Every day after fourth period when the bell rings, classrooms empty, hallways flood and parking lots crowd with hungry students. Open lunch is a 50 minute period (varying on special schedules) during the school day when students are allowed to leave school grounds to go out for lunch.
Many students leave school premises during their lunch break to eat at nearby restaurants, cafes, cars or even homes. “No one feels like packing lunch, you’re able to get whatever you want for lunch,” junior Tavares Vaughin Cooper said.
Not only are students permitted to leave school to get lunch, students are also welcomed to all parts of the building. After asking various students where they typically eat their lunch everyday, junior Brooklyn Pelham said, “I usually sit with my friends in a random stairwell.”
“When I was a freshman I thought open lunch was the coolest thing ever, I used to go out everyday,” junior Kamari Peoples said. “Now I go out to this spot in the stairwell and sit down with my friends, or I go to Chipotle a lot. My friends usually take me there in their car.”
Many students think open lunch is a reward for their hard work in school, or for having to endure four long periods beforehand, and another three after lunch ends. Lunch is the biggest social hour of the day, and an open lunch gives freedom to students after being stuck in the school building all day. “It gives students a lot more flexibility and it lets them have a chance to walk around and even motivation to even go outside and get fresh air and stuff like that,” senior Eliza Petrova said.
The varieties of foods to eat are expanded, but also where students are allowed to eat them. “I go out to Wintergreen with my friends, usually to Chipotle, Wingstop and Roy Rogers,” Cooper said.
The majority of schools typically require students to eat in their school’s cafeteria. Although it may seem strange that students would prefer to eat on the ground in hallways and stairwells, not being required to eat in one place as the entire school and under supervision is refreshing.
“I think that open lunch is a very good thing that this school has, especially considering how small the cafeteria itself is, because open lunch doesn’t just mean being able to leave school grounds but also it means being able to eat where we want in the building itself,” senior Andrew Concaugh said “I think if it was removed it would be a very poor decision because I don’t think the cafeteria itself would be able to hold every Richard Montgomery student.”
Adequate time to eat lunch is a concern to some students, especially if they have to manage their time and factor in the time it takes to leave school and come back for fifth period. Rockville Town Center is within close proximity to RM, along with many other restaurants and places to eat close by. Students either walk, ride their bikes/electric scooters, or drive to them. “At other high schools, students sometimes only have 25 minutes for lunch. We’re about double that,” science and engineering teacher Kevin Martz said.
Open lunch can promote independence, responsibility, and time management, however, students often abuse their freedom and do not make it back to class on time. “When the weather is nice out we see a lot of students getting to class late,” security guard Dennis Whalen said.
Even when allotted 50 minutes, students argue they are not given enough time. “It’s too short and I’m always having to rush to my math class,” freshman Justine Ryan said.
Although time is a constraint for students, the freedom of open lunch can be enjoyed by all; students can enjoy eating in a stress free and uncontrolled environment. “Open lunch is my favorite part about RM for me,” freshman Antonio Martinez said.
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