Lion Lunch, after making a disappearance following its short run last year, has returned for the 2018-2019 school year. 

After the experimental week with Lion Lunch last year, there were a few issues that arose that led to the administration deciding to terminate it for the year in order to address some of those issues. The issue of students receiving food was one of the number one complications that arose.

“Last year, we did not feed everyone that we needed to feed,” stated Dr. Avila, Tallwood’s principal. “We fed a few hundred fewer each day….So we developed plans to give the satellite locations some space to open up so kids could get food….Those were the important things: to make sure everyone got fed.”

Opening up the satellite locations combined with students realizing they didn’t all have to rush to the cafeteria at once as soon as the bell rang helped solve that problem. After addressing the food situation, however, the administration wanted to do more to help maximize the efficiency of Lion Lunch, which led to some restructuring of the Lion Lunch schedule.

“Last year we had two different halves, where you could do remediation or a club, whereas now it’s fifty minutes so you can have more time with your sponsors if you want to be in a club, or if you want to go get help you have that extended time with the teacher,” explained Avila.

Granting students the full fifty minutes to do what they want or need to do has given students more ease and flexibility throughout their Lion Lunch, as students can manage their time as they see fit and are not held within the constraints of half-hour increments. Students can now use the fifty minutes as they please, whether that be to attend a club meeting, receive tutoring during a teacher’s office hours, do homework, visit a teacher, or simply sit with their friends and hang out.

Safety is of course always a primary concern, so the administration has been doing all they can to maximize the safety of students and staff. Teachers now have schedules each week in which they have hallway duties for half of Lion Lunch.

“…we wanted to make sure the school was safe…so teachers now have duties in certain locations,” said Avila. “You’ll see that they all have radios in case there’s any issue we need to take care of. Luckily we haven’t been hit with anything major.”  

Tallwood’s administration has been making strives to ensure that the school is as safe as possible. Mr. Lawler, one of Tallwood’s assistant principals, has replaced Mr. Mainor this year in being in charge of the building, and he is determined to make the school as safe as possible.

“…[Mr. Lawler] is really apt to change things and make things much more secure than they have been in the past,” commented Avila. “Mr. Lawler has done a lot of landscaping to the building, because before, the landscaping covered cameras, and so he’s had the trees trimmed back so that you can see a lot more of the exterior of the school….”

Students and parents may have also noticed that the system for getting into the school after 7:20 has changed a bit.

“We have a camera in the front…so if you come in after 7:20 you have to buzz in and it videotapes you, so you have to actually ring the doorbell and the security assistants–there’s two of them at the front desk–they would have to buzz you in and you would have to physically check in. Any visitors have to show their IDs as well, so that’s safer as far as that’s concerned. It’s supposed to slow down the number of people that come in and make sure that we are letting in the right people for the right reasons,” explained Avila.

Luckily, there haven’t been any major problems, and the school has a much safer feel. Overall, Dr. Avila pegs Lion Lunch as a success, but encourages students to start attending various remediation sessions and clubs for their own benefit.

“The kids are behaving, the school is clean….For it to be successful I just need the kids to start attending some of these things for the remediation or the clubs,” said Avila.

Tallwood students are encouraged to continue behaving in a mature and safe manner, as well as to take advantage of all the exciting and beneficial opportunities that Lion Lunch offers.

Click here to access other articles in Volume 4, Issue 1 of The Roaring Gazette.