For the first time, the seniors made their way off campus for lunch on Friday Dec. 2 as they won a close fight for the best attendance with a little over 90 percent, beating the freshmen class.

After getting students’ input, the contest was created by assistant principal David Woods as he has been trying to create incentives to improve attendance.

“I didn’t decide it,” said David Woods about the student competition. “I asked a plethora of  students and they decided that was the thing they wanted the most.”

Giving students the option to leave campus does however come with worries and concerns. To limit that, students were able to walk across campus to go to Sonic, Smoothie King, Micacana, Las Vacas Meat Market, Dominoes, or Little Ceasars, but did not allow students to use their vehicle to travel to other locations.   

“I have not eliminated these concerns, we are going try it Friday,” Woods said. “Here’s the thing, if it doesn’t go well we will not do it again, but if it goes well, I’m going to try to do it once a month.” 

With a one-hour extended lunch period, students were issued bracelets and their IDs must be visible to leave school as several food trucks parked on campus by John Hayes to give students more options. 

“I think it was a great idea for the school to come up with because it encourages students to come more often to school and it’s an incentive so it’s really fun,” senior Isabella Loya said. 

According to Woods, their has been some progress in the area. 

“Our  attendance has gone up, which is good,” Woods said. “We’re going to continue giving these prizes like popcorn, airpods, little things for kids to make them feel like coming to school is worth it.” 

Loya and other students liked the options, but were a little thrown off at the prices. 

“I ordered the barbacoa torta and it was $9,” said Loya about the high prices. “It was just plain, it was just the meat and the barbacoa, it didn’t really have anything else in it. It was just the salsa and a little cup that had cebolla in it.”

With the first off-campus lunch in the books, students are eager to see what other plans administration will place to make the school better. 

Photos by Eilanie Garibay and Abigail Ruvalcaba. Regina Mendoza interviewed Isabella Loya.