Every school year comes with change to the school, from repainting of halls to the implementation of new furniture and systems. However, this year’s changes particularly sparked the attention of the SIS community: the food venues of B1—including the Cafeteria, Tiger’s Den, and the school store—went through drastic changes and innovations in systems.
This ranges from a Cafeteria community board, sturdier food stands and systems, and new menus. The Cafeteria community board was especially effective in mitigating some of the old lunch system’s communication problems.
“I feel like [the community board] elevates the visuals and aesthetics,” Lisa Kim (11), cafeteria user, said. “I think it is also helpful because people get to know what they are eating for lunch that day. It’s a good idea to have all these kinds of innovations.”
Although lunch menus and schedules for special events were posted on the SIS website, accessing the platform every day to check announcements proved to be quite tedious for many students. But now, with the creation of a community board, students can easily check their lunch menus ahead of time.
The Tiger’s Den also went through some changes to its operating system. Not only did they implement new menus, such as flat croissants, coupled with a larger glass stand to store new foods, but they also started handing out packed lunches at the counter. Previously, the cafeteria offered packed lunches at the back counter of the cafeteria, where students signed off their names and took them. The new system not only ensures that everyone who takes the lunches is recognized by the Cafeteria, but also prevents the food from being hauled back into the kitchen in case of leftovers.
The school store also added a variety of new snacks that are popular among students. One snack in particular, called the “TikTok Jelly,” attracted attention. “TikTok Jelly,” a type of gummy that is eaten by biting into the plastic wrapper as jello oozes out, was popular among the younger generation and made its way into the school store.
“I don’t really know what students like, so they ask me for certain things,” Ronald Ko, school store owner, said. “They ask for things like Takis, Doritos, and [snacks with] Mala.”
But the most exciting change for many students was the ramen stand. While obtaining ramen was difficult at school, with the only options being the Snack Shack during office hours or sporadic club sales in the atrium, the new menu allowed students to snack on ramen whenever they wanted.
“The students wanted ramen,” Mr. Ko said. “They used to come around in the morning or during lunch, saying that they were hungry. I added foods because students requested specific products or new menus.”
Within the first week of school, many students could be seen in the hallways carrying cups of ramen around, with some even opting to eat ramen instead of school lunch. The reason behind this decision was practical: students could eat a delicious meal without having to spend time in line to get lunch. However, this unhealthy alternative has raised concerns amongst students.
“The ramen being in school stores is making people buy [it] more,” Hailey Cho (11), frequent school store customer, said. “[But] they’re not eating cafeteria lunches anymore because they can just eat ramen. Eating ramen instead of real food is kind of unhealthy and not a good habit.”
Whether it be good or bad, new foods and innovations certainly garnered attention from students.
