Do you know how many people eat at the cafeteria at lunch? No? The number is 420! The lunch duration is 40 minutes, but it takes only 25 minutes to complete the serving. Thus, it is a lot of traffic during a short time.
Ms. Grace Bellerive, the cafeteria manager says that each student takes around 20 seconds but as there are a lot of students, it gets really hectic. For this reason, many students cannot even get lunch. They are angry and disappointed and really want a solution to this problem.
This is becoming a big problem as students are increasing every year and more and more people are buying from the cafeteria. As stated by the manager, there are six lines, which can hold 50 people each. She said that an average number of each item is made everyday, so it is basically a “first-come-first-served” kind of service. There are a lot of students crowding in the cafeteria. Grace also said, “West High has the most organized school cafeteria in the city and has the best management among all of the schools.”
Students here are also frustrated about the long lines. They want a solution and they want it fast! In an interview with a student, it was said, “I didn’t get my lunch many days.” Another student mentioned, “I missed my favorite food many times.” Therefore, a solution is to be reached to help the situation.
Ms. Mason, longtime West Physical Education teacher, suggested a number of possible solutions for the traffic and the long lines. Firstly, she mentioned that more kids should bring lunch from home. That would significantly reduce the number of students buying from the cafeteria. Moreover, she said, “Lunch time is for eating- not for socializing.”
In addition, the foyer area is actually being considered as a place to sell sandwiches and burgers so that the cafeteria has much less congestion. It has also been said that there would be two lunch hours for the reduction of lines and the wasting of time.
In an interview with the office secretary, Ms. Chemene Breiner, it was sought out that the Eagles Cache can be used more as a food serving place and help cut out the traffic from the cafeteria. She said, “Splitting the meals between two lunch times where freshmen and seniors can share the time and sophomores and juniors can share the time, is a brilliant way of decreasing the traffic in the cafeteria.”
Even though West has probably the best management, the students still want a new and improved process of taking the food fast. Students demand that the authority should discuss this subject and come up with an answer. They all want a faster way to get their meal and satisfy their hunger.
