This school year seems to be one full of changes, from new hallway etiquette to the enforcement of rules never imposed before. However, one of the more enjoyable alterations made to the school year are the new vending machines. To the delight of many students they can be found in places like B hall and the A gym foyer.

“One of our focuses this year is to keep kids on campus, and we know there’s lots of kids leaving campus to go somewhere to get snacks,” assistant principal Matt Waldmann said. “One method that we decided to use is to put vending machines and soda machines back on campus so kids have choices on campus so they don’t have to leave and be late to or skip class to go get snacks.”

The new vending machines seem to be an especially big deal, since student snack privileges were revoked last year.

“We had some trouble during lunch, so we decided to close the vending machines, hopefully to get order back in the cafeteria,” Waldmann said.

Based on past occurrences, some students believe that we may not keep the machines for long.

“When you give privileges to people who aren’t ready to handle them, they’re going to end up losing them again, because people can’t treat them right and respect that privilege,” sophomore Ariel Padilla said.

While it can never be certain how students will react to change, it’s been made very clear that if students behave as poorly as they did in the past, the machines may be locked once again.

“If the snacks become a problem, if students are getting out of class to go use the restroom but then go by the snack machines and are spending too much time there, and the snacks aren’t allowed in class or there’s trash around the school, those are some issues that might cause the removal of snack machines,” Waldmann said.

Besides the possibility of losing them, another question that can be brought up is whether or not they can have negative effects on students’ health. Schools are generally known for having “healthier” food options and some teachers believe that these machines may make health matters worse.

“I do (feel like this might have a negative effect on student health) because they’re using those calories instead of eating proper nutritious food,” Intro to Culinary Arts teacher Cathy Hoch said.

However, other faculty members believe in just the opposite, and that students will always make their own choices when it comes to health.

“Students make a choice,” Waldmann said. “To me, it’s no different than going to Chicken Express. It’s up to the students to make wise decisions. I don’t think that a snack here or there is going to hurt. We want to service our students in the right way, and we want them to be wise with snacks and be responsible.”

It is unknown how much longer the soda machines will be in the school, but many students are making the most of them while they can.