students are so impatient and don’t realize that there is no point in waiting in the line that goes all around the commons because when they come out from getting their food there isn’t going to be a place for them to sit anyway.

With the way it is now we have exactly 216 chairs in the commons, but we have 406 students eating lunch at the same time. That’s not even counting some of the teachers that sit in the commons to eat, instead of in the teacher’s lounge. In the beginning and end of the school year when it’s still warm out, people are able to eat outside on the picnic tables or in the grass. However, when winter comes around or when it’s raining, sitting outside isn’t an option. So we have people eating in the gym on the bleachers making it a huge hassle for our custodian to clean up after us every week.

In the current state of the way our building is set up, there really isn’t any space to add more seating for lunchtime. With new additions being built onto the building, areas of flexible seating such as booths and counters in gathering areas could be added that would serve multiple purposes. By adding more seating, students would feel so much less stressed about finding a place to eat lunch.

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