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I went to Sachem High School East in Farmingville. We had two cafeterias, one was for freshman and sophomores and one was for juniors and seniors. The school is fairly new so the floors, tables and general area was clean and up to date. There was a lot of school pride posters and banners on the walls. Everything was decorated in the school colors which were red, black, and gold. The cafeteria was always crowded. We were able able to sit anywhere and the rules weren't strict. It was a good time to socialize with friends. We were not allowed to leave campus, even as seniors. But seniors were allowed to sit in a room off the cafeteria which was like a lounge and it had a ping pong table. In general, the cafeteria was not intimidating, everyone got along well. We are a sports oriented school so there was always talk about upcoming and past games. Lunch was definitely a period I looked forward to and I have many good memories!

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I went to Seaford High School where the grades run from 9th-12 grade. There were 2 lunchrooms that were identical and 1 was for the 9th and 10th graders while the other was for the 11th and 12th. The 9th and 10 lunchrooms were always much louder and crazier than the upperclassmen lunchroom. Students were assigned a lunch period randomly as it was whatever period fit best with their schedule. I was lucky enough to have my friends that I grew up with in my lunch for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Every day I would look forward to going to lunch because it was a great break in my day to take my mind off any stress, I might've felt from all of my classes. It was a great time to socialize with my friends along with refuel to help get through the rest of the day. My friends and I made several great memories at the lunch table together from making jokes with each other, to playing games, and much more. In 12th grade we were allowed to leave campus for lunch so me and my friends would go out and grab our favorite food that was around all while keeping what made lunch period great which was socializing and having fun with your friends. There was a teacher who was always monitoring the room to make sure all students were behaving and in case of emergency could lead the students to where they needed to go.

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This is a picture of my high school cafeteria. I went to Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale. Lunch took place during periods 4, 5, 6, and 7, and all grades (6-12) were combined during these periods. The lunch line was located at the front of the cafeteria, but I usually brought lunch from home. During lunch periods, we were not allowed to bring our backpacks or any school work because this was a time for us to socialize and relax. We also were not allowed to leave the cafeteria unless to use the bathroom, or if we had a hall pass that we could show the monitors. There were plenty of tables in the cafeteria. Usually the upperclassmen would sit at the rectangular tables while the underclassmen would sit at the round tables. There were ceiling to floor windows on one side which looked out to the courtyard; there was always plenty of light. When you walk in you would always hear laughing and lots of chatter, so overall the cafeteria in my high school was a very safe and fun environment which was made easily to enjoy for every student.

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I went to Syosset High School. The cafeteria was very unique. It was split into two sides with different tables. One side had circular tables, while the other had large rectangular tables. The kitchen was in between the two seating areas and a snack bar on the circle side. The circle side served hot lunch, and the rectangle side served cold food, such as sandwiches. Anyone could buy food from either side despite where they sat. One thing I had noticed was that naturally there was a split between the students and where they sat. It was typical, high school where the "popular" kids sat on the rectangle side, and "non-popular" kids sat on the circle side. Now, of course this wasn't a set in stone concept. Students sat wherever they wanted, but for the most part that's how it was. I think that maybe a reason for this was the different foods each side served. The "popular" kids typically thought hot lunch was gross, and therefore sat on the other side. Lastly, there was a student lounge as well that had limited seating but a lot of students ate their lunch there too. Currently, they no longer allow this as I have two younger sisters in high school right now. So, I wonder how this affected the cafeteria atmosphere, due to everyone having to be in the same area, and not as split up.

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I went to Half Hollow Hills High School West. In my high school there was one big cafeteria with two sides. One side had the snack line and was slightly larger than the other side because the other side was more quiet and there were less people in there. The sides were separated by a hallway that had the entrance to the lunch line and restrooms. Each side had multiple round tables that sat about 8 students each. We were unable to leave school to get lunch so students would bring lunch from home or get food from the kitchen. There were also many lunch monitors and aides on each side that kept the students from acting up or behaving inappropriately while trying to eat their lunch. In the cafeteria there were posters hung on the walls including inspiring quotes and some students art work from the art classes they took. Personally I think the cafeteria in my high school was a loud but fun and pleasing place to be in with friends throughout the day.

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I went to Holy Trinity School. Trinity was a relatively small school which had a small cafeteria. From my freshman to junior year the back half of the cafeteria were the "Senior tables" where only seniors were allowed to sit at. My senior year every thing was different due to covid- 19 restrictions. Every freshmans dream is to be able to sit at those tables once you're a senior but I was unable to. Instead of tables we had  single desks that everyone sat at individually with the next desk near you was 6 feet in any direction. This created a very isolate/lonely feeling. The year where I was’ excited to sit with my best friends at the back tables I was sitting six feet or further from them.

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I went to H Frank Carey High School. The school went from 7th-12th grade so the lunch room was separated into two different parts that connected through a hallway. The freshmen side was for grades 7-9 and the upperclassmen side was for grades 10-12. The freshman side had long rectangle tables with benches but the upperclassman side had circular tables with an exact number of seats at each table. The freshmen side was very loud and chaotic while the upperclassmen side was quieter. In both lunchrooms there were big windows and large columns in the middle of the rooms. On the upperclassmen side students were able to go outside and play handball or sit outside for the period. Once you were a senior you were also allowed to leave campus to get food. The lunchroom was always a fun place to see all your friends that maybe didn't have class with or see the people you did have class with and help each other with homework or studying. Everyone had a place to sit and you rarely saw anyone sitting alone. People walked around the room talking to everyone. There were always a few faculty members in the lunchrooms incase of emergency.

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This is a picture of the "common area," aka, the "commons" in my high school. My hight school also had a cafeteria that was about twice the size, but it couldn't hold all the students, so my friend group ate lunch and hung out in this room. Our main table was on the left of the room, the right of this picture, but in this picture we were sitting at a different table. This was probably because there were other people at the table we normally sit at. People didn't really interact or socialize with people in other friend groups unless we had to. The other people at my table were my peers, not necessarily my friends. We all hung out because they were friends of friends. I blacked out their faces for privacy reasons. Sometimes people would feel excluded when there weren't enough chairs at the table and a few people had to sit somewhere else. This was unfair and made people feel uncomfortable and excluded. I remember this happened a lot in middle school. The physical space is filled with tables and chairs, mostly filled by each friend group. The tables were mostly round, which was good for everyone at the table to have a conversation, if everyone could fit. This was a significant part of my high school.

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I went to Carle Place High School which was a relatively small school. Our lunch periods were varying depending on what fit your schedule. Due to this every lunch period was a mix of all grades from freshman to seniors. Students were allowed to leave for lunch so many people did not eat at the school. Whenever I did eat at the school it was not intimidating since many people were out getting their own food. A lot of freedom was given to us, and there was either one or two lunch aids that would loosely look over us. This relieved a lot of stress for students who might have felt trapped or needed a distressing period between classes. During lunch we were also allowed to go visit teachers who were not teaching a class during that time. This was nice since it was an extra time for educational assistance.

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I went to a small private school named HANC. This school consisted of grades from 7th-12th. I grew up with most of the people from my grade since we came from the same underclassman school. I got along with everyone and I'm so grateful I had such amazing friends in my life. My lunch room was a gym, theater, and lunchroom all at once. It was really noisy but when the weather was nice students were allowed to eat outside. There would be tables set up outside as well. Only seniors were allowed to each lunch off campus. There wasn't much supervision, and often students would blast music to add to the chill lunch atmosphere.

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I went to Abbeville Christian Academy in Abbeville, Alabama. My school was a predominately white school in a small southern town. My school tended to be pretty cliquey. The athletes and popular crew with well known families usually sat together whereas the people that did not fit into that category sat at the other tables. We had indoor seating where tables are separated by grades 9-12. We could sit where we wanted but had to be at the tables for your grade. Seniors had the privilege of sitting outside in the courtyard but the cafeteria was also an option. We would have lunch with our teachers but they would be sitting at a separate table than the students. They would also be monitoring the students and often times would scold the students if the volume was too loud. We also had a break or snack time around 10 in which we would have an hour. If you were disciplined you would have detention and were not allowed to attend snack or have food. I personally feel this was not fair. I understand there should be consequences but food is essential and should not be used as a tool of punishment.

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I attended Somerset County Vocational and Technical School in Bridgewater, NJ full time my junior and senior years of high school. I was in the dance department at the school, and we would typically eat lunch with the culinary, welding, cosmetology, and computer science departments. Because we would only normally have classes with the people in the same department as you, the cafeteria was usually divided by department because nobody really knew too many people outside of their department. Within each department, people would be sitting and talking to their closer friends and having separate conversations around the table. From my experience, everybody in the dance department was pretty close so we all normally felt included in the conversations. Lunch was a relaxing time to be with your friends and take a break from all of the stressful work from the day.
Before I attended the school full time, I would go to North Hunterdon High School in Annandale, NJ in the mornings and commute to SCVTHS for the afternoons. When I commuted, I would eat lunch on the bus. I was the only one commuting to that school so I would normally be eating alone on the bus. For me as an introverted person, it was nice to catch a break from socializing in the middle of the day and refuel before more classes.

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This was my high school. I went to East Meadow High School. I don't miss high school, and when I was in it I couldn't wait to get out. I graduated high school in three years, thats how bad I wanted to get out of there. I had good friends, and I fit in with every crowd. I was friends with many of the "popular" kids, I got invited to the parties, I also was friends with many of the kids who were "nerds", "lobby kids", the people that weren't popular. I was friends with everyone, but I couldn't wait to leave. Now thinking about it I'm not sure why. I guess one thing I didn't like about high school was the drama, and gossip. Thats why I couldn't wait to get out. My high school was very cliquey with a few exceptions. The cheerleaders hung out with the other cheerleaders, the football players with the football players, the band and chorus kids with each other, and the smart kids with the smart kids.

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I went to Mineola High School. My school included grades 8-12 and had five different lunch periods throughout the day. All lunch periods were mixed grades. Our cafeteria was very open with lots of circular tables scattered throughout the room. At the front of the room, there was a hot lunch kitchen, cold lunch kitchen, snack stand, and vending machines. There was also a separate senior lounge with glass walls that was attached to the cafeteria. Each lunch period had two or three teachers that were assigned to walk around and monitor the room, mainly checking that students weren't leaving to roam the school. If you had somewhere to go, you needed to show a pass. The lunch room mainly consisted of underclassman because seniors were given special privileges to leave the building to get food and had other places to be. People usually sat by grade or just with other people they knew. There wasn't necessarily set seating, but once the school year got started, people mostly stayed in their usual spots. It was very easy to see the different friend groups when you walked into the room. The cafeteria was always a very loud and lively place. Overall, the cafeteria was a fun place to be if you had lunch with a lot of people you knew and it gave a lot of opportunities for socialization. Especially for younger grades, this was the main place to gather and spend time with each other.

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I went to High School for Construction, Trades, Engineering, and Architecture in Queens, NY. This picture is taken from our cafeteria that is located in the basement of the school. Honestly speaking, lunch was an entertaining time throughout my high school experience. None of my lunch periods were actually spent in the cafeteria. My friends and I would always go to a teacher's room that was free during this period and would only go down to the basement to buy snacks from the school store. When we were in the classroom, we would spend most of our time either playing cards, catching up on school work, or just relaxing for the first time that day. None of us actually ate during lunch, we would either snack on something or skip the eating part altogether. However, on the rare occasions where we would visit the cafeteria, we would find it to be loud, chaotic, messy, and very humid. The immense gathering of students from different grades was definitely overwhelming for that small room, but somehow the students made it work. You would find most children on their phones that had absolutely no service in the basement, or eating bits and pieces of their lunch. The rest would either be socializing with friends or doing their homework. The overall consensus of this cafeteria and the lunch periods in general is that all of the students used this time for themselves. Their schedule would never repeat the next day but they would always be doing something for themselves.

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I attended a middle/high school, where the cafeterias were rather small. A lot of the kids were crammed into one table and there weren't a lot of tables for us to sit in. Majority of the times, you would see friends that are already close to each other always sitting with each other. If there was a new person in the table, the table would be quiet. We had the ability to leave to go to our lockers or go to the library whenever we wanted to. There were two vending machines in the room. Juniors had the ability to eat lunch outside on the tables while seniors had the ability to go out during their lunch period but had to come back by the next period. Everyone had their own "assigned" seats. Our backpacks would be around the chairs and if our binders didn't fit into our bags then they would be under our seats. Sometimes, kids who played sports also brought their sports bag because they needed it after school. I had okay memories because not everyone was able to sit with whoever they wanted but by the time I got into my senior year I was able to leave with my friends and grab some nice lunch with them:)

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I went to H. Frank Carey High School. This school is one of five in our district. It is a junior/senior high school which means it goes from 7th grade - 12th grade. I didn't get the 'middle school experience' and was sent straight to this school/building after graduating elementary school. So I feel like I grew more attached to this school since I had 2 extra years there. I did a lot of growing up in this school from my start (7th grade me) to the end (senior me) and I believe that is predominantly why I am so fond of this school. My map of the cafeteria should illustrate how the school separated students. When you first start going to Carey in 7th you will have lunch on the jr high side, this goes up until 9th grade. In 10th you move to the right side where you will have lunch up until senior year. I'll never forget the first time I went to the senior high side to go to the vending machines and hearing the complete opposite when it comes to volume of sound. it was so quiet on that side in comparison to the extreme loudness on the jr high side. it made me so excited to become and upperclassman so I can eat lunch in a quieter environment. both sides were monitored by teachers and the rules about leaving the cafeteria for the bathroom, locker visit, nurse etc were the same. the tables were different but regardless of being a rectangle or a circle the way students had to face each other and interact remained the same. a small difference that I think is a bit significant is that the rectangle tables had benches as seats whereas the circle tables had individually connected stools as seats. I find this significant because you were able to squeeze more individuals on the benches than the stools and I think that allowed for more socialization and interaction because the amount of seats available weren't exactly limited. The physical spaces were also relatively the same. the walls were painted the same colors and both sides had huge window panels that lined the walls which made either side feel very open. both sides sold lunch and both sides had vending machines (although I forgot to draw them on the jr high side). I think the administration has a large role in organizing schools, the style of tables may have not been specifically selected for socialization purposes but I feel like in your underclassman years you're beginning to find your friends and having a larger opportunity to socialize is more beneficial in those first few years.

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My high school cafeteria was fairly simple in design. It was a boxed in room surrounded by windows with a total of 4 entrances; two in the front and then one on each side of the cafeteria. In order to get into the cafeteria, you were required to scan your school ID, and if you didn't have it, you could enter your school ID into a computer to confirm that you were allowed to be in there during that period. Later on during my high school experience, it became that you were not allowed to enter your ID number until after the bell rang, and 9/10 the line would be so long that by the time you got into the cafeteria, they were closing the food lines. While I wasn't in the cafeteria for much of my high school career (due to being allowed to drop lunch in exchange for another class), the few times I did have to be in the cafeteria often got hindered by this, even if I had my school ID. However, right outside of our cafeteria was a rotunda, which has quite an interesting story. During my junior year, bake sales were super popular amongst clubs as a method of fundraising. They were highly profitable, fun for the students baking, and great for the students at lunch. So great in fact, that the school ended up banning them without explaining why. After a month or two of pestering from the student council and its teacher supervisors, administration revealed that the cafeteria complained and said that the bake sales were a violation of the school's contract with them as bake sales were "competition" for the cafeteria. However, to be fair, the bake sales were much more sucessful than the cafeteria; they sold actual food with good portions at fair prices. Nevertheless, the cafeteria was not one of my favortie places to say in the least. Right outside of our rotunda, we had an outdoor garden, which actually became the location of my Eagle Scout project with assistance from my AP Biology teacher, who was an amazing person. If it weren't for him, I don't think I ever would have completed my project and earned Eagle Scout. Finally, in my picture I also included a picture of a book, to help indicate that most of my time in high school was spent just focusing on my studies, since I was concerned over whether or not I'd be able to avoid college, so I had to do well then to have a chance of going to college. And the last drawing is of the Montauk Lighthouse, and is symbollic of a series of field trips my school has for the AP Bio students, where they travel all over Long Island and Fire Island learning about the natural geography and ecosystems around us, to be concluded by having the students give tours of Fire Island's Sunken Forest to the district's fourth graders. This was probably one of my most favorite parts of high school, hence why I included it. Overall, I mostly appreciated my high school experience, and while it wasn't perfect, the teachers who cared made everything worth it, and at the end of the day, so long as they weren't the cafeteria contractors/aids, I had no problems with them (the lunch ladies were very nice).

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I went to Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale. This is a real picture of what the cafeteria looks like in my school. There was only one cafeteria for the whole school from sixth grade to twelfth grade with four different lunch periods. It was made up of a mix of grades. There were some circle tables and rectangle tables. There were only allowed to be a certain amount of kids at each table. You could use your ID card to purchase lunch or drinks or snacks. After lunch was over you got called up to get rid of your trash and then go back to your locker. Our teachers would be in the cafeteria there were not lunch monitors. It was a good experience that all grades were in the same room. I liked the environment it created.

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I attended Huntington High School and as someone who has an airborne peanut allergy, I was wildly detached from the rest of the cafeteria. The head of the school had created a nut free table for me and would not allow other students to sit with me. The principal expressed that he had never dealt with students who had my allergy. I was completely ostracized and was an easy target for bullying. As a result of the isolation I experienced at the nut free table, I was very detached from the rest of the cafeteria and who sat with who. I wish I could say I genuinely understood the layout of the school cafeteria but my involvement was very limited.

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This is a picture of my actual high school cafeteria. I went to Gorham High School in Gorham Maine. As you can see there are numerous amounts of circular tables. It's actually surprising to see that there's a completely open table because normally it was so packed you could barely move. Everyone sat with their friends and you'd hope to have a solid group of people to sit with everyday. There were a few times when I didn't know where to sit so I either pulled up a chair to a random table or ate in a teachers room. Those without many friends were the ones typically excluded because the room was designed for those to dit in groups. Everyone was organized by friend groups, and if you didn't have one, you'd hope you could sit with a friend group.

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I visualize sitting with my friends at the lunchroom joking around, studying, or doing homework. Usually the popular kids would sit at the end of the lunch room closer to the cafeteria. If you were not in that group you couldn’t sit with them without being made fun of or feeling like an outsider. That’s why it was really important to find friends and sit with them. Teachers would monitor the lunchroom and give out hall passes to whoever wants to leave. They were in charge and what they said goes. They wouldn’t overstep their bounds and abuse their powers but there was without a doubt a hierarchy and they were at the top. My lunch experience wasn’t as bad as some others may have found there’s. I used my time wisely at lunch and basically just did what I had to do.

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This is an idea of how my high school cafeteria was set up. My high school ranged from grades 9-12. It was a small school and the cafeteria was also not the biggest. We had three vending machines outside; inside were sandwich bars and hot food bars. There was also a TV that would play school announcements. Students had a tendency to divide themselves into cliques: by popularity, etc. Two grade levels would have lunch at the same time. At other times, it would be split. One could always tell who was the quiet table and who was the loudest. Most quiet groups sat in the middle, while other loud and popular groups sat in the back and front. Each group sat in the same area. A core memory I have is when it was someone’s birthday everyone in the cafeteria would all come together and sing along. It felt as if we were a community. During the holiday, Christmas music would play from the TV and we would also sing along to that. But afterwards, it all felt like we were split again. In my school, there were many sports teams and clubs. Overall, I found the cafeteria a place where my friends and I could catch up and everyone really seemed to connect with one another.

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My cafeteria was extremely dirty, for which I only blame the students for. We had 3 lunch periods back to back, so there was not much time for the staff to clean the cafeteria. Students would tend to throw food they did not want on the ground, so the floor was always gross. Very few people would throw their tray away after eating, so the next lunch period would sit at dirty tables. The seating chart would happen naturally. No one would kick you out if you’re at the “wrong” table, but a freshman would be given weird looks if they sat next to a senior. There were many different cliques, but nobody cared if different cliques sat next to each other.

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I went to Bethpage High School for all four years of high school. There were two lunch rooms, one for freshman and juniors and the other for sophomores and seniors. Each room had a mix of booths, circle tables, and high top tables. Usually, kids would try and either get their homework done or talk to their friends during lunch. But, there were four different periods you could have for lunch that fit in your schedule and for my senior year (the most important for most kids) I didnt have the same lunch as any of my friends. This made me nervous for lunch every single day because i was worried to sit alone. However, as a senior you have permission to go out for lunch if you wanted to. This permission, which a lot of schools don’t have, helped me tremendously in not feeling alone at lunch. I think this is something other schools should offer for seniors to help kids that ever are in my situation.

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This is a picture of Valley Stream North Junior-Senior High School's "cafetorium". In this picture, the faculty is utilizing this space because it is such a small school that the cafeteria was used for many different things. At the bottom of the picture, you can see wood, which is actually a stage. We did not have an auditorium so all plays, musicals, talent shows, etc. took place in our cafeteria. During the day when it was used for lunch, there were three rows of tables (one of which isn't in the picture), the row to the left was for 7th graders, the middle row was for 8th graders, and the right row was for 9th graders because 10th, 11th, and 12th graders were allowed to leave the building for lunch, but if they didn't they could sit wherever there was a seat. The doors in the back are where students went in to get school lunch. Teachers were always around as lunch monitors and took attendance. It was always loud and crazy in the "cafetorium" but it was also welcoming and everyone had someone to sit with. Teachers patroling made it a safe space. There were murals on the walls and banners celebrating sports wins. After school the cafeteria was used for clubs, and even some sports that were open to all. Our cafeteria was an open space for all that helped engage students in many different ways.

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My high school was from grades 7th-12th grade. We had two cafeterias connected by a hallway where the lunch was served. The one on the right was where grades 7th through 9th ate and the left was where grades 10th-12th were. I personally loved high school and lunch was one of my favorite parts of the day. I loved hanging out with my friends during the times. There weren't assigned seats but everyone normally sat in the same spots everyday. The upperclassmen cafeteria was not as full as the lowerclassmen one was because the seniors were allowed to leave school to get food and come back. I like how they separated the grades because it would've been weird for juniors to be eating with 7th graders. A personal experience from lunch I remember was when my whole friend group got the same lunch period and we all sat together. We were usually split up from each other but we got really lucky and it was so fun.

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I went to Bayside high school. My school is very huge so our cafeteria was big so that I couldn't draw all of it on paper. Going to high school was a big shock because I went to a small middle school, so going to a school with thousands of kids was a lot to handle. I went to the summer program before freshman year because I wanted to see how the school was. Luckily, I made some friends during it and I'm still friends with some of them now. The cafeteria was a place for people to socialize. It was always loud and hectic. There were deans posted in each corner. Sometimes I would get school lunch or I would buy food beforehand. The wifi wasn't good there, so I would do homework or talk to my friends. I had great memories in high school. Even though it was cut short, I miss it a little.

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I went to Carle Place High School, a small school, so the cafeteria was not big and was not always that crowded. I liked going to school at Carle Place. Our cafeteria was always open for snacks and breakfast sandwiches and opened 4th period and closed at the end of 7th period. we had two cafeterias in our school one for the 7th and 8th graders which was middle school, and one in the high school for 9th grade to 12th grade. Our cafeteria consisted of rectangular tables and circular ones but also consisted of high top tables. Normally, high top tables for those who kept more to themselves. Now when it came to sitting down you can sit anywhere you would like there was no saved seats in a way. However, everytime you walked in it was the same group of people sitting together. You would have the obnoxious boys at one of the rectangular tables, sometimes you would see a mix of the girls sitting with the mellow guys or it was just a table of girls. Also since our lunch periods were mixed you would see the ninth grade at one table, tenth at another, etc.. Now the cafeteria was not my favorite part because of how loud it would get. I am not a fan of peace and quiet but i am also not a fan of screaming.

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I went to Holy Cross High School in Queens. We were a really small school with no more than 150 students per grade. There were three lunch periods which created some overlapping between grades but no one minded. During my senior year in 2018, my school transitioned into a Coed setting and I mentally applauded the young women for being the first of their class. A lot of men would act inappropriately around them and I sensed a lot of fear and discomfort from them. During my senior year, I was grouped with a small portion of my senior class, with the entire freshman class. It was slightly uncomfortable, but everyone typically stayed with their friends and migrated to the same tables. The lunchroom was packed and the lines to get into the cafeteria section to get your food could last up to ten minutes out of the scheduled forty five minute lunch period. There were usually three faculty members who would supervise the lunch period and the teachers would often cycle from the faculty lunchroom connected with the main floor. All the tables were long rectangles with built-in bleacher seats that ran along the entire length of each side. It was slightly uncomfortable but everyone became used to it eventually. There were no sections where different groups of students would sit. Since my class was small, the whole grade practically knew each other and different personalities often mingled.
Structuring and individuals can hold a great influence over the organization of school systems. Structuring determines what classes are implemented to guide students to passions they never knew existed. They can help form lifelong friendships, accommodate students with disabilities, and help promote diversity and inclusion. Leading figures and individuals of the schools can be a voice of the school. They can advocate for change, create extra-curricular activities, encourage new clubs, and create a warm environment. Students may share their beliefs all they want, but it is up to the teachers to make their dreams into a project.

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I went to Frank Sinatra School of the Arts High School. In the cafeteria, everyone was involved and included. We shared a space with all grades. The cafeteria was vertically long and we also had an outdoor seating space where you see the windows in the picture. We are all mainly divided within the school by all of our majors, but at the end of the day, we all shared the fact that we are all artists. Thankfully, I noticed that there wasn't much of a hierarchy within the students. We all were pretty equal and were able to connect with each other.

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I went to Copiague High School and our cafeteria looked something like this. It was a large rectangular room with a bunch of circular tables and chairs. The lunch lines were located in the back and in the front was the main entrance. The front side also had large clear windows and the rest of the cafeteria was mainly a very light gray with wooden walls on either side. Every lunch period consisted of a mix of 9th through 12th graders who could all sit wherever and with whoever they wanted. I remember the cafeteria being a positive fun place for me and my friends since I always had people to sit with, however I would see that some students would sit alone which would make me sad. Looking back at my high school experience, I have always been very grateful as I felt our school was extremely diverse, representative of different cultures, and active. This reduced exclusion and gave everyone a chance to join or be apart of something. The only negative thing I would say is that there would always be a few fights throughout the school year. However, we have always had really engaged school staff members like the counselors, advisors, and even the security guards. For the most part I feel like the teachers were pretty good, and we had a variety of different interesting classes. In general I had a very positive high school experience.

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I attended Benjamin N Cardozo High School in Queens. In my visualization of school, I see myself in the cafeteria with my friends. There are other people in the background, faces I can't remember, but I know the room was always packed. My school was small, but it held more than four thousand students. I can hear the noisy cafeteria and see people standing because there were never enough seats. There were kids at the vending machine, and teachers at every entrance because they had to check our student IDs before we could enter or leave. There were always five teachers/authorities walking around the cafeteria to supervise us and make sure we did not misbehave. The system they had was crucial because multiple kids were in one place. It was hard to keep track of us all. They managed to keep us under control with all their rules and constant supervision. The lunch ladies would be in the food area serving lunch to kids. There was always this one lady who complimented my hair every day. Her role was significant during my time in high school because she made my day. She always made me look forward to doing my hair, and I loved seeing her reactions. She made school enjoyable. But, most of the time, I was talking with my friends. I would get snacks from one of the vending machines, we would claim a corner of the lunch table, and talk the period away. Upperclassmen tended to sit near the windows, and they always looked cool. I looked forward to the day I got to be them, but the pandemic happened, and my chance never came. Sitting near the windows was important because it showed that I was no longer a baby in school. The window seats were a sign of maturity to me, and that structure also meant a lot to others. It even had a name called "Dozo's Window." If you posted a picture of it, the student's from other schools could instantly tell you went to Benjamin N Cardozo. Overall, I had many great memories at this school, and the people, staff, and building itself were important to my experience.

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I attended Centereach High School. Attached is a model of what our cafeteria looked like. On the first day of school each year, I made sure that I had 1 or 2 friends to sit with at lunch. I feared that if I didn’t know anyone in that period people would think I was weird and had no friends. The lunch monitors were teachers on their off periods or teacher aides. Usually they were nice and if my friends and I liked them they would come sit with us. The kitchen staff were alright, some of the staff were really nice and others were really mean. I didn’t go to the kitchen much because the food wasn’t good. I also always had lunch 4th or 5th period so it was usually really early around 10am.

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I went to Massapequa High School. My high school was grades 10-12. At my school for lunch we had open campus which means students were allowed to leave during their lunch period and get food wherever they wanted. Across the street from my school was a shopping center with a lot of restaurants so the 10th graders went there and juniors and seniors would either drive home or drive to wherever they wanted to eat. I did not go to my school cafeteria a lot but there were times where I did. My cafeteria served more of as a quiet  space to finish homework or study for tests. On the other hand if students weren't doing homework or studying they were usually there serving lunch detention. the times I was there I would say there were 5-7 kids who were there by choice and then 3 or so kids who had to be there due to punishment.

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Above is two pictures of my high school cafeteria. I went to Centereach High School. We had 9 periods each period was 40 minutes. The cafeteria at my school held many tables. Breakfast was served first period and lunch was periods 3-7.  Lunch was a place everyone ate and socialized. Some tables consisted of just seniors and  some tables had just freshman. There were were also tables with all different grades. There were 2-4 tables in the corner of the cafeteria designated for food allergy students. We had two lunch monitors and a couple security guards that would watch the entire cafeteria. There were a few healthy choices, and of course your usually hamburgers, pizza, and quesadillas. It was always loud in the cafeteria as students would socialize with their friends.  Once a week during football season we always had a team football dinner after practice before game day. The mothers of the football players , and other members of the community would come in and make us food and feed us before our games. It was always a good time, and I enjoyed it. We  could either pay for lunch with cash or through a service called my school bucks . Lunches were also provided free or a reduced price  for students who were unable to afford lunches so kids were able to have a meal to eat which was a great thing.  I liked going to the cafeteria, seeing my friends, and have the break during the day.

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I went to comsewogue high school, grades 9-12. My experience there was pretty average. I had a class during lunch every year of high school so I never actually ate lunch in the cafeteria. But from my experience most people were free to eat lunch wherever they wanted. Personally I like this set up because it allows people to eat where they are comfortable, but it discourages branching out and meeting new people. For the most part I found the cafeteria intimidating and anxiety inducing, I was grateful to have the excuse of my class to avoid dealing with it.

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The high school I went to was fairly small. We only had about 900 students in the whole school. One nice thing about lunch time was that we were able to go out for lunch. My high school was located in long island city therefore there were many places you could go to get food. The drawing above is my high school cafeteria. It was small since everyone would go outside to eat. On the long tables, mostly freshman’s would sit there. They would usually be in small groups. On the circles would be kids who have gotten detention. They would bring there friends to the cafeteria and sit there with them. The orange is where they would hand out food. There would always be a long line. The pink is where the bathrooms were. In the cafeteria there were many staff that would just stand and watch. There would be one by the entrance. Two by the end of the circles and two by the bathroom. I think that being in the cafeteria was not that much fun. It was a small, crowded area. I think that the ability of students being able to go outside and eat made us feel like actually adults. It was easier to make friends while exploring the outside world. It also taught us important lessons such as time management.

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I went to Lindenhurst High School in Lindenhurst. In my high school, we only had one cafeteria. Lunch was served to students starting with period 3 and ending with period 7. Each lunch period had a mixture of students from 9th through 12th grade. There was no separate lunch periods for each of the grades. Students were randomly assigned a lunch period that fit their schedule regardless of what grade they were in. Students made up a majority of the population within the lunch room. But, at all times there were security guards standing at every exit making sure no one who wasn't supposed to get in got in and vice versa with exiting. Also, two teachers sat at the check in table during their off periods and made sure all students checked in properly. I have it labeled as the main exit on my map but it was also the one and only entrance to the room. Every student had to enter through there and swipe their card into a reader that confirmed they had lunch during the time that it was. This prevented overcrowding in the lunch room and prevented kids from skipping class and hiding out amongst the crowd. The room was filled with circular tables and four chairs at each. I only drew 10 on my map but there was way more than 10 tables in the actual Lindy lunch room. The rule was that only 4 people were allowed to sit at one table but no one actually followed or enforced the rule. Everyone kind of sat where ever they wanted and no one cared as long as there were no issues. The amount of students who sat at a table varied. Some had big crowds and others had one or two students sitting together. Over my four years eating lunch in that cafeteria, there were a couple of fights. Maybe only 3 or 4. But, I remember them all. Nothing crazy but they happened. I remember as a freshman sitting in the lunchroom was intimidating to me. It made me anxious. But, by the time I graduated as a senior, I was comfortable and ate lunch there every single day. To me, the Lindenhurst high school cafeteria was a positive place. I have happy memories eating lunch there every day. Im sure that is not the case for everyone. But, as far as other lunch rooms are concerned in other towns, I think Lindy had a pretty good one.

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I went to Farmingdale High School. I know my picture does not do it justice but the cafeteria was a big place in my school. Everyone would always hang out there and sometimes even kids used it as a place to cut. Our cafeteria was big and had these long tables with benches, we had two lunch rooms. One tended to be louder and the other was a little quieter. I can tell you though the more loud one tended to have more of the "popular kids", the athletes and etc. The other cafe was more for the quiet kids/normal kids I would say. Our lunchroom was mixed with all grades, I think it was good to do that. You can socialize and make friends in different grades and branch out. I also know the lunchroom can be a scary place. The lunchroom was a place of bullying for me, more in middle school, so going to the high school lunchroom scared me even more. The high school actually was a better experience for me. I made a lot of new friends and the bullying just stopped it was nice to actually enjoy going to the lunch room instead of wondering who was gonna pick on me next. It became a happy place for me and found me my forever friends and made me forget about the bad memories of the lunch room.

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I went to MacArthur school, my school was not very diverse
At all so I often felt like an outsider being Hispanic in a basically all white school. You had the stereotypical sports and jocks tables, the “weird kid” “popular” and  “loner” kids tables, and then whoever wanted to use the computer for homework assignments would go into the study/quiet room that was attached to the cafeteria, and then the rest of the students would just sit at any free table. Additionally, all of the grades (9-12) would sit in the same cafeteria, there wasn’t a separate cafeteria for upperclassman and the freshman. My school was very cliquey but at the same time everyone talked to everyone, if that even makes sense. People were just fake friendly to one another for the most part I think. However, I met my best friends in that cafeteria. There were never any extra tables so you just had to find a seat on the first day, and you have to sit there for the rest of the year. My friend and I had lunch together but the rest of our friend group didn’t, so we just sat at a random table and people came to sit with us, and now those people are my best friends. We separated the cafeteria from one side of the lunch line to the other, but really it was one big open space with the food in the middle, giving the illusion of 2 separate rooms, but really it’s just one big room.
My friends and I would often walk around the room talking to different tables and then go back to “our” table. Lunch was a time to de-stress and socialize with peers, as we really weren’t allowed to have normal conversation during class. I made some of my favorite high school memories in the cafeteria and am grateful to have done so.

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I went to mineola high school. The cafeteria was a huge room with about 30 large round tables. There were no assigned seating or tables. my high school went from grades 8 to 12 so the lunch periods lined up so that 8th and 9th graders ate together and then 10th 11th and 12th graders ate together but in my school 12th graders were allowed to leave campus on free periods and lunch periods. Underclassmen were not allowed to leave the cafeteria unless they were going to the library. there were 2 hot lunch lines on either side of the cafeteria and a salad/wrap bar. lunch was 1.80 and we got the main course with a side of fruit and a drink. I remember spending my lunchtime socializing and having fun on some days and on other days I can remember using that time to study for tests or do home works

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I went to Saint Francis Preparatory High School. I am extremely grateful for what I have learned and all of my experiences I came out of high school with. It has greatly shaped me into the person I am today. My high school cafeteria is where a lot of my socializing happened. It was always loud and crazy but going to the cafeteria was my favorite time of the day. With the long hectic lines to get food during the lunch period and the quieter times during free periods the cafeteria created so many memories during high school. I would always walk around with friends going to different tables talking to other friends. We would have our own set table every lunch period where we would sit and everyone else had their set tables as well. There would always be a teacher watching us just to make sure we were behaving. We had huge windows and doors to lead outside with a few tables there as well.  I am grateful that my cafeteria was very nicely done and it felt very comforting and created many memories.

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I went to Comsewogue High School. It is grades 9-12 and I would say I had a fairly average experience there. Our school cafeteria was definitely the most popular spot. It was a decent size with circular tables scattered throughout. I think these tables can be both beneficial and disadvantageous. If you are someone with a lot of friends and a big group to hang out with, the design of the round table was perfect so that everyone could see each other and be engaged in conversation. Much like all other schools, there were many cliques and each clique almost claimed a table. However, for those who didn't have a huge group of friends to hang out with, the circular tables made it difficult to keep to yourself and find a quiet place to sit. In addition, our schedules were made so lunch periods were randomized and there was no guarantee that you would have lunch with your friends. The cafeteria could either be really intimidating or really fun. I have been on both ends of the spectrum. When I was lucky enough to be placed with my friends, we had our own little lunch table and it was great. But there were also years in which I was alone and severely intimidated by the cafeteria. As featured in my drawing, the cafeteria also had a senior lounge which did not help with the intimidation and anxiety. During those times, I would just sit in the library or the auditorium to work, as I found that much more comforting.

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I went to Calhoun Highschool in Merrick. Our school had 2 cafeterias, at the time just for freshmen because after freshman year we were allowed to leave and go out to lunch. This rule was stopped after our senior year, and then became that only seniors were allowed to leave. For me this makes my experience completely different than every other year below me, and since I was sick freshman year I only sat in those cafeterias 1 or 2 times. Every year since freshman year, I would go out to eat with my friends somewhere or go to someone’s house. I loved and enjoyed my highschool experience because I was very active through different clubs and sports teams. If I never had those high school experiences, I would not be the same person that I am today, they shaped me. I had a great connection with all my teachers and they taught me so much more than just basic school work. My high school tried to go above and beyond to make sure everyone had access to mental health resources, felt included, and planned activities through the school year to bring everyone together, which is something I cherish about it. We had homecomings, proms, fashion shows, club events, sporting events, class night, etc. The friends I have made in the classroom, became some of my best friends outside of the classroom. High school has all around brought me so much and I am thankful for my experiences I had there.

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In my highschool we had two separating cafeterias. One for the upperclassman and one for the freshman. As we all know, going to a new and bigger school can feel very overwhelming for some. The cafeteria itself can be the most terrifying part of the whole school as new comer. No one wants to sit alone and eat their food by themselves. Some may think that people are making fun of them or just judging them. My high school made less stressful while separating them from older classes, allowing them to bond with the people in their grade. Being intimidated by the older kids wasn't a worry that a freshman had to endure because the spaces were separated. Additionally, freshman cafeteria was always packed while the upperclassmen wasn't due to the fact that they could leave. So that was another factor that played into the interactions in a cafeteria. There weren't many upperclassman to begin with in the space because most of them left. I definitely did create many amazing memories, and made lifetime friendships as well. The cafeteria allowed for every student to express themselves and truly feel a sense of serotonin with their friends. Some would play games, do homework or just have incredible conversation with one another. My high school was able to create a safe space for those who wanted or needed to use it during their time there in school.

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I went to Carle Place high school, a small school, so the cafeteria was not that large and was never really overcrowded. I never really liked going to school there, honestly, I hated it, but thinking back on the cafeteria it was really funny to see people interact and how you can see different social groups there. A lot of the guys would sit on the outskirt tables, they would be disruptive and try to make everyone annoy them by just messing with them. The girls, and the more tame guy groups, would normally sit in the center of the cafeteria, at the round tables. Each table housed a different friend group or even different grades. The lunch periods were mixed with other people from every grade. Lastly, the hightops were about 4-5 tables, I can't remember how many exactly, where the people who didn't really have friend groups, or those who would like the stick to themselves would eat. They were the most at peace during lunch periods and were unbothered by the people around them.

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I went to Floral Park Memorial which had grades 7 through 12. Our lunch rooms were separated, and this diagram shows the lunch room for grades 10-12. At the first table by the door, there would be a lunch monitor who was one of the teachers. If we had to leave the lunch room, we'd have to make a pass and have them sign it for us. Some teachers were very strict about leaving the lunch room. Even if we did have a pass, we would get in trouble for taking too long especially in the 7-9 grade lunch room. It would bother me because it's our free lunch period, and as long as you're not disrupting the classes going on it shouldn't be a problem to take a walk. Another thing that would happen in the 7-9 lunch room is that we would get in trouble for being late to lunch. This was also annoying because I would like to go to my locker before lunch to switch out my books and get my food. The seniors were allowed lunch passes or free period passes which meant we could leave the school when didn't have classes. My friends and I definitely took advantage of this for the majority of our senior year until we went remote because of covid. I think it's strange that my district didn't have a middle school. My experience would've been a lot different if we had a separate middle school and high school. They tried their best to separate us as much as possible, but there's not really any efficient way to do that, especially since our school wasn't that big.

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I attended H. Frank Carey Junior – Senior High School in Franklin Square, New York. Similar to other schools in our district, my high school served students from seventh grade to twelfth grade. My high school had two separate lunchrooms – students from seventh grade to ninth grade sat in one lunchroom, whereas students from tenth grade to twelfth grade sat in the other lunchroom. As compared to the lunchroom where students from seventh grade to ninth grade sat, the lunchroom where students from tenth grade to twelfth grade sat could be considered as being defined as less chaotic and quieter. These two lunchrooms were painted blue and had large windows, as seen in the picture above. It is interesting to note that the color in which these two lunchrooms were painted were not our high school’s colors – they were in fact black and orange. These two lunchrooms were also separated by a short hallway, but oftentimes, lunch monitors would prevent students from seventh grade to ninth grade from entering the other lunchroom. It is important to note that my high school did not have so – called “lunch monitors”, but rather faculty and staff who were not teaching and/or planning during that specific period. During twelfth grade, seniors were able to leave school property to go and get lunch as long as they showed a faculty or staff member their senior pass. Typically, everyone had a place to sit during lunch, but in the event that there was someone who didn’t, my friends and I would invite them to sit with us. Not only would we want someone to do the same for us if we were them, but more importantly, it is the right thing to do.

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This is a picture of how my high school cafeteria used to look like when I was in high school. It recently went through a renovation, and now looks very similar to the setup of Adelphi's UC. But anyways, it was a large room, and filled with both rectangular and circular tables. You could roll the tables, so people often pushed tables together so that all their friends could fit. On the other side of the cafeteria, they had the kitchen, where kids could get what they wanted. They had a hot food line and a cold food line, each with different entrances. The volume level was quite loud, with everyone sitting in there, but you could for the most part hear the conversations at your table. As freshmen and sophomores, we were only able to leave the cafeteria with a pass, but as Juniors and Seniors, we had the option of going out for lunch. We did have lunch monitors, but for the most part they were pretty chill, only being strict when they had to. I feel like my school did a good job at making sure that students felt comfortable in the cafeteria, and usually all the kids sat with their peers. Lunch was nice because it was a mix of all the grades, so people often sat together in large groups with people from different grades. While there were fights that broke out in the cafeteria, that was pretty rare, and really lunch allowed us kids to just relax and decompress. The sports kids usually sat together, but other than that, it was just a big mix of kids sitting together and eating lunch. The students with special needs usually sat with students without special needs, which was fun for both parties, because they got to socialize with people that they normally would not have. Lunch was not stressful, and even if you did not have friends in your lunch period, people were usually really kind and willing to let you sit with them. I loved going to the cafeteria to eat my lunch and relax and socialize with my friends, and I am glad that my school set up the cafeteria the way that it did. No students were separated, and for the most part everyone just sat together and ate lunch.

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I went to Glen Cove high school. In my high school there was two cafeterias we called them cafeteria 1 and cafeteria 2. As you walked in either caf. You can already see how the “seating arrangements” were like, every person would sit with their own clique. The Spanish kids usually sat in caf. 2 along with freshman and some sophomores. The seniors, juniors, and sophomores sat in caf. 1 but I’ve sat in caf 1. Since i was a freshman. There were no set rules of who can sit in which caf and were they can sit but everyone knew where each clique sat and didn’t sit there unless they were apart of it. Most freshman sat in caf 2. But I’ve always sat in caf 1. On top of the radiators by the big windows next to the outside door. Some students didn’t even sit in the cafeterias, some either sat in one of their teachers rooms or they’re favorite teacher that they had in their prior years, some sat with the school social worker he was a pretty cool dude. I switched between the caf and his office, he created a safe space for some of the students where as if someone was having a bad day or was uncomfortable or even anti social he opened his doors to us to help make us feel better, or if we just wanted to get away from everyone.

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I went to James I O'neill High School in Highland Falls NY, right next to West Point. Shown in the image above is my cafeteria with a bunch of my friends right before COVID started. This was one of the last times that I spent in the cafeteria with all of my friends. The cafeteria was pretty small because in general the school was very small. The seniors every year would sit in the back three large tables and every other student knew not to sit there. Everyone else kind of just filled in the tables with no particular order. We had two lunch monitors that stayed through the whole lunch and we were not allowed to leave the cafeteria unless we had a valid reason. Overall the high school cafeteria was a place where students enjoyed and got to relax. A lot of my favorite memories were made here with my friends.

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I went to Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington New York. This is an actual picture of my high school cafeteria. There were people in this picture but I decided to cross out their faces. As you can see from the picture, our cafeteria was pretty large with a bunch of round tables scattered throughout the room. Our lunch times were basically a period spilt into two. So 4th period was in total an hour and a half. It was spilt up into 41 and 42. You would either have a class for the first hour and then have an half hour for lunch or it would be the other way around. You were able to go into the cafeteria at any time of the day as there was no pass needed to get in. Usually, "popular" seniors would sit in the front near the entrance by a radiator. They weren't imitating to walk past as mostly all the "popular" kids were extremely nice and very inclusive. The rest of the grades 9-11 would sit wherever they choose. Most of the time though, the popular group from each grade would mostly sit in the front while the other friend groups would sit further back. The cafeteria was not the only place where kids could go for lunch as there other rooms like the social studies office (where some kids did work and ate while asking teachers for help) or another cafeteria like room called The Commons. Sometimes kids even sat in the hallway for lunch but during my last year of high school they added more lunch periods to prevent kids from sitting in the hallway. Luckily, I had a wonderful high school experience and the cafeteria was always a place I would go to for lunch or even just on an off period. My friends and I never had a problem finding a lunch as we had many locations within our school to eat and enjoy our lunch.

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I went to Seaford High School and genuinely loved my experience. The cafeteria had circular tables with at least 10 seats. Our lunch periods were small because of how small our school was and we were able to always have someone to sit with. It was sometimes difficult if I did not get the same lunch period as my close friends, however the way the room was set up it was still inclusive and I always had people to sit with. I loved my time in high school because of the community surrounding it.

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I went to West Hempstead High School. I found a picture of my cafeteria and how it was set up. All the tables were long tables in rows. We had two food lines. One has cold food like sandwiches and bagels while the other side has hot food like pizza, tater tots, and hamburgers. If I did not bring lunch, I would just eat a sandwich from the cold lunch area. I enjoyed my lunch period because I would see my friends. It was loud in the cafeteria. Everyone was excited to be with each other and relax. The cafeteria was not separated by any way. I have so many funny memories in the cafeteria.

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I attended Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale. I have attended Catholic School my entire life, so many of the things that would seem odd to someone who has always attended public school are the norm for me (such as religion classes, uniforms, and strict no phone rules). There were 4 different lunch periods that you could be randomly placed in, and you were required to stay in the cafeteria during the duration of the period, unlike many public schools where you are free to leave and get food elsewhere if you please. Lunch periods were unofficially segregated by grades, and further segregated by social standing. For example, the "most popular" seniors sat at the long rectangular tables at the far end of the cafeteria by the food. However, there were seniors who did not make it into this table if they were not included in this friend group (which typically consisted of athletes such as football, lacrosse, and cheer/dance team members), however they always had at least one friend that they could sit at a different table with. Other than that, I would not say anyone was necessarily left out during lunch periods; during all four years of high school, I never saw anyone sitting alone at a table for longer than one day, which was typically the first day of school. I felt my school did an excellent job at making sure everyone was welcoming and inclusive towards each other, so everyone really belonged somewhere, whether that was with their friends from their homeroom, someone they have many classes with, or someone they are on a team with. The cafeteria was always full of energy and conversation, and it was about 99% of the time a positive atmosphere. The one and only time I would say the cafeteria was an area that made others feel bad was when someone would accidentally drop a glass lunch plate and it would shatter. There is a tradition that whenever this happens, everyone in the cafeteria screams extremely loud, thus embarrassing the student who broke the plate. Other than this one instance, I would say my school cafeteria was a safe place where everyone felt comfortable.

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I went to Massapequa High School. My high school grades were only 10-12. My school had open campus lunch. We were allowed to leave for our lunch period and then come back for our next class. Across my high school there is a shopping center with places to eat. Since this was allowed, most students did not even eat in the cafeteria. It was more of a space to study or finish up work or stay inside if the weather is bad. There are a lot of students in my school so it would also be hard to try and fit a lunch period of students in the cafeteria. If I ever went in their for my lunch period there would be no more than ten people. The room was broken up into two sides. the one side contained computers and the other side was tables to eat at. The cafeteria and many other parts of the high school were decorated in blue and gold because that was our school colors. The hallways were always crowded with students going to class and their lockers.There were definitely different friend groups and seniors feeling superior to the lower grades. My school gave students opportunities to be active in many school activities like clubs, sports and music. In my opinion, I really enjoyed my high school experience.

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I went to Mepham High School in Bellmore. This place, at the time was like second home for me and to many other students. Even though this school was welcoming to all, the cafeteria though may have been an intimidating place for people due to many students being there. If you're a freshmen or a little fish, it could be like jumping into water filled with sharks (upperclassman). Thankfully, my high school had a freshman cafeteria as well as an upperclassman cafeteria. This was to ensure that the younger classroom wouldn't be nervous being in the same room as older kids. This is also so that they can bond as a class and enjoy their lunch time together. I had great memories in my freshmen cafeteria, but honestly met my best friends in upperclassman cafeteria. That was because people in high school are "cliquey", especially at a younger age. In the freshmen cafeteria, there was never enough room at one table for a "clique". Therefore leaving a lot of people out. Also, you can tell who hangs out with who through the cafeteria. The cool kids always sat with the cool kids. The 'nerds' always sat together. The cafeteria was almost like a socializing experiment. Meanwhile in the upperclassman cafeteria, there was more room because a good majority of students were able to go out for lunch. This was a great bonding experience between my friends and I. The people I met at my upperclassman cafeteria, are still my closest friends today.

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I went to Sewanhaka High School. This is a picture of the cafeteria that everyone would eat in. I am extremely happy that I was able to attend this high school. The cafeteria had circle seats so this way the people you sit with you can talk to everyone and you can see everyones faces. There was always something that you could do in the cafeteria. Whether it be playing cards, freestyling, rolling dice, chilling on phones and just having a good time. You can also go outside with friends to play sports when ever you would like. This gave us the freedom to do what we loved to do. Overall my high school was a second home to many and everyone felt very comfortable in the environment they were in.

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I went to Kellenberg Memorial High School. In my high school, there was one cafeteria and the lunch periods included grades sixth through twelve. We were not allowed to leave lunch at all unless we had a physical paper pass saying we had to be somewhere. The cafeteria did not have lunch monitors. The "monitors" were teachers on the off period. There was a kitchen staff who was always extremely nice and understanding. There was a mix of round and rectangular tables, there were trophy cases against the wall on the side, and on the other side, there were large windows and doors that lead out to a courtyard. During Christmas time the cafeteria was always decorated with either garland or they had paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. The only division in our cafeteria was that people primarily sat with kids in their own grades. There were also unassigned "senior tables". These were long rectangular tables in the back of the cafeteria and in front of the cafeteria. Overall my high school cafeteria was an environment that every student seemed to enjoy to a certain point. It did have some downsides that I mentioned early, with not being able to leave, but overall my high school cafeteria space was made for eating and socializing.

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I went to Edward r Murrow highschool in Brooklyn. During my junior year of high school, my school upgraded my entire cafeteria. it used to be the old school long folding lunch tables and then it was turned into booths, grounded rotating seats and even an upgrade lunch station. The cafeteria was always very loud and chaotic, there was constantly fist fights and arguments that sometimes we would have to evacuate the lunchroom entirely. In order to get in, you would have to swipe your ID card so that the staff knew you were on your free period instead of skipping class. There was also staff posted up by the exit to ensure people did not sneak in. People would blast their speakers with music constantly getting yelled at. People always were fighting over sitting in the booth and you were often perceived as being "cool" if you had a group of friends with you at the booth. There was always students struggling to find a seat by themselves and they'd try to eat as fast as they could to avoid feeling embarrassed for sitting by themselves. In the tables near the back exit, students with special needs would be seated and monitored by assigned staff members. Overall, the cafeteria was a place where people would feel social pressure and try to avoid, be loud with their friends, or a chaotic place that made it hard to enjoy your free time. I found myself volunteering in the attendance office with my friends on my free time instead of going to the cafeteria because it was always problematic and I would have rather sat in the divots of the hallways than be caught up in that place under hard watch.

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I went to New Hyde Park Memorial High School in New Hyde Park, NY. My high school was grades 7-12. On one side you would have the 7th ,8th, and 9th graders, There was a little hallway connecting that cafeteria to the senior high side which included 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. The seniors got their own side of the cafeteria which was divided by a big wall that said SENIORS. The seniors got to leave for lunch and come back while the other grades were not allowed to. The "popular" seniors never stayed at school during lunch, while the other kids hopefully got a seat next to their friends. Although they were not assigned seating, if you sat in someones every day lunch seat, you got made fun of. On the other side of the wall, students sat wherever they wanted, but there were never enough seats so students sat on the windowsill. The younger side of the cafeteria was always chaotic with kids screaming, and throwing things at people across the cafeteria. We always had security guards or teachers sitting at each door making sure that students wouldn't leave. The lunch ladies were always miserable, and were not nice to the kids, only a select few were favorited which was so wrong. I never had a problem finding a seat with my friends and once I became a senior I always left, just so I didn't have to deal with fighting for a seat on the tiny senior side.

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I attended Glen Cove High School. In my high school there were two cafeterias. In the cafeterias in my high school the set up was extremely separated, meaning that people sat in cliques. The kids who spoke exclusively spanish sat together and those on sports teams would sit together. Whenever I had a lunch period, I would not go to the cafeteria, instead I would go to the chorus room since that is where all the chorus and music kids went. This was a safe haven for us and where we could all be comfortable. I would spend my free periods in the chorus room as opposed to the cafeteria since the cafeteria was an exclusive environment rather than inclusive.

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I attended Thomas A. Edison CTE High School in Queens, NY. And, I am grateful for the experiences I had in high school that shaped me into becoming who I am today. In fact, I think I learned a lot about myself during this period. But, for the most part my high school cafeteria was so chaotic, loud, overcrowded, and disorganized-like most areas of Queens. There were so many things going on at the same time, so I hardly went to the cafeteria. I spent most of my lunch period walking around the school building with a friend because the cafeteria was so dreary and dreadful. It was also so disorganized and filthy; If you didn’t watch where you were walking, you would probably step on food or milk. It was really contaminated and unhygienic. It was painted dark blue and there were hardly any windows. It was like we were trapped in a prison. In totality, the high school cafeteria had a turbulent ambience.

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This is an actual picture of my senior year cafeteria. This cafeteria was an extremely small sense it was only fitting a small number of students. But this place had a big impact. The athletic "popular kids" who thought they ran the school sat in the back booths and would scream the whole time. The hightops were always empty because they were in the center and no one wanted to be the center of attention. The side booths always had quiet kids that would either sit with one friend or alone and did not talk much. People were excluded in a way that most students were scared of this room because not a lot of teachers watched over it so the "popular" kids ran it so there were alot of students who would not put lunch in their scedule to aviod this.