The first off-campus lunch was Oct. 30 and it wasn’t only about getting to leave school. It allowed the seniors to have a time of relaxation during a stressful year. 

“We kind of got like a breather from school and everything, so it was good,” senior Chloe Cowdrey said

Off-campus lunch was from 11:35  to 12:57, making it almost two hours long.

“The amount of time we were given for off campus lunch was honestly the perfect amount of time since we got to have enough time to eat and decompress,” senior Sandra Tamayo said. 

Since many students left at the same time, administration had to ensure that every student turned in their permission form and weren’t skipping.

“They asked us our last names and who all was in the vehicle and then they marked us off the list,” Cowdrey said. “It really didn’t take that long. I mean there were three of us in the car and I know some of my friends had four people, and it was pretty quick.”

To some seniors, traffic was a bit rough, but expected, so they planned ahead. 

“We did expect some sort of traffic but it isn’t too bad,” Cowdrey said. “We did order online for half of the food but then we ran through Dairy Queen and got ice cream and stuff.”  

Many seniors seemed fond of the idea of off-campus lunch and found the opportunity something that should occur more often.

“I would enjoy having it more often because I don’t think it was that hard to plan everything considering that the second one was last notice, but I also know that administrators have to do a lot to get it approved and everything,” Cowdrey said. 

However, at times these lunches could conflict with teachers’ plans for the day.

“Even though off campus lunches are fun and are a good way to decompress if someone is having a bad day, I don’t think having them very often will be convenient to the teachers due to it delaying their lesson plans,” Tamayo said.

Teachers understand that seniors enjoy these opportunities and instead find ways to work around it. 

“I think the teachers just mark us absent and then it’s mainly just Coach Black that has to go in and fix everything,” Cowdrey said. “So I know it is a bit time consuming for him and that it has to be a bit of a struggle.” 

Many seniors hold these lunches at high importance, and not only because they can miss class, but because it gives them the opportunity to enjoy their last year of high school life.

“I think off campus lunch definitely holds some sort of importance  since many people go with their friends and they create new memories with them,” Tamayo said.