Dear Editor:

Numerous high schoolers have complained too many times in regards to short lunch periods making Neenah behind in the state when it come to time management. It is often frowned upon and is a big complaint among students of NHS, who perceive this issue as “time crushing” and “inconvenient.” Schools among the state have been much more loose on time when it comes to lunch; however, NHS has been more concise when sticking to its noon routine. Besides Neenah holding a class of close to 2,000 students, many truly believe there has to be some better tactic or strategy.

It is time to modify the lunch schedule to benefit all stakeholders at NHS.

While some high schools across the state offer students 60 minutes every lunch period, Neenah limits students on time given them only 30 minutes for their lunch. High school senior, Cody Lichtfuss says, “Kids with cars have to rush from the time their 4th/5th mod ends in order to beat traffic to get their food and yet make it to school on time in order to beat the bell. The traffic adds to more stress on top of most food joints being very busy.” It is also a contributing factor that kids have to feel rushed when eating and most often throw too much away. According to NRP, students should only have 15 minutes to eat their lunch. It, however, was said that kids with a more limited time frame tend to eat less or not at all.

Ruled by the majority, students at Neenah liked the idea of merging three lunches into two 45 minute intervals; this would require freshmen and sophomores to have their own lunch with no lunch release privileges while juniors and seniors have the other lunch period with lunch release privileges. This would give students more time to arrive to either the lunchroom or their car with a clear mind on what to eat or where to go for lunch.

Longer lunch periods means smarter students, according to an article from Public School Review, it states, “schools with longer lunches tend to have a larger number of students who perform well academically. Every school in the U.S. should have a lunch period no shorter than 45 minutes”. It is one of the many reasons Neenah students should have access to a longer lunch period than what is initially offered, it will result in more academic and organizational skills for each student.

From ideas/perceptions of high schoolers at NHS, the potential for a revised lunch period would include the following:

• Two 45 minute freshmen/sophomore, junior/senior lunch periods with more paced time management
• Better organizational matter in terms of students, staff, and the lunchroom itself
• Proven to reflect on better academic abilities for high schoolers with longer lunches (NPR)
• Cleaner lunchrooms
• Longer prep time for staff

School lunches should be considered a primary topic for N.J.S.D., it would result in a benefit to everyone as a whole. Most importantly, students will benefit from this the most because they will have more time and less stress during lunch and open more opportunities to both the students and staff as a whole.

Sincerely,

Joe Baer, senior