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« on: February 18, 2005, 06:24:00 PM »
OK i have to call bullsh*t on a lot of this! Don't hide behind the anonymous tag, give a peer group or initials... first of all, the food is gathered and either tossed or covered an put in a cold box (which yes has passed the heath code inspection for temperture, etc); while a lot of the meals contain a fried selection, it is not the only choice, ever and there is always a vegetarian selection along with a nicely stocked salad bar, lunch meat bar, assortment of breads, cheese selection, fresh fruit and other healthier alternatives. noted, there are usually a few more carbs then those who do the atkins thing would like.
as far as the flys and the "stench", any time there is food there are flies, they are not in the cafeteria and are usually around the trash that is outside after the meals waiting to be taken to the dumpster, yes by the students who usually have EARNED work assignements for doing silly stupid things - its called consequences, some of you parents may want to commit that word to memory, perhaps then you would not need these types of schools!
The counselors and teacher and staff members do eat in the lodge either before or with the student body and i have RARELY seen anyone bring their own food unless they were dieting. They are asked to do so to be with the student body and be available for counseling help or academic help...there is more than enough seating for the entire student body plus staff. NO ONE IS EVER REQUIRED DUE TO CROWDING TO STAND TO EAT! that comment is ridiculous...the students are actually required to be seated durning meals, they can get up and move around freely, so hold the comments about making them keep seated or whatever you are thinking. As for students "jumping at the chance to do trash duty" first off, again it is a consequence, second, there is a staff member present during the trash runs to assure student safety and they would never and are never allowed to "pick through" the garbage, especially to eat!! that again is just silly! as well as untrue.
to be eligible for doing community service you have to meet certain criteria, to do any off campus events (activities, community service, etc) you have to be eligible and yes, some kids sign up to do these things to get the chance to get off campus, but to eat? no, not true. again it is called "giving back" which most of these kids have never had to do...most of them just take and their parents give...money, gifts, cars, etc...not usually time, restrictions, consequences and then they send their kids to schools like this at 17 and over and expect them to "do something to make them stay" when they turn 18...when you don't ever tell your kid no, it is hard to start at 16!!
sure, some kids maybe don't need to be there but most of them have truly earned their spots! and some need an even more restrictive program and there are folks out there who are grateful for those, too!
There is one truth i did see in this comment and that is if a student serves to many days on restrictions they are recommended to go to ridge creek. but it is an exorbanent amount of days!
OH and as for "if, as a parent you visited the school and everything seemed decent, it's because you're there. The school is very different whenever parents are there. They usually take all of the kids who are on restrictions and send them off into the woods with one water bottle each and a little bagged lunch. The rest of the students are assigned to partake in designated activities all over campus for the day." TOTALLY UNTRUE! there are parents and other visitors that come to the school at all different days and times of day. they look at the school, the grounds, the cafeteria, the infirmary, the gym and even experience the cafeteria during meal times...unannounced!! the staff and students do no know when they are having tours. the only time the school does the special visit days where activities are planned are days like grandparents day so that other family members can see that the school is not a lock down or basement facility! the thought that everyone's days could be disrupted to "put on some kind of act" is again a silly statement.
and yes, they changed the restrictions policy because obviously a child who spends an incredible amount of days on restrictions, just isn't getting it and sometimes needs a different type of intervention to help get their attention.
i know that there will be backlash, but i don't care, what i have said is true up to THIS day!
so come on nay sayers...bring it on!
On 2005-02-17 17:11:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I graduated from HLA in 2004 and I saw with my own eyes what you are all discussing. The food served at HLA is unhealthy. Most meals contain at least one or more deep fried dishes and a miniscule selection of food not containing meat. The salad bar looked dangerous and the sandwich meat would often sit out uncovered from breakfast till dinner. The cafeteria reeked of rot and during the summer flies were everywhere. During weekday lunches, most of the counselors and teachers would come and eat in the cafeteria with us (many of whom brought food from home) and greatly exceeded the seating capacity, forcing many students to eat standing up.
The worst part of all of this was the hunger. Whenever we were given trash duty on restictions, everybody would almost jump out of their seats for the oppurtunity. Those lucky enough to be picked would then race up to the dumpsters and rummage through them for food. I know this because i used to do it. A lot of the students would sign up for community service just so that they could eat leftovers at the soup kitchens. It's kind of funny, I realized the other day that after going to HLA I am very protective of my food. I have to remind myself constantly that I don't need to eat as much as i can whenever i have the oppurtunity because I'm not at HLA anymore. Eating is no longer a privelage.
The last thing i want to say is just that whather or not it's healthy or of sufficient quanity, the food at HLA is atrocious. I know that this is not a major issue but i just want to mention it. If, as a parent you visited the school and everything seemed decent, it's because you're there. The school is very different whenever parents are there. They usually take all of the kids who are on restrictions and send them off into the woods with one water bottle each and a little bagged lunch. The rest of the students are assigned to partake in designated activities all over campus for the day. Ask you're child what he or she was doing on grandparents weekend and im sure he/she'll tell you the same thing. After Leaving Hidden Lake all i wanted to do was forget it but now i want to tell people what it's really like. i will be checking this site regularly now so if you have any questions, please ask.
One other thing. The restrictions thing is mostly true. I say mostly because it used to happen a lot. Even when i first got to the school, people could be on restrictions for as long as three to four months without being sent away. Towars the end of 2002 though they started a policy that if you were on restrictions for i think it was either a whole month or 25 days, you would be sent to ridge creek.
I hope this helped a bit."
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