Each day, promptly at 11:00 am, Emerson Junior-Senior High School seniors flock to their cars and all zoom out of the parking lot. And every day at the same time, juniors sit on the hallway floor and watch, longing to have the same luxury. Currently, only seniors are able to leave for an open campus lunch. But why?

If you were to walk through the halls of EJSHS around 11:15 on any given morning, you would find dozens upon dozens of juniors loitering in empty classrooms, walking through the hallways, or sitting on the floors. On days when there are no club meetings or events happening during activity period, these juniors have nothing to do. 

Juniors who live in close proximity to the school or who are able to drive themselves could greatly benefit from the opportunity to go home during the lunch period. For those with daily household responsibilities, an extra hour of time at home would be used to its fullest extent.

Many underclassmen, especially at Emerson, complain about not having access to the coveted senior open-campus lunch. However, when offered to too young of a crowd, open-campus lunch can quickly become taken advantage of. For juniors and seniors, meanwhile, open-campus lunch offers more of a seamless transition between high school and college, helping to develop scheduling and organizational skills before being thrown into the deep end. 

If open-campus lunch were introduced to the junior class, there is potential for jealousy within the seventh, eight, ninth, and tenth grades. This jealousy would be curbed with increased attention and advertisement for preexisting clubs and office hour opportunities taking place during the lunch and activity period time. With more attention on the opportunities for younger students, older students would be better able to thrive as well. 

Expanding the open-campus lunch opportunities here at Emerson would bring the school experience to the next level: the hallways would be cleared, the morale would increase, and the excitement to learn would greatly change for the better. Juniors all over the school would express nothing but the most sincere gratitude.