A new law that has been passed this year among all schools has made its way to Silver Creek High School over free school lunch. Those who cannot afford lunch are now able to eat one lunch per day for free. This new law has presented some unique challenges affecting various levels of school.

“We were probably doing about 250/275 last year and this year were over 400.” Teri Zaynor states. Zaynor is the kitchen manager at Silver Creek and knows how this law has affected the school inside the kitchen point of view.

Many more students are taking advantage of the free lunch this year. 10th grader Mylie Stevens talks about her thoughts on the new law.

“I think it’s definitely a benefit because I used to not get lunch last year and I get a lot more now. I feel like it is a good thing.” Stevens said.

Ismael Granados, Silver Creek’s head custodian has also seen positive effects to the law,

“I think it’s actually good compared to last year cause last year there were a lot of kids that were still hungry and they’re just sitting ducks, they don’t have food, they don’t have refrigerators.”

“Yeah, definitely more kids are eating and more kids are getting seconds just because they don’t have to pay for the first one. I’m seeing a lot more food getting eaten as opposed to last year with more food scraps.” Granados said.

There aren’t many negative challenges with the new law but the new computer system for the school has become quite a challenge.

“The only problem is our new computer system, honestly. They changed that all this year so everything is under tightened but last year it was so simple. Everything was on the same screen.”

The new system affects more than just the users of the payment system.

“That’s the only negative part I feel. It takes longer and the kids don’t want to wait in line because they want to get their food and leave and some of them I have to catch… The kids were just leaving; they didn’t want to wait in line because so many more kids were coming through.” Zaynor added.

Repetition often seems comfortable but has its downsides.

“I just think they need more variety, pizza every day, hot sandwich every day, and the kids probably like that, but I think they just need to add more different items,” Zaynor said.

Students have noticed that they have some of the same lunches every day but there is one option that is different every day. There are some lunches that do attract more students than usual and some students have a favorite lunch they like to eat.

“Personally, I think the egg rolls are one of my favorites,” Stevens concluded.

For a person who may have to eat from the cafeteria because they can’t drive yet, they might have a favorite food while those who go out to eat for lunch might not have one and don’t show up to the cafeteria as much.

“I notice that once the students can drive, for about six months or so, you don’t see them, then that gets old and then we see them around the cafeteria/commons more,” Granados said.

It’s easy to tell that more students are getting free lunch after the law passed and it’s more convenient.

“I feel like I don’t get lunch all the time but I get it a lot more than I did last year just because I know I won’t have to spend money and it’s just a lot more accessible,” Stevens said.

Introducing this new law to Silver Creek is exciting to many students and the staff. They hope to see more students taking advantage of this law as the months go on!