As part of the student government’s initiative of this year and to honor the celebration of Hanukkah, the G.O. put together various special treats for the student body. The G.O. kicked off the holiday with gifting the students with RMZ gloves as they walked through the door in the morning to warm their cold hands from the harsh winter outside. Later that day, during student lunch periods, students noticed a new lounge set up in the lunchroom. The lounge consisted of ping pong tables, pop-a-shot, giant jenga, and other games. Another particularly exciting section of the lounge for gaming addicts consisted of a bunch of bungee chairs surrounding an Xbox, where students could play Fortnite. The G.O. lounge was open all week for students to enjoy during their lunch periods.

G.O. Vice President Avery Sholes ’20 gave the inside scoop on what it was like to plan the lounge. “While it may seem easy to some, the GO lounge [was] actually a lot of work to organize.” “Calling up venders, ordering games and chairs on amazon, and finding space was no easy job,” Associate Vice President (AVP) Ayelet Monas ’19 added.  

AVP Paola Mattot ’20 envisions taking the G.O. lounge step further. She hopes “for it to become a permanent thing that can move to the terrace during the warm weather for students to enjoy.” Sholes added, “In [the G.O.’s] eyes, the students liked having it, and it added another facet of enjoyment to their lunch periods. If we get more positive feedback, we might just bring it back.” President Becky Tauber ’19 looks to the future of the lounge: “The goal is to move all of the chairs onto the terrace so people can hang out there when it gets nicer outside. As for the other stuff, I would love to leave it in the auditorium but it’s definitely a lot more complicated since there are events in the building all the time. I would love to add stuff if people gave ideas, even if it’s just temporary I think people like seeing different things happen on occasion even if it’s not permanent.”

Student body feedback was very positive.“A school lounge to me is a space where all the grades and groups of friends can hang out socialize and relieve stress while still being in school,” said Yael Webber ’20, “ and the G.O. lounge definitely accomplished that goal.” Ryan Sands ’20 said, “I was very happy to see the Fortnite setup because I was able to promote my yeshiva league Fortnite competition that I have been promoting through social media.”

Lastly, in response to those who wondered why they did not simply utilize the lounges on the 4th and 6th floor, President Tauber added, “I was really opposed to just distributing things to the existing lounges because I wanted it to be a united lounge for the time it was up.”