I took the photo above when the school where I work put a fence around the dining hall, which is attached to the Main Building, which houses the library, chapel, snack bar, student center, administrative offices, office of admission and financial aid, both auditoriums (or is it auditoria?), most classrooms, and probably more I'm forgetting. As you can tell by the list of amenities in the Main Building, the dining hall was extremely conveniently located. In past years, once I entered the building in the morning, I didn't have to leave until the end of the day.
The dining hall, however, was built seventy-five (I think that's the right number) years ago and hadn't been substantially updated since. It was in desperate need of renovations, so the school has closed it for eighteen months while it gets a major upgrade. During this time, we who live, work, study, and eat here will head across the road to the temporary dining hall, Ford Food Court (named because it is in what was the Ford Indoor Tennis Courts). The school did an amazing job of creating a lovely space in the former (and future) tennis courts, but people were still worried about the "long" walk, which I've clocked at six minutes.
I had my ninth graders write a persuasive speech recently, and one of them wrote a piece that changed my view of the Ford Food Court's location. She made some points I'm annoyed with myself for not having come up with.
- People feel better when they get fresh air in the middle of the day.
- People's moods improve when they move around more.
- The Ford Food Court is less cramped.
- The FFC doesn't have the burden of "assigned" tables by seniority.
- The school is going out of its way to have more desserts and favorite meals in the FFC.
With all these advantages to the FFC, I wonder if it'll feel like a loss when the new DH is ready. Maybe we should find ways to keep the benefits of the FFC when they complete the construction -- shall I walk around the outside of the building to go to lunch from my office or classroom?
Are there any times you've noticed when what's convenient isn't necessarily what's better? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
In case you want to see the progress on the construction, below is a photo I took yesterday of the demolition on the back of the building.
Tables in the DH are assigned by seniority?
A friend of mine worked from home. Every morning, she would put her hair in a ponytail, leave her house, walk outside, and buy a coffee from a coffee shop before coming back to work. The morning routine of getting dressed (the ponytail signaled a change), commuting, and not just making coffee gave her a chance to change mindsets and made her more productive, since she didn’t just feel like she’d stayed home all day.
The table assignments aren’t official, but all of the kids honor them.
I love that idea. I hope that when we have a DH again, I remember to take the long way there, outside and around the building!