By Leah Cox
Last Friday, I experienced the Lovett lunch line for the first time in about a month. I had basically boycotted it because of the line frenzy.
I reached the lunch line at 1:22. There were about 20 or so students ahead of me in the narrow passageway leading to the first door. In front of me were Audrey and Zoe, both 9th graders in the Newspaper class with me. I talked to them for a bit. I must have been distracted by our conversation (shout out to Rev. Allen and his chapel on patience) because by 1:24 I had made my way into the cafeteria with only 11 students in front of me. We were all waiting to be let through the line by Coach Dobbins, who was staggering the number of students in the self-serving lines.
By 1:25, Coach Dobbins let all 11 of us through the line, including Audrey, Zoe, and me. On Friday, the main entree was Frito Pie. There were also plenty of other options, but none interested me on that day. Instead, I observed the self-serve lines and realized that most of the students were moving at an efficient speed.
I left the lunch room at 1:26 without a fuss. In total, the experience took a mere six minutes. Efficient and fast.
But those probably aren’t the words most of us would use to describe the lunch line experience since returning to school in January.
I recently talked to students about their lunchroom experience between January and February.
When I entered the senior lounge, the seniors were, coincidentally, already talking about the lunchline before I walked in. For Davis Haden, who took a lead in the conversation, it’s the self-serve aspect that’s the biggest problem. “I think the self-serve takes too long. The previous serving line was much better,” he said. ”Also, some students are taking too much food. It’s gotten to the point where sometimes I’m unable to get the main entree.”
Alec Cauwenberghs jumped in on the conversation. While he thinks students should be able to “get more than one of something…at the same time, I think there should be a cap.” There were about twelve total seniors in the room, and as I swiveled my head around I saw most of them nod aggressively in agreement.
So on Tuesday, February 14th, I sat down with Mr. Melito and asked him all the questions I’m sure you all are dying to know the answers to: What in the world is going on with the lunch line? I met Mr. Melito in his office located in the Student Lounge. He seemed pleased with the opportunity to clarify some of the misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the lunch line frenzy. I prepared several questions—all of which he answered with great depth and candor, often anticipating questions I hadn’t asked yet.
To start, I got straight to the point. Mr. Melito, when did you realize the new lunch system would be a challenge? Do you think it’s a challenge?
“Truthfully, it’s not really a challenge,” he said. “The perception from the student body is that it’s a challenge because they’ve had to wait a little longer…This is really a byproduct of not being able to be in front of you all to explain a lot of stuff. We used to be able to meet as an Upper School a couple of times a week. I think if we had that luxury…[the lunch line] wouldn’t seem as big a deal as perceived. Truthfully…I don’t think there’s been but one day when we have gone past 1:45.”
The wait, as he told me, is “a byproduct of how the Upper School runs the lunch schedule.” One thing that makes the Upper School distinct is the fact that in one class, students from all four grade levels could be learning. The Lower and Middle School don’t have this factor to consider. The Lower School dismisses grades K-2 followed by 3-5 to go to lunch. The Middle School rotates the lunch schedule each day. We couldn’t, for instance, dismiss all 11th-graders because there could be three other grade levels in a class—take the Honors Singers class for example, it’s a class with 9th through 12th-grade students.
Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking: Well, what about dismissing floors (like we did during the height of COVID-19)? To that, Mr. Melito said: “Because of the nature of our schedule, the way it rotates, the same student could possibly be in US 301 every day. Even though we’re rotating floors, that doesn’t mean every student will rotate being first or second or third.”
The next thing Mr. Melito asks students to take into consideration is the meal schedule. He said, “the menu dictates sometimes how long the line is.” Even before the new system, menus featuring fried ravioli or circle pizza almost always guaranteed a long line. When you add that component to the fact that we’re now serving ourselves, it’s definitely going to take longer.
At this point in the article, I want to make you aware of one very important piece of information that I learned from Mr. Melito. In fact, it’s central to understanding the lunch line frenzy.
Sage is Lovett’s new dining service. Last August, an employee working for Sage began to observe the dynamics and logistics of the Lovett lunch room. He actually observed for the entire first semester. The point of this was to gain some insight into how Sage might fit into the model Lovett had already established. Well, as it turns out, this employee left his job at Sage to take another job at a hospital. He left in December before winter break. A new person assumed his position, and was left with no time to observe the lunch room. He has the notes from the previous employee, along with specific information from the school’s three divisions. “He’s trying to make it work,” Mr. Melito told me, “and I think he’s done a bang-up job!”
Mr. Melito thinks one of the problems is the rumors people spread when things don’t go the way they want them to. “But if you don’t come and find out, don’t come and ask, you have no idea what’s going on,” he said. I definitely understand this now. Until I emailed him to request an interview, Mr. Melito said that no student had really asked him why the lunch line was so long. “Perception” was a word Mr. Melito repeated countless times throughout the 21-minute interview.
But while students (and some teachers) may perceive the lunch line frenzy to be a mainstay with no solutions or efforts to make improvements, Mr. Melito says that a few weeks into the semester all three divisions got together to meet. Those in attendance included leaders from each of the three divisions, Mr. Kelly (Chief Operating Officer), and Sage. During the meeting, the leaders expressed their needs and concerns—and created plans of action.
The most successful plan of action is the 20-minute “head start” that students can take advantage of if they have a free period. “Man, it’s fantastic!”, Mr. Melito expressed. A lot can happen in 20 minutes. Even if about 100 students trickle into the lunch line, that can help a lot (considering that’s almost 1/6 of the Upper School student body). Teachers who allow their students to leave five minutes early have helped a lot, too!
When I talked to Senior Leila Beaver in the hallway, she said: “I go early when I have a free period before lunch…and overall, I have noticed an improvement in the line length. Well, just a little bit.” A little improvement goes a long way. Baby steps.
Additionally, instead of just three warmers, the lunch room now has four. This means that the line distribution is much better and lines are shorter. The lemonade has also been moved to a previously unoccupied space in the room, which allows for more space to move people through more quickly. The new placement of the paper products has also helped this situation by creating more of a distinction between paper product users, who will eat elsewhere, and glass plate users who will be eating in the cafeteria.
In my interview with Senior Kamryn Washington, she mentioned that moving the milk station has definitely helped with the lunchroom logistics. “The opened up the space where the milk used to be, and now there’s food. I think that’s helping because there are now more food options for people to eat.” She did mention, however, that after waiting in line for 10 minutes one day, there was no more food left. This happened two days after Rev. Allen’s chapel on patience. Since then, Kamryn has found it hard to have patience in the lunch line.
Often, Mr. Melito asks for feedback from lunchroom regulars —and has even implemented some of the great suggestions. He told me that there are regular groups of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who sit in the lunchroom.
However, with all of the improvements being made, there still seems to be a disconnect between students and those, like Mr. Melito, who are responsible for managing the flow of the lunch room. I asked him how the disconnect could be solved. He thinks getting SGA president Wesley Caldwell to say something might help. “The thing is, and you’ll hear Ms. Hooker say this a lot, all Upper School students need, is to know,” he said. He believes if students know what’s going on, they know how to move about their day in a more knowledgeable manner. “That’s the beauty of our place,” he said. “It’s the nature of our beast.”
As for what the lunchroom users can do to improve the experience, Mr. Melito asks students to be mindful of where they enter the lunchroom based on the food they plan to eat. This means entering through the first set of doors if you plan to make a salad, sandwich, or panini. Second, he asks that students have a little bit of patience while waiting. Third, move as quickly and efficiently as you can through the line. “Everybody wants to talk to their friends, but wait until you sit down to do so.”
He also spoke about seniors who are under the impression that skipping the lunch line is a senior tradition. He said that seniors “can’t just walk in front of everybody…you know, that’s nothing that is set in stone. I think the seniors look at it as if they’re being penalized, but no, I just now have more eyes in the place…it just doesn’t happen anymore.”
So that leaves all of us waiting in line together. As you might imagine, the lunch line situation has led to students coming up with some creative excuses for skipping the line. “You know what? In all honesty, students have legit lunchtime commitments,” Mr. Melito said. “I have no problem letting you through as long as you are honest…It is funny though when students try to skip and their buddies call them out!”
And FYI, Mr. Melito says he and the other teachers and coaches do see people skipping the line. “There’s a group that tries all the time. We just gotta try to stay one step ahead.”
Overall, things do seem to be improving.
Sophomore Cleo Wynn acknowledged that things have been getting better. said, “I feel like the lines are less now,” she said..” I actually realized this a week ago when I was in line. I was like, ‘Wait, why are we going so fast?’”
Junior Zora Payne also has noticed the change for the better. “Lately I haven’t seen long waits, but I also stopped going because of the line,” she said. “Periodically if I do go, there’s less of a wait. But if there is a wait, at least it goes down in the next five minutes. I don’t why that happened, but good for them I guess!”
