Hello OHS students, families, school, faculty and staff!

This is a former OHS students writing to you. The students of OHS are ready for some changes and this is one of the only ways to grab the attention of everyone and try to make these changes. 

There are some issues at our school and we would like to change everything but we can’t. One issue that we the students and parents of OHS would like to change are the cafeteria rules and participants. 

As a junior I can say during my freshman and sophomore year, lunch was the most exciting part of my day. As a junior, not so much. I can say the same for many of the students here at OHS. Lunch is the one part of the day where we get a mask break, a break from classes and just some time to relax and get some food and hydrate our bodies. 

Granted, my freshman year was 2 years ago, lunch was amazing.. and COVID wasn’t a thing. It was super nice because we could have lunch with all of our friends at one table. Due to COVID and its rules, things have changed which for the most part, students can handle it and are fine with it.

Our cooks were the nicest humans to ever exist. They would cook all day and still be there to hand you your food and kindly ask what you would like. Some students even gifted them with gifts on holidays or at the end of the year for being here and supporting us and gifting us with our lunches so kindly. 

Juniors and seniors have the privilege of leaving for lunch if all the grades are up and if they want to. A lot of students enjoy school lunch so they decide to stay for lunch even if they can leave. Some just don’t have the money to go out and buy stuff for lunch when the school is already providing it free. 

Although, as this year continues, students are not happy with the way everything is during our lunch time. As said before, it’s our one time to relax, not think about work that’s due, and we get to get food in our systems and to talk with our friends. 

For the 4/5 days of the week that were at school, our lunch time is not that. We get our chill and relax time to talk with friends and eating time taken away from us. Yes, we can still eat. But, we have to eat with getting yelled and screamed at. 

if you walk into our lunch, you see mini waters, which is 1/3 of what’s in a regular plastic water bottle. Okay, fine, I’ll take one for now and one for after. No, that’s not acceptable. You will get yelled at if you’re caught taking more than one mini water and then its every other students fault, you’re not talked to quietly or separately. The whole entire cafeteria gets yelled at daily because, we’re taking stuff out of “her cooler.”

If there’s a cooler with drinks for the students and faulty to take with their lunch then that’s what we’ll do. Why would there be a cooler there if were just going to get yelled at? We don’t only get yelled at for taking only one, we get yelled at if we go back up after we set our bags down to grab food and/or a drink, just because the cooks think we’ve already taken something and maybe we have. It’s unfair and rude. 

That’s one problem. Another, is that who would want to eat a hamburger bun with cranberry sauce as the condiments and 2 slices of ham with a frozen block of stuffing? No one..? Exactly. Or, who wants to eat a soggy piece of pizza that your fingers literally go through because of how soggy the dough is? Not to mention the salads, there’s about 3 pieces of lettuces cut up, along with the core which is the hard part that is normally cut off and thrown away. Those 3 pieces of salad and the core are thrown in a plastic container with a few cucumber slices and tomatoes and a chicken patty cut up and covered in BBQ sauce. Some have chicken but it’s pretty much the same. Not too tasty huh?

Last year, our two lunch ladies resigned their positions and we received new ones. Our previous ones were loved by every student. This year, no one will say the same. In no way am I shaming these cooks rudely. It’s not even them both, it’s the nutritionist. She is the one who’s beyond rude and serves us poorly. 

Yes, we could bring our own lunches or just not eat there. But what about the students who can’t afford a home lunch everyday or to leave school and buy a lunch? Those students would still have to deal with this disrespect and food. 

Most students still eat this or as much as we can because we are very hungry after classes and loads of work. We need our time to eat and drink. We get served this food and then get yelled at for taking extra because our food is frozen, soggy or the fact that there’s about 5 bites to a salad. 

We know we can’t magically fire our cooks because it is hard to find cooks and it’s not our job. But we’re the students that are being disrespected and given this food poorly. We would like a change or for this to stop. Once the students aren’t listened to, the parents will make sure they are. 

We know we could come forward to our school and talk about it but 200 students can’t fit into a tiny office to give our opinions. We’re gathering more proof of how we’re treated and what we receive to eat as these days go on. Hopefully this will make a change and reach our cooks. 

Thank you for reading and seeing how we the students of OHS are treated. 

SIGN THIS if you agree.