Skipping school, smoking in the bathroom and vandalizing public property; when students act out, they are given the title of “bad kid.”

But even the bad kids need someone who understands them.

“A bad kid is obviously someone who breaks the rules,” PHS senior Isaac Wilson said. “But in Cap’s class the bad kids are the ones who have done bad things, but are slowly starting to turn themselves around and get their life figured out.”

English teacher Mr. Vin Cappiello has provided a sanctuary for these bad kids, about a dozen of them, to go by hosting a “bad kids’ lunch” the first Wednesday of every month. While at first glance this may seem like an encouragement to these students’ bad choices, Mr. Cappiello actually uses this as a way to check in on students, give them advice and help them know they are included.

“Freshman year… I couldn’t read the word hypocrite and I went up to [Mr. Cappiello] and asked him, “What’s this word hi-poe-crite” and he’s just kind of given me crap for everything [since then],” senior Tristin Willett said. “And Cap is just the best teacher, pretty much.”

Each student has a unique story of how they met Mr. Cappiello, and while some started with negative first impressions, they all ended with a better understanding of one another. Most student in the lunch met Mr. Cappiello in his freshman English class and gained their reputation through class time, but some students had a more lasting first impression of him.

“I think it’s pretty well documented where and how Isaac [Wilson] and I got to know each other,” Mr. Cappiello said. “I was enforcing a rule that he was breaking; however, a month later I stopped him in a hallway… and I said, ‘I don’t want that incident to define what I think of you and what you think of me, so let’s wipe the slate clean and get on with our lives’.” 

The group has appointed leaders of the “bad kids’ lunch.” The president, senior Daylon Clarkson, has the job of doing absolutely nothing and if he suspected of doing something, a motion can be made to impeach him. The vice-president, senior Dawson Hiatt, is expected to take on the role of doing absolutely nothing if the president is impeached. The Hillary, senior Jasmin Preator, has the most important job, to pick up the pizza for lunch; because you can’t spell “bad kids’ lunch” without “pizza.”

“They can let their guard down in a safe spot; I’m in here, and they know there’s some unwritten rules that they’re expected to follow,” Mr. Cappiello said. “And you know, as long as Jasmin picks up the pizza everyone leaves the classroom with a full belly and hopefully that chip on their shoulder disappears for the rest of the day. ” 

Adds Willett: “If you’re [going to] be with the bad kids with Cap, you [have to] know Cap; he [has to] understand you. That’s how it works.”