By: Jorge Leal, Anndrea Vasquez, Jasmine Minjarez, Estefanie Aquino

Jose was very hungry since the moment he awoke, with his stomach non stop grumbling. He arrives at school just in time for class. As he’s in class he checks the time every 5 minutes, counting down the seconds for it to be lunch already. As the last few minutes of second period approach, Jose can not hold it anymore. He has all his materials packed away, hand on his stomach, staring at the clock wishing for it to go faster. As soon as the clock hits 11:25 Jose rushes out the door shoving anyone in his way and running as fast as he can to the lunch line. He got in line and waited anxiously for his food. He finally reaches the front of the line and is excited when he receives his lunch. He speed walks to the lunch tables, sits down and opens his lunch, but he is disgustedly disappointed. He sees the pieces of soggy bread and mushrooms everywhere on the tray. He tries to assemble it together and then takes a bite and instantly spits it out in disgust. Jose hasn’t ate school lunch since.

School lunch has always been an issue of contention at school and APB is no different. Students have a lot to say about it, this year the lunch menu is changing and admin has introduced new foods. Some new foods are students favorites and others not so much. “The lunch is okay, but it’s not my favorite sometimes. I don’t eat lunch because I don’t feel like eating it.” said Rocio Castro, a junior here at APB. Senior, Greg Chaparro seems to think differently when asked what he thought about school lunch, Greg states, “Well school lunch is pretty good, it just doesn’t have any taste, but I know it’s healthy.” Later on, when asked what he wish they served, Greg said, “I wish they served fresh cut fruit instead of packaged fruit because it might not actually be organic.” Others think more about what is on the menu instead of just the taste. “They put too much chicken, almost every week there’s chicken on the menu and I feel like many people don’t like that.” said Kimberly Rivera, a junior attending APB. “The sandwiches are okay, but the lettuce is not edible.” said Rocio Castro. Some students are liking the new lunches but others are not. A sophomore, Juliana Vargas said that the food at APB is better than her middle school food, but does not have much flavor.

We know that there are schools that allow seniors leave school for lunch and come back. When asked should seniors get special privileges here at APB, students had different opinions. “Seniors that are 18 or older should be able to leave campus, but seniors that aren’t over 18 should have a signature from the office that allow them to go out and come back.” said Greg. When asked about consequences, Greg said, “If students come back late they should probably get detention because it wasn’t a big mistake. If they don’t come back at all, the consequence should be in school suspension or have that privilege be revoked.” Juniors said otherwise about this topic. “Why would they get special treatment?” said a junior Rocio disagreeing on the possibility. Many lower grade students disagree that seniors should receive special treatment, but some did take into account that they would also receive the same treatment as the seniors eventually, which they then thought twice about. 10th grade History teacher, Ms. Jang has an alternate opinion on the subject, and believes that there is not enough time for students during lunch time, nor enough food places near our school to be able to make it back in time for class. When asked if the students should have the privilege of ordering food, Ms.Jang also brought up the fact that school pays for school lunches and if students begin to order food, the school lunch would be wasted, Ms. Jang said if students want to eat out they should just go after school.
We have all complained about the school lunch at some point in our semesters, and these past few weeks, but do we have the right to complain? Afterall, we are getting free lunch since the school is already paying for it. Students should not be complaining about how disgusting the food is, but should be grateful that our school is providing us with food. If the food really is disgusting  then just simply bring your own lunch and problem solved.