Lion Lunch, the period in which all of Tallwood High School is free to eat lunch at the same time, has made a return to term two in the 2023-2024 school year.
In November, Lion Lunch was terminated due to safety precautions.
“We wanted to ensure that lunches ran smoothly, and the way to do that was to go to a three-lunch-embedded-in-third-block model so we could reevaluate Lion Lunch in order to bring it back,” stated Tallwood Principal Dr. Ryan O’Meara.
Instead of Lion Lunch, lunches were split into three separate blocks lasting for twenty-five minutes each. This caused conflicts with club meetings, tutoring, and senior early release times.
Since the return of the new Lion Lunch, there have been some changes arranged: early-release seniors leave five minutes before Lion Lunch begins, students must be in a designated area at all times, and remediation will be held during this time for those who need it.
Lion Lunch is not only an opportunity for extra academic support, but it also provides a time to socialize.
“Students do need the experience of hanging out with their friends and that social exercise,” said Tallwood Security Officer Khristopher Gibson. “I have seen [students] a little bit happier [with the return of Lion Lunch], and they’re able to see their friends,” added Gibson.
Lion Lunch can even serve as a brain break from overwhelming workloads.
“There’s more freedom and time to enjoy yourself. It’s better than split lunches because you have forty-five minutes away from class rather than just twenty-five,” explained Tallwood student Michael Bunting.
Dr. O’Meara believes that Tallwood Lions have demonstrated an exceptional adjustment to the return of Lion Lunch so far.
“I’m really proud of our students for following the expectations. A couple of the changes we made seem to be working… students are finding seats and locations to go to, and it seems to be met with a lot of approval both from students and teachers,” described Dr. O’Meara.
The outlook for term two Lion Lunch appears to be positive and is likely to stay for the future.
“I’m confident students will continue to follow the expectations as we’ve set and explained, so as long as all of those things happen, we can continue to enjoy all of the things that Lion Lunch brings us and the opportunities that we can’t have without it,” Dr. O’Meara explained.
“I think [Lion Lunch] will be successful. I have a lot of confidence in our lions,” he added.
