Ever since the school made the transition back to having a full schedule with everyone who isn’t exclusively doing virtual school coming back, some concerns have arisen from this decision. A large portion of the student body worry that the virus has a much greater chance of spreading now that there are more people in the building at all times.

One of the biggest concerns is the problems with lunch. In an effort to combat students getting the virus, the school added a fourth lunch block to better separate the students and started having the assistant principals patrolling to make sure people are properly spaced apart. With so many people sitting so close to each other for extended periods of time without wearing masks, lunch time is the most likely time of the day for a student at school to get infected with the virus. Naturally, it’s understandable that many people are uncomfortable with how the lunches are currently set up. Fortunately, there are a few ways in which a student can help keep themselves safe during lunch.

1. If the lunch line is fairly long, wait until it gets much shorter to lessen the amount of time spent around others.
2. Pay attention to the white tape on the seats. If you see tape on a seat, that means you cannot sit there.
3. Sit in less populated areas like the high tables or the upstairs and downstairs commons. You can even sit outside.
4. Use hand sanitizer before and after eating.
5. Keep your mask on any time you’re not eating food as if you were in a classroom.

With these helpful tips in mind, and the assistant principals helping to keep everybody safe, lunch doesn’t have to be a time to be paranoid about getting the virus, but just a safer version of its former self.