Hunger pangs satisfied at Las Vegas high schools

Max Jacobson

Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2002 | 8:19 a.m.

It is just before 11 a.m. in the cafeteria at Green Valley High School, and already a large team of food service employees is preparing for the onslaught of lunch period No. 1.

In less than 10 minutes several hundred high school students will be served, leaving ample time for them to enjoy their meal. The lunch period, one of two in local high schools, lasts just 30 minutes.

High school students do not have to eat their lunch on campus, as it happens, and there are no rules or restrictions as to where they do eat, provided they are back on campus when the lunch period is up.

Says Green Valley High School Assistant Principal Barbara Chilson, a 26-year veteran of the local school district: "We expect our students to be responsible, behave properly and if so, they may eat wherever they like during their lunch break."

In fact, there are several possibilities. The most exercised option is to have lunch in the school's large, clean, modern commons area, a type of arrangement that virtually all of Las Vegas high schools have. Many of the students "brown bag" it, but still more eat the many offerings prepared in the kitchen.

Chilson is impressed with the Green Valley kitchen, both for its cleanliness and efficiency. "I've worked in five different high schools," she says with pride, "and this one has the best kitchen by far."

That notwithstanding, the menu available, which changes daily within a basic framework, is the same throughout high schools in Las Vegas. Students are allowed to choose one of the daily combo specials, which are $2.50. The main dishes are served with a choice of a small fries or salad, and a small soft drink or milk.

They also have a more expensive option of having a submarine sandwich, generally either turkey, ham or Italian cold cuts, five chicken fingers with a side of ranch dip, or a large slice of pizza from either Pizza Hut or Little Caesar's, for slightly more money. The three choices come with a large order of fries or a salad, and a large drink or large milk."

The less-expensive daily combo specials are the same throughout the year. Mondays there are chicken nuggets, Tuesdays a barbecued pork rib sandwich, Wednesdays a spicy chicken sandwich, Thursdays soft tacos with a choice of either beef or chicken, and Fridays a large double-cheeseburger. Looking around the cafeteria on a Thursday, there are vast amounts of cheese fries and pizzas being consumed. Soft tacos come in a distant second.

There is also the possibility of ordering a la carte, with such choices as egg-salad sandwiches, tuna salad sandwiches, and veggie plates. There is also a large variety of snacks, such as nachos or pretzels.

A few students have special needs and each school has a special coordinator on site who can deal with such problems. One student at Green Valley, for instance, requires a low-sodium diet, and the kitchen accommodates her. There is, however, no provision for special diets based on religion or culture, such as kosher or Hindu.

"Most of the students who require foods of that nature bring them from home," Chilson is quick to say. An average price of a student on-campus lunch is around $3 per student.

In fact, were you to compare prices of the subs sold in the schools against those sold in the various Blimpie or Port Of Subs franchises, you would discover that comparable subs are about $1 less in the schools than in the stores.

Not all kids opt to eat on campus, though. For those who do not, time is the major obstacle. Lunch periods for Las Vegas high schools are from 10:55-11:25 a.m., or from 11:50 a.m.-12:20 p.m. Some students have cars, which enables them to make it to such places as Taco Bell, KFC, and of course, McDonald's, and back by the end of the period.

A few students were spotted eating the low-priced Twister chicken sandwich, a good deal at $2.29, and the inevitable Big Mac at the McDonald's closest to the Green Valley High School campus on Warm Springs Road. When asked, the usual answers are given with regard to favorite foods: pizza, burgers and chicken. Some things never change.

Just outside the Green Valley campus, there is a strip mall with a Dairy Queen and the popular hangout Napoli Pizza. This pizza place feeds throngs of kids every lunch period, students who come to eat these thick, bready, oversized slices of pizza for $1.50 per slice. If you want an extra topping, it's only a quarter per topping. It's standing room only here at lunchtime, and doubtless, there are other places analogous to this one all over town.

What it all boils down to isn't really money or nutrition, but rather the natural order of things in the mind of the average high school student. One high school senior who did not wish to be quoted by name said, "In the end, you eat where your friends eat. If they eat in the cafeteria, you eat in the cafeteria, and if they eat off-campus, so do you."

Wherever these kids are eating, they are not going hungry.

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