Turquoise, red and orange: Has East decided to change its school colors?

Over the summer, East’s cafeterias have received a make-over that has incited mixed emotions in students.

"It looks like someone got bored and painted the cafeteria," said Niyati Desai (’07).

Some veteran East students wonder why the colors of the cafeteria are opposite from those of the school. Even those who do not have a lunch period, like Helen Mac (’07), have noticed the change of colors in the cafeteria.

"I don’t understand why the school picked these colors, because it just confuses freshmen about the colors of our school," said Mac. (’07)

However, according to Mr. Charles Martine, Vice Principal of East, the colors were not chosen by the school, but by Aramark, an organization that provides food service management to over 420 public and private school districts throughout the United States. Martine says that Aramark had carefully researched their decision before coming up with the conclusion that red, orange and turquoise would help East’s students relax.

"At first, I didn’t even like the colors of the cafeteria, but now, it has... won me over. It just takes time to get used to," said Martine.

Martine said that he would not want the whole school to be painted in these colors, but that the cafeteria was painted with a plan. Professionals sent by Aramark needed only a few days to paint the cafeteria and the school paid these professionals about 5,000 dollars for East’s new colorful cafeteria. The cafeteria, however, is not the only renovations East will undergo. One of the main focuses for the administrators this past summer was to make improvements throughout the school.

"Making these new renovations were not options, but laws and we’re looking around to see what improvements could be made," said Martine.

Not only is the school renovating the cafeteria, but little by little, other parts of the school such as the auditorium and the second- and third-floor bathrooms. Little by little, East attempts to improve the building to live up to its title of being not only a blue-ribbon school, but also one that wears all of its colors well.