Free food is always a bonus for high school students, and it can be used as a great motivational tool. Principal Brett Bowers introduced bringing food to random flex times throughout the year as a fun and surprising treat for students.

“The idea of it is that it’s just a little something to bring energy to the school, that it’s different and kind of unexpected,” Principal Bowers said. “It’s really just something fun because I believe that little things can go a long way to brighten someone’s day.”

The food is generally given out only once or twice a month, and the classes that are picked to receive the food are totally random. Principal Bowers simply walks around the hallways trying to mix it up so that it’s not always the same content areas that win. “I thought it was pretty cool when my class won, and that Mr. Bowers and Mr. Grey took the time to do that for us during flex,” Sierra Wadood, junior, said.

The food that gets chosen is generally not something that needs to be made or prepared ahead of time. Normally, the food can just easily be bought at a store or ordered from a restaurant to be picked up before flex time.

The amount of food that is in supply determines how many classrooms will win. If a classroom has a large number of students, then they might be the only class to win, but if there is a classroom with fewer students in it, then there might be two or three classes that win. “The classroom that is selected is sort of haphazard, with a little bit of strategy behind it,” Principal Bowers said.

The website National Day Calendar shows every national recognition day, which is where Principal Bowers goes to find out which food falls on a particular Tuesday or Thursday.

Giving out food during flex is definitely something that will continue until the end of this year, but it is unknown whether it will carry on for years to come. “It was pretty funny winning cupcakes during the first flex time that I went to this year; it was a pleasant surprise,” Jamie McDonough, senior, said.

“I send out a tweet on Twitter every morning saying what the national food is, so if you follow me on Twitter, you will know ahead of time which food will be given for that flex day,” Principal Bowers said.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Principal Brett Bowers posts on Twitter which food is celebrated for that day.