Students at Ledyard High School can no longer expect to hear athletic director Mr. Buonocore before every lunch wave, announcing the special of the day. While Mr. Buonocore was praising the orange chicken, buffalo chicken dip, Italian pasta, and colorful salads through the P.A. system, behind the scenes he was the ringleader of a crazy scam! The school lunch company had been giving Mr. Buonocore loads of Niall Horan and Harry Styles merchandise, from t-shirts and travel mugs to vinyl records and keychains, to give glorious descriptions of the lunch that was available for the day. Mr. Buonocore, renouncing it all, has stepped down from his position as official lunch food advertiser.

When an anonymous student was asked about the issue, she said, “It’s not that the lunches needed the extra boost. They were already pretty great – my favorite being the orange chicken. I just never thought that Mr. Buonocore could pull something off like this, or that he liked Harry and Niall! Maybe I’ll see him at a concert once COVID is over, or at a track meet or lacrosse game wearing one of the t-shirts.” Mr. Buonocore, you heard it here- the students want to see the merch!

After this shocking scandal was revealed, Journalism students talked to Mr. Buonocore and Chartwells, our lunch company, to see what they had to say. Both denied any involvement in such an event, but an anonymous source reports that yesterday morning, when they walked into Mr. Buonocore’s office, there he sat, folding a Harry Styles hoodie! Now it’s up for the students to decide. Do they believe Mr. Buonocore, and that he was giving lunchtime announcements every day just because of how good they are? Or was there something more sinister going on behind the scenes? If the latter is the case, we in room 106 hope to hear how Mr. Buonocore feels about One Direction’s breakup, and whether or not he hopes they get back together.

Junior Alex Martinez-Garcia is the co-editor of the 2020-2021 Colonel. When she’s not playing lacrosse or swimming for LHS or the Westerly YMCA, you can probably find her planning events as class president or in Outdoor Adventure Club. Outside of school, Alex loves to play the piano and watch every TV show that Netflix and HBO Max have to offer.