Many upperclassmen enjoy open campus privileges for lunch, but other students are taking full advantage of the new Bacon Cafe.

“I think that the atmosphere’s very relaxed, it’s a lunch period, and we’ve made the space conducive for group work,” said Dr. Marcus Campbell, principal.

There were 20,000 scans to the BCC during the 2014-15 school year. This year over 20,000 students scanned into the Bacon Cafe during the three lunch periods in the first semester alone.

The Bacon Cafe opened this year, offering a solution to the issue that many students experienced of not having a place to eat and study at the same time. Campbell sees the Bacon Cafe as a way to save students time; instead of having to get food at a cafeteria and bring it somewhere else to study or consult with a teacher, students can now accomplish both in one space.

Another advantage of the Bacon Cafe is that teachers are available on site, just like in The Hub.the space provides textbooks, outlets to charge electronics, and a window with vending.

One of the challenges of its success is overcrowding. “I know we have had to turned students away. If students do not arrive at Bacon Cafe within the first few minutes of the period, they typically cannot get in because we’re at capacity, which is about 100 students,” said Campbell.

In the future, Campbell would like to keep the space open during all periods and expand it into a full service cafeteria. However, bringing the outdated food service equipment in Bacon up to par would likely be too expensive.

“I like [the Bacon Cafe] because it’s quieter,” said Maggie Stone, junior. “It’s not supposed to be a full cafeteria, it’s supposed to be a study center where you can eat.

The current setup was able to make use of the inoperable space without any significant costs.

In the end, the Bacon Cafe has been a major success for the students and faculty with no major problems reported by Campbell. As the school year goes on, the study center’s weekly attendance continues to rise to nearly 1600 scans.