With below freezing temperatures and winds howling around them, a small group of senior boys sit outside huddled around a table, their breath visible and their food steaming.

Like many seniors, the group of nine boys began eating lunch outside during the warmer months of the school year, but as the weather changed, their daily routine did not.

According to senior Justin Schierbaum, the idea of continuing to eat outside during winter began as a joke among the friends.

“We kind of laughed at [the idea], but eventually we started taking it more seriously,” Schierbaum said. “The first cold day came somewhere in November and we were still eating outside, so we just decided to keep going.”

Even after making the decision to bear the cold, a comment from Anatomy and Physiology teacher Eric Thomas further spurred the group on in their resolve to last all winter.

“Thomas commented that we wouldn’t last past January,” Schierbaum said. “At this point, we have to stay out there and keep eating, otherwise he’ll prove us wrong.”

To prepare for the extreme weather, which according to senior Cody Robertson, has “got down to where it feels like six degrees,” some members of the group bring several layers of clothing.

“I wear a lot of layers; we’re talking three or four when it gets real low,” Robertson said. “Some of the others don’t prepare at all, but I’m always ready.”

However, with temperatures averaging 31 degrees for the past month of January, Robertson says the group has been asked to eat inside.

“[Someone] did kick us inside the other day. We just went inside for the day and we were very gloomy,” Robertson said. “Then we decided, ‘we’re going out next time, just to spite them.’”

Despite the cold, the friends enjoy being able to gather, converse and simply catch up with each other on a near daily basis.

“I look forward to blue [day] lunch every single day,” Robertson said. “Honestly, it’s just a swell time.”