Everyone’s talking about Wilson’s new lunch schedule. On the one hand, it’s a great plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in a large school. Still, I’m going to miss the old festivities and opportunities offered by one united lunch.

Half of the grades at Wilson are unfamiliar with the old lunch, so for context it was more than just a lunchtime. Teachers were available for homework help and student-run clubs hosted meetings and fundraisers. 

Moreover, STEP was a school-wide cultural event, filled with raucous laughter and meaningful discussions.The center of the atrium was clear of tables and held pillow fights during pajama day and sometimes games of musical chairs. On Fridays, Mr. Bargeman (yes, that Mr. Bargeman) DJ’d from the top of the stairs.

Although some things, like the pillow fighting, will likely not be held this year due to COVID-19 precautions, we are losing the opportunity to hold COVID-safe activities too. With a split lunch schedule, these memorable events will either be impossible or will have to be hosted twice. 

Furthermore, changing to two lunch periods hurts clubs and social scenes. The clubs I am involved in have scrambled to adapt to this new procedure. One has enough members that it’s not an issue to host one meeting for each lunch. The other likely could not sustain that, and has chosen to meet during lunch A, leaving out an unfortunate couple of members. Additionally, the friends I know that have lunch B are sad to be what feels like some of the only seniors in the second lunch period.

I know that this decision was not up to the Wilson administration and in fact they resisted this change for many years prior to COVID-19. It would have been nice for students to have received this information before the schedule-change period started, but in the long run it won’t matter because future classes won’t miss what they never had. All in all, I am grateful for any rule change that helps us stay in school in-person, full time, but I feel sorry for future grades who will never experience what the old Wilson lunch is like. •