Combined period is about more than lunch

Students can get help, play, practice

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by EMILY BARNES Henry E. Lackey High School senior Jamar Jarmon, 16, eats his lunch before playing basketball in the gym during lunch hour at the school last week. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Henry E. Lackey High School junior Alexandra Brown, 16, plays the baritone saxophone as the jazz band practices during lunch hour at the school. Click here to enlarge this photo Henry E. Lackey high school juniors Xavier Jackson, 17 Lexy Mrongowius, 16, and Brandon Picker, 16 sit together in the cafeteria during lunch hour at the school Oct. 20. Click here to enlarge this photo Henry E. Lackey high school senior Ashley Todd, 17, left and junior Nakiyh Turner, 16, find a quiet place for lunch away from the cafeteria.

At 11:30 a.m. it's Charger time at Henry E. Lackey High School and students are free to roam the halls, eat lunch, study for tests and get assistance from teachers for 63 minutes.

Charger time is another term for the one lunch schedule at the Indian Head school, home of the Lackey Chargers.

Depending on the size of a school, its class schedule and the size of the cafeteria, a school can have several lunch periods during the day. With 1,300 students, Lackey had four lunches scheduled until this year, when it opted to change its schedule to allow one lunch where students can eat anywhere on campus except the media center and the lower level of the school. Students can't go outside except for the school's interior courtyard.

"Last year lunch was 45 minutes. Once you were done eating, the bell rang," said Khamaal Gilbert, 15, a sophomore.

This year Gilbert said he likes to eat his lunch first and use the remainder of the time socializing or getting work done.

According to Principal James Short, going from four lunch periods to one gives students extra time for academic intervention and allows for students to learn responsibility in time management.

Short originally got the idea for one lunch when working in the Montgomery County public school system, and it seemed more feasible with Lackey's smaller size compared to the Montgomery County school.

After discussing it in depth with staff, Short and other administrators took tours of other schools that participate in one lunch such as Patuxent High School in Calvert County.

Short said the school system recently provided schools with additional funding for resources to aid student performance on state tests. Short realized that the ideal time for the school to offer many of the extra resources was after school — a time that many could not participate due to other obligations including family and sports.

The other option was during lunch, and by combining all lunches into one, the test-taking resources became more readily accessible.

"It's really good, you get to do your work, have extracurricular activities and have a little more fun," junior Jalen Carter, 16, said about the one lunch period.

Canei Williams, 16, said aside from eating, students can play basketball, study for tests and pretty much do whatever they want during lunch.

Inside the nutrition classroom Oct. 20, several students were meeting with teachers Inga Arnold and Sharon Mudd regarding an upcoming Oktoberfest. Students said they started lunch with the meeting and would eat during the second half of the hour.

During the same half hour students in other areas of the school were getting English support, social studies support, practicing with ROTC and more.

Though it is considered free time, it wouldn't be an instructional building with out a plan of action or a schedule and that's where Vice Principal Richard Conley comes in.

Conley explained Tuesday that students and teachers have schedules detailing what activities and programs are open on which days and what teachers are assigned to each activity.

Teachers are allotted 15-minute periods for eating which are also scheduled.

For example, on Mondays and Wednesdays, the pool is open for open swim during the first half of the lunch period. Computer labs and the media center along with some other academic opportunities for students are open each day for the duration of the lunch hour.

Band instructor Alan Freeman said several students use the lunch hour to participate in jazz band as it does not fit in their regular schedules.

Laurelyn Marin, chorus director, had a group of chamber choir members in the chorus room practicing the "Star Spangled Banner" for that evening's volleyball game.

"I absolutely love it. I can hold rehearsal with the entire choir without keeping them after school," Marin said about one lunch.

Short said while it may be hard to believe, the lunch lines are not so long that students cannot have time to eat.

Many students opt to eat lunch later, allowing the lunch lines to subside.

Four cash registers are kept open during the lunch hour and lunch lines remain open for nearly the entire hour.

Gail Slaughter, food services manager at Lackey admitted that the concept of one lunch was a bit hard to swallow but it has been going very smoothly from the food service prospective.

Slaughter said the lunch lines will go quicker once students "get used to the idea that they don't need to be first in line for lunch."

Junior Courtney Yearwood, 17, sees the one hour lunch as both good and bad.

"It's a break, you get to chill and get your grades up but at the same time people get in fights," he said.

Yearwood said he attributes the potential for fights to students having so much free time.

Short said when it comes to student fights in high school, to a certain degree they are inevitable saying that "If kids really want to find a way to fight, they're going to figure out a way."

With one lunch, Short said more staff is free to supervise and when sparks do rise, staff reacts quickly.

As the schedule reads, there are at least 35 to 40 staff members assigned to different areas of the building to supervise lunch, which, according to Short, is more than there were in previous years at lunch time.

Vice Principal Glenn Jones said one way to maximize the one lunch program and minimize student misbehavior is to ensure students are presented with a vast amount of academic programs and activities during the hour period.

Jones said the school is at about 98 percent with where it wants to be with how students should be using the time.

"We have a long way to go. I am really pleased with the kids," Jones said.

Jones said the school has had "very few incidents" during the one-hour period.

"I commend [the students] for having self-discipline, he said.

Jones also said that during the hour any programs and meetings take place that may have otherwise taken place during instructional time such as a SADD program held Tuesday.

With one lunch, no instructional time is interrupted according to Jones.

For those who continually misuse the free time, for example, through continual horseplay, Charger time is taken away and these students spend time in a separate area during lunch.

One way in which student misbehavior has been curbed is in class cutting according to Short. He said students in the past would cut class and go to one of the four scheduled lunch periods to be with friends.

"There is but one lunch, so where are they going to cut to?" he asked.

Senior Shaniqua Smith, 17 said she noticed that students "really don't talk as much during class" as most of the socializing is done during Charger time.

Short said students have really stepped up and taken ownership of Charger time. As suggested by students, benches were placed in hallways to allow more areas to sit and eat or read or even socialize. Short said a dozen more benches will be placed in the school in following months.

For one hour last week, like any other day this school year, students took advantage of the 63 minutes of freedom.

Shortly past 12:30 the bell rang; seventh period was beginning and teachers in the hallway made certain that students knew "Charger time is over."

gphillips@somdnews.com