It is a wrap

So this is my last post. I felt i just close it up whether or not the post counts. I have some more random information to throw out there.

1. I talked to a lunch lady on Friday who was adamant that the new system was more efficient and just easier to manage all around.
2. I talked to a B good guy who said that they are actually running a business and trying to make money. So that is why they introduced the new chicken nuggets because no one was buying their really bad chicken burgers.
3. 50 random students on how much they use the caf. over the past 4 day week.
Number of times they used the caf. for a purchased of a lunch or individual product (people)
0(14)
1(3)
2(5)
3(9)
4(3)
5(6)
6(5)
7(5)

Sonya Elder

I'm writing this straight after the Interview with Sonya Elder. It was a great interview actually; she was smart and really committed to the cafeteria. One could also tell that she really commanded the respect of her staff. When I showed up asking for her, I could tell that they were really proud and even in awe of her. I'm not sure who they though i was either: A mysterious stranger dressed in black jeans, a black collared shirt and a blue suit jacket asking to see their boss. (i was in formalish attire for my BetCo performance) After I explained that I was just a kid at the school, the staff seemed to relax and there was a lot of hand shaking. Anyway once I finally made my way to the back office the interview began.

I first explained to her that I was doing a public peaking project on the cafeteria lines and their length. I also explained that once I got to the actual timing of the lines, it was not that bad. She agreed saying that even when she visits during lunch, it seemed as though the lines were tremendously long, but as she got to timing realized it was not as bad as it look. (It was pretty cool that she went through the same process as me.)

The reasons she gave for changing the lines were 1. It was a mess inside the space with all the kids shoving and pushing to get in and out as fast as possible. (This year they serve between 600 and 700 lunches a day.) 2. Kids were stealing, she specified that obviously, they wish to give the kids the benefit of the doubt. However the old environment was almost conducive to theft. People left for a long time, unsupervised, with an item they wish to get as soon as possible.

Then I asked her about the projected growth of the student population and how that is going to affect these already staggering lines. She said that this years in coming class was actually 20 students smaller than last years. However in what is 5th grade right now, there is a massive influx of students. At it continues to grow. She said that staffing was a problem and as with all school programs there are budgetary issues. She said the spike is not coming for another couple of years, but they are looking into it.

The next topic we brushed upon was the later half of second lunch problem. Kids had constantly complained about the food running out or the end of the service. She has recognized the issue and collectively increased the staff work time by an hour altogether trying to cope with the problem.

She was really on top of every issue, but i did have a few more topics of discussion i wanted to cover. One of which being the payment system and the sole machine for adding money. Here she said they also have envelopes which kids can put cash or checks in whenever they want. Also adding that the hope is people will come all through the day and put money on so there is not a long line during lunch.

This lead to the question of this new unforgiving debt policy. Ok some kids abused the policy going 20 dollars negative, but this, you can't buy a lunch if it takes you 10 cents under, is ridiculous. It is also slowing down the lines. To this she responded with one of the most interesting comments of the day, "we are trying to the cafeteria line any other business." I have always views school as a public service, but the more i look around it begins to the shape of a business. College has always been about the money, but i expected more from public school (i thought it was a about feeding the kids). Anyway i see the point, it would not be tolerated at an actual restaurant, so why should the caf. do any different?

Then we got the killer point, which was probably the most effective conversation piece. I asked about the second door to the cafeteria. I don't know if anyone has noticed but there is a second grate on the left being the counter. I did not see it till i spent a block going through the cafe. seeing what, if any, restructuring they could do. If they open up this counter. It creates 3 lines a more efficient use of space in the pick up area, cutting both imposing lines and the time spent waiting in them. She said that this was something they were definitely looking into. In fact that was one thing they wanted to look at with the soon coming current 5th grade. It would also have to hire another cafeteria woman.

So all and all i would say this was an extremely successful interview. (not sure about the interview write up, sorry it was like my first ever.) Maybe next time should record it and then just put up the typed version? Then i can't really give my opinion though.

Anyway sorry about the really long post, but this all needed to be said.

Update

Hi Vikrant,

Yes, I am the person you should talk to regarding those issues. I'd be
happy to talk with you -- either in person or on the phone. I'm at BHS
pretty often. So just let me know when you'd like to talk.

Have a good weekend,
Sonya

I got this email to which i have responded with times i could meet. Also stating if none of those work i would call.

Other than that, i had an informal interview with Mr. Butchart while he was regulating the flow of students in to the food section. He said that this new system was instituted by Mr. Mason. He said it was because with the new system they could better regulate students and monitor them in light of a theft increase. He also indicated that the new system was meant to make the process faster and deal with the mass congestion in the food pick up area.

So maybe i should focus the change on like a 3 lunch system. From just going to Brookline high i have noticed that the class sizes are getting progressively bigger. So in a while these lines will be just completely ridiculous. However i do not know haw accurate this notion is, but i guess we will see when i talk with Ms. Elder.

I need to just hijack some of Mr. Mason's time at some point and ask him the thought process.

Director of food services

There have been 2 reoccurring names in my research Hal Mason and Sonya Elder. I still need to chase down Mr. Mason who seems to be in charge of all the scheduling, everywhere. The only thing i knew about him was, i rejoiced last year when we got late starts because of MCAS. I had heard that it was him and was excited about the new assistant head master and more prospective time off. Sadly none ever came and his name faded away, until now. I have seen him surveying the lunch room crowd. Anyway I went down to the head masters office type place in the atrium to see who i could talk too. A nice lady at one of the desks gave me Sonya Elders name and email saying i should contact her. She also said that Ms/Mrs Elder was friendly and liked to hear from students. So i have sent her this email:

Hello Ms Elder,

I am a senior at Brookline High doing an English project about our cafetaria and was told i should talk to you. If you have a minute it would really mean a lot to me if you could reply. My project mainly focuses on the lines and structure. I don't know if this is your area or not. If you only need with the actual food, then my mistake.The lines don't seem to be as efficient as they need to be. It takes away from the rest and resuscitation that lunch is supposed to provide. The payment system while superb on the paying end (though now they have added the "you can't even go into 20 cents of debt policy" which makes one stay on top of things) is weak on the payment end. I guess the new debt policy plays into this as more kids need to put in more small bills more often if they wish to eat. Anyway with only one machine the line to put in money is almost as the one to buy food. So i guess my question is do any of these things under your jurisdiction? if so, i have more questions and more understanding of the thought process to do, if you could spare a few more minutes. If not then i hope this letter was not too much of a bother.

Thanks,
Vikrant
Chandel



Ok so i hope this gets me somewhere. I'm also not a hundred percent sure what to ask her if it does fall under her, but i guess we will see. (oh and i know it is not a brilliant letter and the end is to if heavy, but that was the mood i was in.)

Time the line takes

Ok we all know the line is scary and looks like it is going to be a hellish trip spanning decades, but lets see how the numbers break down. After having 6 kids monitor one week of school lunches here are numbers. I actually waited till the lines were bigger, the freshman and 2 sophomore who did it had no choice. The study was actually originally 7 case studies, but the senior just never waited in line, so i eliminated the outlier. (the last 2 kids were juniors, but yea. most of them were conscripted from my play) It would see that this problem though it is exists for senior is not as big an issue as most have found ways around it.

Monday- 6.2 mins (on this day one of the kids had to put money in and she said it was brutal. The wait in theblack money machine was a good 5 minutes, maybe that is what they need to fix)
Tuesday- 6.4 mins
Wednesday- 8.2 mins (that was odd.)
Thursday- 3.1 mins (gotta love x-block)
Friday-6.4 mins


It is not as bad as i thought it was, but still not great. I should be smoother. One other huge complaint i heard echoed by a lot of people was "it is not fair that they stop the food service 15 minutes before second lunch ends." Anyway though i would share these findings.

Possible stuff I could do

So just throwing possible ideas of stuff i could do.
1. Get some people to time their wait in lines.
2. Do some case studies to see how it is affecting students.
3. Talk to lunch ladies.
4. Talk to the head of food services.
yea so that is about it for this preliminary list. There is definitely other stuff i could do, but this is a start.

Cafeteria lines

So my new topic is the Cafeteria lines. Why they are ridiculously long? how it is effecting students? Why has this happened now? How can we change it? This affects my everyday life as I buy lunch. School lunch is one of the most important facets of an education. Clearly kids need food to get through the day. With this new system especially in second lunch is resulting in some kids not ending up with lunch and if they do get lunch, they have to waist a bunch of their time, which is supposed to be a break. Kids go up, see the horrendous lines, decide to go hang with their friends and when they return during second lunch the food has been taken away. This whole situation is really bad and really not conducive to learning.