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It all starts with a tap. Then a clap. then a shaking bottle. A boy stands up and puts some dancing to the built-up rhythm, as his friends continue the beats. Slowly but surely, the once stale lunchroom comes alive with laughter, and for a few minutes, lunchtime becomes recess. They call themselves the Lunch Boyz.
The Lunch Boyz are a group of students at Learning Unlimited who enjoy entertaining the student body. With shorter high school lunchtimes this year, many students feel that they don’t have much time to destress between classes. The Lunch Boyz put on a show and unite the students in the lunchroom for a few minutes weekly.
As Shaquille Ortega, founder of the group, explains, “This is how it started. So we’re sitting at lunch, and it’s dead quiet. No one’s moving or even speaking. So I finally asked, ‘Why we don’t do something for lunch since we aren’t allowed to go out and play for recess?’ So I took that energy and I put it into something else. And that’s how the Lunch Boyz started. All of our energy went into making music and dancing. This year, there’s going to be a lot of jamming but only after October be cause we have to get clearance first.”
“The members [of the Lunch Boyz] include myself, Shaquille Ortega, Malik Martes, Malcolm Martes, Daricia Arrindell, Andre Lacle, and the already graduated Jeriah Richardson and Sidely Richardson. We’ve been doing our performances since February of last year. I am the lead singer/dancer. Andre is a singer and back-up dancer. Jeriah and Sidely were also main singers and dancers. The rest of the members are musicians; hitting the tables and shaking bottles. Many teachers told us to stop. Not because they didn’t like it, but because we were disturbing the 1st grade class taking place in the classroom next to the lunchroom. Various teachers told us to stop, but not because it was inappropriate or anything, but just because we make a lot of noise. I hope that I can continue performing when I go off to college, even though it would be hard to get the team there. But I don’t really care; I would love to do something with it when I’m older.”
The school is looking forward to watching the Lunch Boyz do their act at lunch time. We must wait and see what they have in store for us. BY ROSE RAPPOSELLI
The Lunch Boyz are a group of students at Learning Unlimited who enjoy entertaining the student body. With shorter high school lunchtimes this year, many students feel that they don’t have much time to destress between classes. The Lunch Boyz put on a show and unite the students in the lunchroom for a few minutes weekly.
As Shaquille Ortega, founder of the group, explains, “This is how it started. So we’re sitting at lunch, and it’s dead quiet. No one’s moving or even speaking. So I finally asked, ‘Why we don’t do something for lunch since we aren’t allowed to go out and play for recess?’ So I took that energy and I put it into something else. And that’s how the Lunch Boyz started. All of our energy went into making music and dancing. This year, there’s going to be a lot of jamming but only after October be cause we have to get clearance first.”
“The members [of the Lunch Boyz] include myself, Shaquille Ortega, Malik Martes, Malcolm Martes, Daricia Arrindell, Andre Lacle, and the already graduated Jeriah Richardson and Sidely Richardson. We’ve been doing our performances since February of last year. I am the lead singer/dancer. Andre is a singer and back-up dancer. Jeriah and Sidely were also main singers and dancers. The rest of the members are musicians; hitting the tables and shaking bottles. Many teachers told us to stop. Not because they didn’t like it, but because we were disturbing the 1st grade class taking place in the classroom next to the lunchroom. Various teachers told us to stop, but not because it was inappropriate or anything, but just because we make a lot of noise. I hope that I can continue performing when I go off to college, even though it would be hard to get the team there. But I don’t really care; I would love to do something with it when I’m older.”
The school is looking forward to watching the Lunch Boyz do their act at lunch time. We must wait and see what they have in store for us. BY ROSE RAPPOSELLI