Chips and salsa represent an idealized snack, perfect for midnight munchies, after school appetizers and teatime temptations. Tortilla chips, by far the most common mate for the zesty sauce, come in thousands of varieties to suit individual needs, including low sodium, low fat and heart-attack inducing. This classic pairing clearly wins out over milk and cookies (the cookies usually end up crumbled and soggy at the bottom of the milk glass), cheese and crackers (cheese is moldy dairy product, which ruins perfectly good crackers), eggs and bacon (cholesterol much?) and peanut butter and jelly (the bread always ends up damp and mushy by the time you eat it).

In all honesty, chips and salsa are just about the best match around, so why would anyone bother eating anything else?

Less devoted snackers argue chips and salsa are unhealthy, but like any terrific relationship, chips and salsa face their own ups and downs. Some chips, bland as they taste, are just too demanding for their poor salsa companions. Similarly, some salsa brands, with their flashy tomato and pepper chunks, pretend to be vastly different than they actually taste. On occasion, the differences between a certain match of chips and salsa are irreparable, yet most often, only slight changes are necessary to fix the taste. Some kinds of salsa require stirring. It’s as simple as that.

Ladue’s wide-ranging clubs, activities and sports teams are the chips and salsa of our district. For example,  with its relaxed atmosphere yet serious dedication, Art in Action balances a cool ranch flavor with debate’s super-intense nacho cheese. Cross country is the Flamin’ Hot to  field hockey’s salt and vinegar. Wrestling clearly tastes like dill pickle potato chips.

School-wide assemblies, such as this year’s highly successful pep rally, can provide the necessary catalyst to blend Ladue’s diverse social and interest groups, as if we were all dipped in a deliciously unifying salsa. Whether they are band geeks rocking out during the fight song or seniors celebrating their well-deserved notoriety, most agree the 2011 pep rally was an undeniable success.

However, it’s impossible to leave out the terrific performance from teachers and administrators when discussing the pep rally, and excluding them from such a delicious analogy would be practically a criminal offense. They are the guacamole of the snack tray, reminding all the students at Ladue that there is life beyond high school, and options outside of salsa. Though it’s painful to admit, eating nothing but chips and salsa all day would be quite dull if we couldn’t intermingle with a little guacamole every once in a while. Similarly, guacamole is shockingly delicious, and teachers are much more interesting and friendly than they may seem when they assign multi-page essays due next class.

In conclusion, don’t be afraid of guacamole, it’s supposed to be green, and never dip dill chips in peanut butter. Stay classy, snackers.