As many students are aware, the snack cart is available in the Upper Commons after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Thanks to the US Parents Association, the snack cart offers a diverse array of treats with options ranging from candy bars to pizza. The snack cart is helpful to students who stay after school for elongated periods of time by providing them with some form of nourishment after a long day. Better still, all profits from the snack cart go directly towards special events for US students, including US After Prom.

For most in the US community, it is clear that the snack cart is beneficial for the student body. This begs the question that given the snack cart’s short and long-term advantages, why not have it more often? This is certainly feasible as according to ardent snack cart volunteer, parents are able to volunteer as much as they want by signing up on the US website. This same parent went on to explain how she loves interacting with the students after school. Certainly both sides seem to hold the necessary motivation to extend the snack cart’s service – so, why haven’t we capitalized upon it?

In years past, the answer this question has been quite simple. Although the administration has not yet notified the student body of the specific reason, failure to dispose of trash properly over the past few years may be the basis behind why we do not have the snack cart more frequently. Students had been carelessly littering because they foolishly believed that someone else would clean up after them. As the year continues, students must remember their role in keeping the school clean so that current privileges are not taken away.

Moreover, it is integral to remember that the snack cart would not exist without parents who are willing to volunteer their time at the end of the school day. It is necessary that students remain courteous to these parents in order to encourage them to continue volunteering. However, parent availability is an issue that students simply cannot control.

So how can students increase the number of snack cart days per week? Nick Protasiewicz ’19 believes he has a solution. For those days that parents cannot run the snack cart due to availability issues, Nick proposes that students run the snack cart themselves and earn Cadmean hours for their services. This not only provides a larger pool of volunteers for the snack cart, but it also offers yet another way for students to get involved in the community.

The USPA snack cart benefits US students in numerous ways, so why not increase the number of snack cart days if it is possible? Students must decide if they truly want to increase the number of snack days, and if they do, they must be willing to share some of the responsibility to run it.