Cookies is a time for students to become the teachers and to teach their fellow student body a specific subject that they are interested in. Over a two-day period, students took a class taught by their fellow classmates and the choices of courses varied from cooking different types of food, learning about baseball, acting, an amazing race downtown, working out, and more.

There was a time period for students to create their own cookies and submit them to Rolanda Shepard, who along with other faculty members, oversaw which Cookies got accepted and which were denied. “It’s not just me who decides which Cookies are cut,” Shepard said.

“The first round goes through me, Mr. Conlon, and the rest of the curriculum committee, and we see which ones provide enough educational content,” Shepard said. “Some cookies have lots of potential and the committee may go back to the creators and say if they add more education aspects to their cookie, then their cookie may be passed. We also go through the cookies again with Mr. Brandon to make sure the creators are not souping up their description and will actually go through with their planned agenda, and we see if the cookie fits the restricted budget, and has enough content to last two full days.”

 This year, over 40 cookies were submitted and 22 of them were denied. One of the Cookies approved was “Chicago Through A Lense,” created by sophomores Emily Simon and Leila Sheridan. “Our cookie gives students the opportunity to try new videography and editing techniques that aren’t available to them through the regular Parker curriculum,” Simon said. “It broadens the students experiences and gives them chances to try things that take them a step out of their comfort zone.”

Despite the numerous choices for cookies this year, some students have been complaining over the lack of “fun” cookies to participate in, and others complained about how they believe their Cookie should have been passed when it was denied.

Students in the past have been critical of the criteria for passing Cookies, and that the criteria should be changed to make more “fun” cookies more easily allowed. “I think that maybe the criteria for passing cookies should be possibly changed to make it easier for more Cookies to be passed that students would enjoy,” junior James Cuevas said.

Another junior, Sean Andrews, like other students, is disappointed in the lack of “fun” cookies to choose from this year. “I would say there is a lack of fun Cookies this year,” Andrews said. “There aren’t enough Cookies that fit my interests. The lack of interesting Cookies may make cookies less of an experience for everyone involved because people have no interest in the Cookie they are in.”

A reason that some Cookies are rejected is that they don’t carry the academic aspect that teachers are looking for when deciding when to cut or accept a cookie. “Biking is fairly popular and so many people would sign up for it. Me along with Rohan Dhingra talked to teachers beforehand and planned our agenda out very well,” sophomore and co-leader of the “Outdoor SoulCycle” Cookie Aidan Weinberg said.

Another Cookie, “Rap Lyric Dissection,” was denied. “I believe that our cookie was not passed because we didn’t really have an agenda and we did not make our cookie educational enough in my opinion,” junior Rob Currie, one of the creators said.

There are a lot of aspects to getting a cookie passed, including having a more detailed plan, goals already set to accomplish, a faculty sponsor, having an education aspect, and being an established Cookie that has been around for a while.

“I’ve been a co-leader of the Italian Cooking Cookie since my freshman year, so being established helped it get passed,” junior Molly Taylor, co-leader of the “Italian Cooking” Cookie said,  “More importantly, though, it checks off the boxes: it’s educational because students learn how to prepare a variety of dishes and develop new cooking skills. It’s also a really fun, engaging Cookie that I think students have enjoyed.”