Conquering the Cafeteria
NEIRAD enilno edition
Every freshman goes through it when they must walk into the noisy cafeteria during the first week of school. They are forced to endure one of the biggest moments of their high school career: Conquering the cafeteria. Unlike in the popular movie “Mean Girls”, not everyone has two new friends telling them where the “freshmen, ROTC guys, preps, j.v. jocks, , varsity jocks... the greatest people you will ever meet, and the worst” always sit. But walking in to the DHS cafeteria, it’s easy to quickly figure out who sits where.
Seniors sit in the topmost section, juniors and sophomores on opposite sides of the slightly elevated middle section, and freshmen at the bottom by the windows. This reporter was curious about how people felt about the seemingly strict separation of grades in the cafeteria.
With the subject of the cafeteria segregation on his plate, Principal Dan Haron stated, “When we moved into the new high school, we purposefully did not bring over the senior cafeteria because we did not want that division of grades.” Mr Haron continued, “It is natural and understandable to sit with your friends, and your friends are most likely in your grade.” This opinion was echoed by many of the students, including sophomores Kate Bushell, and a few of her friends. They collectively expressed that the separation of grades makes it easier because they are “more comfortable” in the most hectic room in the high school.
Most students Neirad interviewed held similar opinions, including junior Alice Wang. She said she has seen freshmen in the junior section, so maybe the walls between grades are starting to be broken down. Wang also explained the separation is just something that naturally occurs, “like how the juniors always sit in the back of the bus.”
Freshmen John Jonker and Jeff Gu said that they don’t really care about the different sections, because “it’s going to happen anyway.”
Seniors understandably love the privilege of eating in the top-most section. Senior Stephanie Winsch said, “Sitting in the senior section is pretty cool considering we’ve been waiting for three years. Even having older friends in past years to sit with, it just wasn’t the same.”
Principal Haron stressed the cafeteria was not built to purposefully separate the grades, pointing out that it is actually divided into three sections, not four. “If there were four sections to the cafeteria, that argument could be made that it is purposefully separated by grade.” He also said the facility was constructed with this layout because of the “elevation of the ground.” If, hypothetically, Mr Haron was given the option to take away the sections and just make one big cafeteria, like in schools such as Greenwich High School, he says that he would choose not to change it, because “[the sections are] not a bad thing.” He doesn’t want to force students to sit with people who they are not comfortable with, and that it’s an “individual choice to integrate the grades.”
One way in the past students experienced an easy integration of grades was in the Auxiliary Cafeteria. The Aux Cafe, as many remember, was just one big room with many tables. Students could move the chairs and tables however they wanted. No one was pressured to sit in one part of the room as opposed to another. Clearly this space was a more comfortable place where people of different grades could all sit at one table. Since the Aux Cafe has seen been replaced by three classrooms this fall, options for seating during lunches for students have significantly decreased. When asked if the lack of the Aux Cafe would make a difference in the seating arrangements for students, Mr Haron pointed out , “We are going to start allowing students to eat in the Chill Zone, [so people would] have that place to integrate grades.”
Students aren’t so optimistic about the removal of the Aux Café over the summer. Junior Megan Foley said, “I miss the Aux Cafe.” Senior Bethany Turner agreed saying, “My life is empty without the Aux Cafe. Every time I walk by [those classrooms] I get a pit in my stomach.”
Whether the Aux Café is here at DHS or not, the regular cafeteria is a tough place to conquer. But freshman needn’t be (too) afraid of the noisy room. After all, you are only freshmen for one year.
