The highlight of many students’ school days, the 25-minute lunch block provides a chance to eat and catch up with friends while not having to worry about class. This semester, however, lunch at FCHS has often featured long lines (particularly at “A” lunch), leaving students who buy lunch with minimal time to eat. A recent change was implemented to the cafeteria line process in order to fix this problem.
Starting Nov. 8, lunch lines have been numbered 1, 2, and 3. Line 1 contains the extra item of the day like chicken sandwiches or pizza sticks. Line 2 changes daily, with daily offerings being written on the window signage. Line 3 contains the main entrée, such as tacos or chicken alfredo. All of the lines provide window signage with information about which food is being served in which line.
Food Service Manager Sheri Casero decided to make this change after she noticed an increase in complaints. “Many issues were coming up that students were not getting what they wanted to eat after waiting in long lines, so by having specific menu items in a line we are hoping to prevent this,” she explained.
Casero said she hopes that implementing this change would allow students to get in and out of the lines quicker while keeping the most popular items for the later lunches.
“Since we have the specific menu items in a line we can see more of what is needed. We always try to have the largest demand for food in two lines. Line 1 will always have a chicken option and Line 3 will always have the main entrée in it. Line 2 will always be one of the highest demand lines. My servers should be able to serve faster since we don’t have to ask which entrée someone wants since the student has decided which line to go in,” she said.
Casero has high hopes for the change. “I believe the change has been fairly smooth. With any change, we are still working out some issues. I feel some students might not be standing in a longer line and just going to whatever menu item is in the shorter line. Hopefully, this isn’t happening. All my staff is working hard to get everyone fed as fast as we can. ‘A’ lunch, for some reason, is a huge lunch to serve. Not sure why so many more eat on this versus the other lunches,” she noted.
Not all students are aware of the changes, despite numerous announcements on In the Know.
“I personally don’t buy lunch, but I’ve noticed that the lines are really long, I’ve had friends who have had like five minutes to eat their lunch after finally getting out of the line. I didn’t even realize that there was a change in the process, but I have noticed my friends coming back from the lines faster,” said freshman Hunter Marshall.
Other students with ‘A’ lunch approve of the new system. “I’m definitely noticing that the new process has been a big help with [the lines.] I’ve been having way less trouble getting the food I want,” said junior Hailey English.
A student who has “C” lunch, freshman Landon Morris, also appreciates the changes. “I usually wait until the lines die down a little until I get my lunch, and by the time I got there, they’d sometimes be out of what I wanted. Ever since the change, though, I haven’t had any trouble with getting the food I want,” said Morris.
