Irene Ryan
Feature/Entertainment Editor
“Students please know that the music hallway is no longer open to students during lunch. Students are not allowed to practice, loiter and or eat lunch in the hallway during both lunches. The doors will be closed and locked. Questions, see a principal,” according to the morning announcements on Jan. 27.
The music department closed the hallway outside the music classes during lunch periods to keep out the growing number of lunch-eaters.
According to teachers, last year, groups of students ate in the hallway, but it was never a problem. They picked up their trash and were quiet.
Photo by Irene Ryan
“This year, we started noticing groups of kids that weren’t involved in any music activities at all eating down here, and we kind of questioned them. We asked them to go eat in the cafeteria because we don’t want it to become another cafeteria down here. Also, some of them were getting pretty loud,” band instructor Jill Young said.
Young found out from students in independent study that students were going into the band room and playing the instruments. This is a problem because these students weren’t in a music class and did not know how to use the equipment, which could be broken or stolen.
“They might be perfectly wonderful individuals, but I don’t want it to become just a cafeteria where anybody in the whole school feels like they can eat,” Young said.
The students also interrupted choir instructor Scott Kinworthy, who has a conference period during the lunch period.
“I couldn’t even walk out of my office into the choir room because there were so many of them, and they wouldn’t even move out of the way. I have things to get done, and you just get tired of having to repeat the same things over and over,” Kinworthy said.
“Some of them were either in band or orchestra, and then they started inviting other people that weren’t in any of the music classes, and then they would invite people, and at one point in front of my door, there were 30 to 40 people sitting there eating lunch,” Kinworthy said.
Senior Eli Pandolfi, band member, ate in the band hallway with other band members.
“The problem was giant groups of freshmen who weren’t in any of the music programs and were really loud. They would sit outside the two doors to the band room and sat out to here,” Pandolfi said, gesturing to indicate half the width of the hallway.
Pandolfi said closing the hallway isn’t solving the problem, and he has still seen a few students eating in hallway who were part of the issue.
See also: Students abuse band hallway during lunch
