During the pandemic, all grades were allowed to go off campus for lunch. In the 2022-2023 school year at Libertyville High School, there is a new rule: only seniors are allowed to go off campus for lunch. However, some underclassmen believe that they should have the opportunity to go off campus because they would like to be able to have a break in the middle of the school day, eat somewhere other than the cafeteria, and hang out with their friends.

Freshman Cecily Hamburg is a strong advocate for all grades leaving campus for lunch. “I [would] like [to get] fast food with my friends to be somewhere else [other than school],” said Hamburg. Due to the new rules, Hamburg won’t be able to sit down and have lunch with friends at McDonalds like she was hoping too.

Freshman Julia Davoux and Junior Lian Morales both want to go off campus for lunch. “I would like to go out with my sister because she’s a senior and drives. It would be fun because you could hang out with people from other schools. [Even though] I have a dog walker now, I could go home [and] be able to take my dog for a walk,” said Davoux.

“It would give me more freedom throughout the day and it would be more liberating instead of being at school all day,” Morales said. “It’s a good break. And I know I’ve talked to a lot of other people and they feel the same way instead of just the seniors.”

Morales was hoping to “eat lunch with friends, go to places in town or get to do things outside of school. [For instance], if I have a doctor’s appointment, I can just go during lunch.” 

Another advocate for going off campus for lunch, Freshman Colin Planeta, said he would go out “every single day to take advantage of it. The [school] lunches can get expensive from time to time and I know some parents don’t want to pay for them all the time. And for those that live close to here, it’s convenient for them because they can just walk home.”

Planeta was looking forward to “eating my mom’s home cooked meals [spending time with] friends [at the] park, and hanging out until the next period starts.” Planeta is in favor of underclassmen leaving campus for lunch. “It would really let the students have a big break from school,” Planeta said. “If you’re studying all day, you can look forward to getting outside for lunch.” Planeta believes that going off campus for lunch would be really easy for him due to the fact that he lives close by to school and can easily bike to his home or restaurants in the area. 

Senior Anna Koberstein is enjoying the privilege by leaving campus during lunch. “It is something I’ve been looking forward to and it’s nice to be able to get out of the building for a little bit during the day,” Koberstein said. 

Underclassmen are looking forward to the time they are able to go off campus for lunch like the seniors. This would allow students to be able to visit different places for a variety of food, allowing students to bond with friends and family during leisure time, and overall relaxing in the middle of the school day. Since the cafeteria food can be expensive for some students, going off campus can be a cheaper way to get food by allowing students to go home and enjoy a meal with their family. During the pandemic, all grades were allowed to go off campus for lunch. 

When students were allowed to come back to school during Covid, students needed to social distance in the cafeteria, so the school allowed for all students to leave campus for lunch. Now, students don’t need to social distance in the cafeteria, so all students can fit in the cafeteria. The school is back to its rule of just allowing seniors who are in good standing to leave campus for lunch this year. 

Hopefully the rule regarding lunch release will change again, and all students will be given the privilege of lunch release. As Korberstein said, sometimes it’s nice “getting to go get food with friends [since] it’s nice not to sit in the cafeteria and to be able to have a change of scenery from the chaos of [the] school.”