Students attending Westminster Christian Academy have, in the past, always been able to purchase a bottle of water or a quick snack if the urge should arise. However, as of 2019, this has changed: students are no longer able to buy any form of food or drink from the Westminster bookstore during school hours. Students instead are expected to stock up before their classes start. 

”As of this year, the bookstore no longer sells food and water during school hours,” WCA broadcasters announced on Wednesday morning, August 14th, during the first WCA Today of the year.

The downside to not having the option of silencing your rumbling stomach or quenching your thirst with a beloved Arnold Palmer? For one, many students have trouble concentrating when hungry or tired, something which the bookstore had a quick and easy solution for. All a student had to do was walk down the hallway, purchase whatever they needed to satisfy them, and problem solved! You could continue with your hard work.

Two sophomores, Belle St. John and Ellie Johnson, both confirmed that being hungry makes concentrating much more difficult. Johnson elaborated, replying to the question “Can you concentrate when hungry?” She answered “Not at all” and continued to explain how because she has B lunch, she has to wait longer to eat. She noticed the class she had right before lunch happened to be her lowest grade. “Geometry shouldn’t be that hard,” she said. 

In reality, though, after doing some light digging, it seems that no small amount of students seemed impartial to this switch up, most claiming that they didn’t really ever buy food anyway. I myself have to remain impartial to this new rule, as well, because I have never bought anything food or drink related during school hours before, save to say my actual lunch. 

However, there is still room for argument as there are valid, positive sides of this change, too, especially when considering the substantially high amount of students who don’t seem to care much; positive sides the faculty probably foresaw when making the new rule. With the absence of food and drink, one less distraction during passing period exists, meaning the new rule will hopefully reduce the amount of students arriving late to their next class. This new rule may increase the amount of time spent in the classroom and reduce the amount of unwanted detentions, a plus side for both teachers and parents. 

“I mean, there definitely were people who [were late because they purchased food or drink at the bookstore],” said Izzy Trost, sophomore.

Another plus side? The bookstore no longer sells food, taking away another form of temptation to purchase something, sometimes unnecessarily. Why is this so great? There will be one less way to spend money. Parents have to be thankful, and even some students are glad because this means they can put their allotted money towards a whole meal from the cafeteria or over time, a new sweatshirt. “It’s one less temptation to spend money,” said Lily Johnson, sophomore.

For the less happy students there lies a solution: bring your own snacks or purchase them before school starts. Yes, you might not have time, and yes, the bookstore might have things your Mom refuses to buy for health reasons, or maybe you plainly keep forgetting to bring your own (in which case, as a forgetful person, I can fully empathize). But if one is seriously concerned with Westminster’s change, bringing your own food and drinks if needed, or purchasing them before school, is a solution for you.