By Marek Cherian, Staff Writer

Sophomores enjoy sandwiches and pastries from La Fournette, a French bakery, while on their off campus lunch period during the homecoming spirit week. (Photo courtesy of Bridget Galibois)

The long awaited all-grade off-campus lunch policy has finally been established at Walter Payton College Prep. Starting next week, all students at Payton will have the option to leave the campus to get food around the school during lunch time. This adjusts the current policy that only allows seniors to go off campus. The new policy was recently announced by admin and is meant to decrease the student density of the atrium during lunch periods.

Before being able to go off-campus, students must sign a form affirming that they understand behavioral expectations outside of school during their lunch period and they must be back before the period ends. Nevertheless, this is a huge success for the student body of Walter Payton, as it has been a major recommendation for school improvement for a substantial amount of time.

“Graham Miller supports off-campus lunch for everyone,” says Graham Miller, a junior at Payton. His support is not unbacked, as this initiative has been pushed by student government for what seems like the entirety of the school’s existence. 

The overwhelming majority of students seem very excited and are eager to exercise their new right to explore the Old Town area during lunch time. While some students are looking forward to visiting cafes or parks, other students plan to use their lunch period in a different way. “This is fantastic. We have so many new opportunities and we will support local businesses like chipotle. I can’t wait to spend all of my money on food, and I am excited to bulk for football. This is the only thing I care about. I also plan to go downtown and jump in the river during lunch every day to raise money for the Guinea Pig Awareness Campaign (GPAC),” says sophomore Ryan Fardy. Fardy is just one example of students who plan to use their revamped lunch time for a good cause. Many students plan to volunteer during their lunch hours, which is just another example of the extreme benefits having off-campus lunch for all students yields. 

However, not everyone is a proponent of the new policy. Some seniors feel that the opportunity to go off-campus for lunch should be reserved to them. “I am upset. I am angry. I think that freshmen should not have the privilege to get Starbucks in the middle of the day. They should have to wait until the end of the day like we did,” says Agnes Mei, a senior. 

Clearly, this new policy does not have school-wide support, but the vast majority of the student body is clearly ecstatic to be given the chance to go where they want during their lunch period. The hallways are buzzing with excitement for next week, when this policy will finally be implemented and students will be able to explore the city during their lunch period.

This article is satire.