New Cafe Is Leaving

Maddy Ehrlich 

The smell of pizza, the orchestra of voices, shifting of chairs, and tables covered by food. Every day, students rush to lunch, eagerly awaiting the short time of socialization, a hard earned break from their classes. Although the two cafeterias: old cafe and new cafe, are on opposite sides of the school, they each function as their own entity that still intertwines. Students wander between the two to get food, find their friends and search for a place to eat lunch. The unspoken divide between old cafe and new cafe is evident as the majority of freshmen eat in new cafe, with upperclassmen eating in old cafe. Yet, still students go wherever they want, the two cafe’s acting as an outlet for students to put down their work and enjoy themselves with friends. However, this year, the two cafe’s will merge into one. Niskayuna will be returning to the past, and making the old cafe the only cafeteria students can eat in. 

When interviewing Mr. Malizia, he helped clarify what this change will be and how students will be affected. Instead of getting food in the new cafe, students will only have the old cafe as an outlet to buy lunch. However, because of the new cafe's elimination, two brand new food service lines will be added to the old cafe. This will provide students more options to get food that is located in one place. This year, the old cafe is constantly expanding. With the opening of old cafe selling coffee, and new variety of snacks offered there, these added two service lines will increase student's options for buying lunch and enhance the food options. 

As the old cafe expands, the new cafe diminishes. Food will no longer be served in the new cafe, and students can’t eat there anymore. No longer will freshmen have to debate between themselves which cafeteria to go to, and no longer will the new cafe tables be covered with lunch boxes, food spread out on the table’s top. As of right now, the administration is not sure what the new cafe will turn into. It will still be used for a practice space for girls wrestling, cheerleading and other sports teams that use the area after school. But, during school, the new cafe fate is undecided. One possibility is it will be used for the district to hold professional meetings. Or, it might become an additional classroom/learning space. But, no matter what new cafe becomes, it is certain the lunch room will be transformed so that in years to come, students may forget it was once used as a eating place and instead silently sit there, taking tests as classes commence within it. 

As Mr. Malizia explained, it is very disruptive and ineffective to have two cafeterias where students go back and forth to get food. By having the old cafe as the only cafeteria, it will limit the amount of student movement to the academic area of the school. Additionally, students will be able to purchase a hot meal in old cafe, so they won’t need to take the long journey back and forth to find their food. Everything will be located in one spot. 

The hope is that this change will be completed before students return to school in January following the winter break. However, the timeline is not official yet. All students, no matter if they are just entering high school, or preparing to leave in the spring, will be affected by this change. Students will no longer be split, food will be in one location, and one cafeteria will disappear, marking a shift in the school’s set up and altering of student’s actions during lunch.