The cafeteria snack bar is open everyday, but the problem for LZHS students is that it is not open enough hours per day.  On a daily basis, the snack bar is closed after seventh period.  Keeping it open until the end of the day or after school not only helps the students, but also parents and the school.
    LZHS has a very academically strong and athletic student body.  Many people stay after school, whether for a sport, club, or homework help.  With the snack bar open, students gain a greater advantage from what is available.
    “For me, it helps to eat a snack after school, because then you’re not focused on being hungry, but on your after school activity, whether it’s athletic or not,” Johannah Snyders, freshman, said.  “Not eating can also make you feel weak or faint, which isn’t healthy and doesn’t benefit your focus.”
    Because of the lack of glycogen from not eating prior to practice, the body is in almost a “starvation” mode, which leads to eating more than what would have been before working out, according to FitDay’s website.
    “Most students eat from 10-12 at school, so after a couple of hours, students might get hungry,” Snyders said.  “Personally, I eat at about 10:30 at school, and I’m hungry when school ends.  Just having a simple snack when school is over helps, especially when I have to skip lunch to go see a teacher or go to the library.”
    The snack bar mainly helps students when at school, but the parents receive the benefits once they come home.
    If students’ hunger does not stay satisfied throughout the school day, the students have a tendency to snack more when they home, ruining their appetite for dinner.
    The ideal time to eat dinner is between 5pm and 7pm, because any earlier leads to late-night snacking and any later will not give the body enough time to digest a healthy amount of the food before sleeping, according to eHow Mom’s website.
    “Unless the student is an upperclassman with an open, students can’t leave the building [during school],” Snyders said. “Many parents work during the day, making it impossible for them to bring a snack to their child.”
    Although the benefits of lengthening the snack bar hours mainly help students and parents, the school would also benefit from it through the intellectual reputation of the school.
Studies show that students who are hungry during school have a tendency to get distracted easier, therefore not doing as well, according to eHow Mom’s website.
    “To excel academically, students must be able to attend class, collaborate with their peers, and focus on the tasks that teachers give them,” Snyders said.  “This requires the support from food energy and nutrients.  If students want to do their best to get good grades, a healthy diet can improve their performance in school.”
    Schools are responsible for giving students a good education as well as a healthy lifestyle.  By lengthening the hours of the snack bar, they not only satisfy that responsibility, but also please the parents in the community and collect a little more money in the process.