By: Valendy Pierre
A lot of changes are happening for the 2017-18 school year, one of them being the lunch shifts. In previous years, we’ve had three shifts: A, B, and C lunch. With a few votes, that was instantly changed to just two lunches. They’ve tried having two lunches before, but no one really knows nor remembers what happened. 
Some teachers and students like the idea of just having two lunch shifts, while others hold a strong opinion against the lunch shifts, like our upperclassmen Dezor Hamilton and Gabby Redding.
“I think the lunches are foolish,” said senior Dezor Hamilton. Dezor has attended Apopka High School all of her four years. Out of all of the changes being done to the school, she believes this is probably the most absurd. One of our fellow juniors, Gabby Redding, agrees with her. “It’s too cramped, too many people there,” said Redding. “And there’s too short a time period.”
The students are able to sit anywhere in the courtyard, given that the lunch room area is overcrowded. One of the student deans, Mr. Coffie, mentioned the plan of getting more benches in the courtyard for the students to sit on during lunch. “We are in the works of getting more benches put into the courtyard, so the kids who are down on the other end of the cafeteria will have a place to sit. I think it’s working out pretty good,” he said. The benches should come in about a week or two.
At the moment, there are four food carts stationed around the courtyard for the students who are unable to get their food in the cafeteria. Three of the carts take cash, and the other cart takes ID. Freshman Haylea Mahoney believes having so many cash carts and only one ID cart is unfair. “I think it’s unfair because some people don’t have cash on them all the time,” she said. The majority of the students who attend Apopka have reduced or free lunch. Sophomore Kaila Palmer believes they should have more scanners around the courtyard for the students who can’t afford paying $2.25 every day. “They should lower the prices or get more scanners,” Palmer said. Coffie believes that it’s all the same, inside and outside the cafeteria. “Maybe—I don’t think that it’s much of an issue. I think if a kid wants—it’s almost the same thing you’re getting in the cafeteria in a way isn’t it?” said Coffie. He mentions that the carts help benefit groups, like the PTA, earn extra money for the school, and that it’s working out just fine.
Besides freshman Haylea and sophomore Kaila, the two other students, Dezor and Gabby, have been here long enough to experience the three lunches. But even these new students believe they should bring back the three lunches. Palmer, whose responses are straightforward, said yes they need to bring back the three lunches, no questions. Mahoney agrees they need to bring it back because it’s in a shambles. “It’s too chaotic and overcrowded,” she said. “You can barely find anywhere to sit.”
There are over 3500 kids attending Apopka this school year. Because of this, they put the 9th grade center into use, now known as the North Campus. Mr. Scahill, a teacher who’s been working at Apopka High School for many years, believes that they should open the cafeteria over by the North Campus. “What might help—why don’t they open up the 9th grade center’s cafeteria because it’s fully functioning, and then you’ve got that area for 9th graders to maybe go to—I’m not saying 9th graders, let’s say the whole school,” said Scahill. “Open the cafeteria at the North Campus, to help the students who have a class at that campus before lunch—that will maybe alleviate some crowding.” Coffie, on the other hand, does not find it necessary to use the other cafeteria because only a part of the 9th grade center is in use. “The problem with that is—if the entire North Campus was being utilized—then I think it would be something to look into, but only a portion of the 9th grade center is in use. Until we utilize the whole campus, I don’t think we should”
It’s too early in the year to decide whether the two lunches will be a hot mess or not. These students reckon the whole thing will not work, but you never know. Maybe they should utilize the cafeteria over by the North campus. Maybe they should reconsider this whole thing. Maybe the students’ opinions should be put into consideration, let their voice be heard. Maybe this situation is not all that bad after all. It’s too early to decide, but time is ticking. Something has to be done.