There isn’t even room to breathe.
The Loy Norrix lunchroom has gone from a place to take a break from class time to a place as crowded as the mall on Black Friday. The switch from semesters to trimesters has proven to be a nuisance in more ways than one.

“Lunches were hectic enough last year,” said senior Emily Malpass, “but this year I’ve seen students eating on the floor.  It’s ridiculous.”

Amidst the switch from four classes to five, our lunches have also been changed from three lunch periods to just two. With the increase in the number of students in each lunch at Loy Norrix, the frustration is growing, and students are not the only ones affected.

“The increase in students during one lunch is tiring,” said food service technician Mrs. Timmerman, “You have to work faster to hurry up and get them through. We have to rush, and a lot of kids end up not eating because the line is too long.”

Some Loy Norrix students feel concern about finding a place to sit, and the overall chaos in the cafeteria. “It takes too long to get your food unless you have a class right next to the cafeteria,” said junior Philip McCrary, “and it’s dangerous because if there’s a fight, it will take a while for the security guards to get there, and it’s hard to find a seat.”

One attempt at a solution to the overcrowding problem is that on Thursday, September 9th, seniors were allowed to gather in the Senior Courtyard during lunch as a new option for a lunchtime activity. No eating is allowed in the courtyard, so although the Senior Courtyard is a solution to overcrowding, it is not a solution for the students who wait so long in line that there is no time to eat.