As Aurora continues to exceed, their lunches do not

Since freshman year I have had sixth period lunch and have dealt with having to rush up to the line in order to get that day’s main course as they are constantly running out of food leaving many students eating small snacks and week old pizza. A simple solution to this would be having students fill out an online form each morning saying if they are buying or packing (just like at other schools in the district).

Not only is there not enough food, but the quality of the food is unacceptable. We receive the same food every week (mozzarella sticks, chicken, pizza, fries, nachos, or patties/burgers) and it consistently does not reach its equivalence in price (I often spend over $5 per day just to feed myself).

There is no nutritional value whatsoever Often the food is cold or burnt. Myself along with much of the student body finds it hard to believe that the lunches at AHS are worse than at any other school in the district.

At Miller, Craddock, and Leighton they have monthly calendars where students can see what is being served each day. The food is of acceptable quality and students know well in advance what is being served. This allows them to prepare a packed lunch if they do not prefer that day’s choices.

At Harmon, students are given a wide variety of choices, so much to where many students do not have to worry about packing at all. The lunch ladies are also very understanding if students run out of money. At the high school, if you go below or close to zero the lunch ladies typically force you to put your food back and tell you that they cannot offer you that day’s food.

Personally, I experienced this freshman year on an early April day in where I had a baseball game after school in Strongsville. With the lunch that day, I was going to fall to two dollars in debt. The lunch lady told me that I was not allowed to buy lunch. Obviously, as a freshman, I was confused and unwilling to speak up. I texted my mom informing her of what had happened and she called Mrs. Burger once she knew the situation. Sure enough, before seventh period was over I had a bag of food delivered to me.

If my mom would have not contacted the school I would not have ate in over twelve hours that day while playing in a sporting event in cold and rainy weather. Since then, I have been denied lunch multiple times and see it happen to my peers every single day (and no, before you ask, myself and fellow students do not want frozen bread and four slices of cheese in a plastic bag which is what they give if you are out of money).

Without the residents of Aurora and the students families, there would be no “Greenhouse”. I do not understand the concept of telling students they are not allowed to buy food when in debt while their families are the ones funding and improving this school. I find it hard to believe that a student is going to stop attending school or drop out over being a few dollars in debt. At Harmon, they were very understanding of this and simply added any unpaid amounts to your student fees.

Today for lunch my only option was a plate of four churros. What nutritional value is there? None.

At other schools, such as Hudson High School, you rarely fine greasy, burnt, and frozen food. Hudson is notorious for the healthy lunches and for being ahead of the curve. They formerly offered sushi at lunch. Obviously, this is expensive however it is the students choice to buy the food. They also offer many healthy alternatives on a much cheaper level.

Hudson also offers a daily breakfast menu for students. It is already known only a minority of students eat a legitimate breakfast in the morning and this would help solve that problem therefore improving production during the school day. A few examples of the breakfast options offered are fruit, cinnamon rolls, french toast sticks, waffles, and more. Another example of this is in Ravenna. These are two of many area schools that offer a breakfast menu.

Some may ask why myself and other students just do not pack a lunch and there are multiple answers to this. First, sometimes we just do not have the time. Morning are busy and some days there just is not ten minutes to spare. Also, each house is not always packed with food. Some days parents may need to go shopping and there is a small number of options to pack for lunch. Lastly, why are we not supposed to expect a quality, affordable lunch? That is expected of each school district, especially one that exceeds as much as Aurora at so many levels.

With all this being said, AHS administration has promised to look into this issue and assures that improvements are incoming. However, do not be afraid to voice your opinion on this or any other issue that you feel strongly about.