In 2019, Leesville stopped SMART lunch. SMART stands for Students Maximizing Achievement with Resources and Time. 

Every day students would have an hour after third period to eat lunch, get help with class material, and go to clubs. 

Sydney Gransden, a Leesville alumnus, attended Leesville while SMART lunch was still offered. 

As it was 2019, her freshman year, the last year SMART lunch was offered, her memories are a little fuzzy, but she remembers that Monday through Thursday, you were required to check in on one of your classes, Monday first period, Tuesday second, and so on. 

This was in case the teacher needed you to stay and do makeup work, take a test, or get help for the class. On Friday, you didn’t need to check in and had a whole hour to eat lunch. 

I think I speak on behalf of most of the students at Leesville when I say that SMART lunch should be brought back. It would be a good break for both students and teachers.

I have heard many teachers say that they don’t have enough time in their planning period, or they are being called for other jobs around the school. SMART lunch would offer them enough time to plan for later in the week, eat a good lunch, and help struggling students if needed. 

Gransden also remembers that almost all upperclassmen would go off campus for lunch. After the switch to A lunch, B lunch, even if you had an off-campus pass, you would most likely stay at school in the parking lot, for fear of being late to your third or fourth period. During SMART lunch, students had enough time to feel comfortable with going off and getting a good lunch.

After SMART lunch was abolished, Gransden said that it felt like the day was much longer than before, and she felt more stressed out without the hour-long break in the middle of the day. 

Because of COVID-19, Gransden only had one full semester of high school with A lunch, B lunch, but she did say that she liked SMART lunch much better. 

Another memory Gransden has is that there was always something going on in the auxiliary gym, whether it was intramural sports or just kids having fun; there was something active to do. 

If SMART lunch were to be brought back, it would give students a chance to catch up with each other. With the A lunch, B lunch schedule. If you don’t have the same lunch as your friend, you might not see them at all during the school day.

While I know socialization isn’t the point of school, it is important for everyone’s mental health to be able to hang out with friends. 

Another pro to bringing back SMART lunch is that students would be able to get more sleep. With an extra half hour during the day, students could be doing homework and studying, which they usually stay up late to do. Not only would the extra time lets students get more sleep, but their sleep would be better quality because they wouldn’t be worried about their assignments that they couldn’t get to.

Gransden said that clubs only happened during lunch. After school, clubs were very rare, unless it was a club like HOSA, where you had to practice a lot for competitions. 

I heard rumors that SMART lunch would be brought back after Mrs. Jacobs was made principal, but they obviously were not true.

According to Gransden, classes weren’t that much shorter. Only a few minutes were taken from each class, just like on an advisory day, and in my opinion, SMART lunch would be more beneficial than advisory. 

SMART lunch obviously has many advantages, so I think it would be in students’ best interest to bring it back.