Teacher implements ‘cupcake month’ to combat March

For many students, March can be the worst month of the school year. There are no breaks from school, with AP tests looming in early May.

To keep students alert and active, English teacher Suzanne Herzman has instituted “cupcake month” in her class every March.

“In previous years, she saw that certain students became less involved in class, so she tried to find a way to keep everyone interested,” junior Vivek Murthy said.

Students volunteer to bring in snacks each day of class. Traditionally, most student bring cupcakes; however, students are now opting to serve other sweet snacks, such as brownies or cookies.

“At first I didn’t think it would work, because Ms. Herzman wasn’t making it mandatory for students to bring in snacks,” Murthy said. “However, many students volunteered, and we have a volunteer for almost every day of class.”

Herzman also carefully chooses the time to distribute the snacks to the class.

“If we have a test or a quiz, she gives us the snacks during the quiz,” junior Narain Mandyam said. “That’s when I need sugar the most.”

The timing of the month itself is also not an accident. Students ascertain that March is one of the busiest months in English class.

“In the past few weeks, we had a poetry project, a practice write, a vocab and grammar quiz, and we were reading ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’” Mandyam said. “Right now is the best time for cupcake month.”

The month is in its beginning stages, so some students are still trying to work out the details.

“On the day when it was my turn to bring food, I forgot, so I sent one of my friends who had a free second period to get cookies,” Murthy said.