One Lunch Trial: Principal Peterson Believes it Could be Beneficial

“I think it will be beneficial in that all teachers have time to share a meal with each other or meet during the lunch period if they so choose, students will not be separated from their friends. and all kids can be together for lunchtime activities.” Megan Peterson

By STEPHANY MEDINA
The Tower 

Manteca High School is joining suit with other local high schools; Sierra High and East Union, with a singular lunch. A trial run will occur on April 2nd through April 5th. If this trial run proves to be successful, it will likely be implemented for the 2024-2025 school year. Lunch will begin at 11:50-12:20 a.m., which would replace Manteca High’s current first lunch.    

Having a single lunch can be beneficial to Manteca’s campus, though there is some hesitancy over the mass volume of students.  

“I think it will be beneficial in that all teachers have time to share a meal with each other or meet during the lunch period if they so choose, students will not be separated from their friends. and all kids can be together for lunchtime activities.” Megan Peterson

Uniting all of Manteca’s student population on campus can create congestion at the high school and local businesses, creating insufficient seats and longer wait times to grab lunch off campus. This may cause more disturbances of these restaurants near Manteca High including Pizza Guys, and Iron Horse. Along with this, the possibility of discomfort from fellow students, brought by the humidity and students from having more body warmth in the cafeteria. This also may create a gateway for increased bullying, by uniting friend groups that were otherwise separated. Furthermore, uniting all of Manteca’s students can pose a difficulty for campus security. Hall monitor Jaime Cruz, who began working at Manteca in 2019, expressed his concerns.  

He states, “having a few large groups at lunch is easier to watch; Instead of having multiple large groups at lunch, which may be harder to watch.”   

Furthermore, having more large groups may be problematic, creating disciplinary issues to arise. Megan Peterson, Manteca High’s principal states; 

“That kids won’t spread out through campus to eat and that could cause discipline issues.  Hopefully we can avoid that.” 

The pros may outweigh the negatives by possibly reducing the number of students that ditch class to hang out with their friends. Students often take both lunches, to hang out with their friends. This also creates a consistency, eliminating confusion about which lunch you have, with the beginning of each new term. Allowing everyone to be on the same schedule and reducing the stress that comes with a new school year. Wondering if you will be the odd one out from your friend group, who receives the opposite lunch. Peterson states the possible reduction of ditching, 

“I see most people taking both lunches to hang out together, but the benefit of having one lunch is that they won’t have to worry about that and can easily just hang out, eat together and then go to class,” she said.   

By creating a singular lunch, it allows for more students to interact with one another that otherwise wouldn’t have interacted. Therefore, creating the opportunity for new friendships to bloom, and having more interactions with peers. Peterson states, 

“I think it will be beneficial in that all teachers have time to share a meal with each other or meet during the lunch period if they so choose, students will not be separated from their friends. and all kids can be together for lunchtime activities.”