<p>First…what is “early college academy”? Is this a grade school, a high school…what? Perhaps you could work with the school to get a storage place. Then you could get donations of juice boxes and granola bars. Those can be stored without refrigeration, and are not expensive. Each child could be given juice and a granola bar each morning. Just FYI, breakfast programs are being cut all over the country, not just in this one school. A number of years ago, these programs were subsidized (in much the same way as free and reduced lunch programs are) for needy families. Those programs have gone the way of the dinosaur. Our teachers all keep some kind of snack food (crackers, graham crackers, cheerios) in their rooms, and so does our school nurse. The issue you have here is one of long term solution. It’s expensive to run a meal program without subsidy (meaning the kids don’t pay, and no one is giving you food or money to run the program). Does your school run it’s own school lunch program? Perhaps the school will be willing to fund this program. If not, I’d try the donation route.</p>
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LOL, blossom. It’s a deal! If our schools would do this, I’d even volunteer to work the grill. A “full Irish” ought to fortify the kiddies.</p>
<p>Thumper - it appears they are teenagers.</p>
<p>Whether anyone likes it or not, some kids may not get breakfast at home regularly. If people really don’t believe this to be the case, then I have no idea what kind of communities they deal with, but it obviously isn’t a problem there. That’s truly great, I’m not even being sarcastic. That doesn’t make it the case everywhere. </p>
<p>There is some precedence for programs like this - programs in communities that allow children to take bags of nutritious food home over the weekend for example. I cannot think of the name off the top of my head but googling may provide links to some sustainable models. You could maybe barter with a local grocery store. Perhaps a work study program of some sort. If the kids rotated, for each group it would only be like an hour of instructional time a week, no more than any other elective or enrichment and work study is certainly a recognized and acceptable component of most secondary education. In exchange, the grocery store could donate breakfast supplies, and if parents are willing to volunteer prep time, that could work. Also I see no reason why if the kids rotate prep, this can’t happen BEFORE school. Our public school system has breakfast and free if you qualify, but everyone eats before the first bell anyway, not during any class time. And our first bell rings at 7:15 so if that time can be accomodated, I feel like most times can. </p>
<p>And you could ask the school community. Maybe a group of representatives. They are old enough that they can understand the problem, and with guidance, brainstorm and plan an acceptable solution. It is possible to incorporate this into some curriculums. We have done things like this in business and marketing classes at our school.</p>
<p>“t’s expensive to run a meal program without subsidy…”</p>
<p>Yup. Gotta send that pig to the Pork Zone in Baghdad. (Speaking of developing dependency…)</p>
<p>There is a lot I would want to know about this situation before I suggested a program. How many free and reduced price school meal eligible students are impacted? If none or few you could have most kids eat breakfast at home and feed the few before school. or you could create a breakfast club fundraiser and charge parents for providing a bag breakfast.</p>
<p>Some short term solutions:
You could check with your local food bank for some supplies, or ask for donations.</p>
<p>Two things I have done. A big tupperware bin of cherrios and raisins that I mixed together, and an inexpensive juice set up in the back of my room during summer school. Kids could help themselves…if they were really hungry this took the edge off.</p>
<p>During my Saturday classes, I go to the day old bake store shelf and get junk breakfast foods just to attract the students into the building. Cheese danish, apple strudel, coffee cake…and inexpensive juices and lots of cool clear water. The middle school students I have seem to like this…but nutrition wise, I have to supplement with fruit from the farmers market.</p>
<p>Hungry children are real, to name call, mock or to point fingers does not solve their hunger. Poverty chains can be broken through education, but since you can’t teach a hungry child, getting a breakfast program makes sense.</p>
<p>OP…in your state does not being in a public school mean students are not eligible for federal meal programs? You might want to check on that…</p>
<p>You might be able to contract with a neighboring school for meal delivery.</p>
<p>buckeyemom4life,
This website might have some good ideas for you and perhaps a more appropriate forum for school age suggestions: <a href=“http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/[/url]”>http://www.ptotoday.com/boards/</a> I popped on here often when I had younger kids and was involved in our PTA.</p>
<p>I’ve have made contact with some people who want to help they just need to know what and how!! Thanks for the suggestions. Will keep you informed.</p>
<p>PS Stickershock, mini, and blossom–start your own forum and stop piggybacking your hatred in forums that ask “how can I help somebody”?! :(</p>
<p>Our old k-8 school did a fundraising arts festival every year. It showcased students’ talents, both in performing and plastic arts, for which tickets were sold. It also featured a silent auction of goods and services donated by individual families or local businesses. Our 350 student (k-8) school, which included a fair number of free/reduced lunch families, was able to raise several thousands of dollars. The goods could include new items or old ones such as jewelry (this was quite a hit); services ranged from babysitting for x number of hours to promises to make a meal (menu included) for a certain sum of money, one architect parent promised a free consultation, and so on.
Another fund-raising idea was collecting recipes into a booklet and selling it locally. Since the school had a very diverse population, the recipes were truly international.</p>
<p>Perhaps your school could consider this as an annual event.</p>
<p>Perhaps the PARENTS could be asked, politely, to feed their children before they come to school?</p>
<p>Failing that, have a bowl of bananas and oatmeal cookies with raisins handy and those that are hungry, no matter their background… can eat.</p>
<p>I hate parents who don’t take care of their children. And, it is not a question of money - ever. Ditch the cellphone, the acrylic nails, the cigarettes. </p>
<p>Argh. This topic will really get me upset.</p>
<p>I think there is some merit to the stickershock/mini/blossom position and it seems unfair to call it hatred. There were very, very few facts provided e.g. the number of kids who are currently being served by the program being cut, the reason for the program, etc.</p>
<p>So the reader really has no way of knowing whether it is an issue for 2 kids or for 200, or any way of knowing whether it is a convenience for the parents having breakfast available or the difference between getting a meal that morning or not for the kids participating. </p>
<p>I also really resented the post disparaging oatmeal as “the food has to be something the kids will eat.” Beggars can’t be choosers, and just because you don’t like oatmeal doesn’t mean that it isn’t good, nutritious food and far better for growing kids than fat and sugar-laden muffins, granola bars and other convenience foods. No wonder there are so many fat people, if not only does there have to be food, it has to be “fun food.”</p>
<p>You’re right, maybe “hatred” was too strong a word, and for that I apologize. Also, oatmeal is not something that’s made right all the time-that’s why I said
“the food has to be something the kids will eat”. I just don’t want to waste donated foods, supplies that will not be used for the students. BTW, I’ve been talking about a high school (teenagers 15-19). I’m also not talking about a huge, sit down, homemade breakfast; just having foods available for those students who choose to eat. Maybe it’s 1 to 247 students will would participate–according to last year more students eat breakfast when it was provided. Now I feel as though I’m over thinking the whole process.</p>
<p>Actually, I’m surprised oatmeal, or other hot morning cereals, wouldn’t go over big. My high school age daughter and her friends love oatmeal. It’s easy to make, you can just keep it warm in a crock pot for hours. (The longer it’s warming, the better it gets…) It warms kids up on cold mornings. And it’s inexpensive.</p>
<p>If kids (if anybody) are really hungry, a nutritious snack will hit the spot. It’s when you’re not really hungry that you gravitate toward sticky sweets. If the kids don’t want hot oatmeal and a side banana, but instead you have to supply Otis Spunkmeyer-style bakery, that’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to know if the kids at issue are actually needy or if it’s a lifestyle issue. As a side note, we have a breakfast program in NYC for all kids and there is much angst and hand-wringing because the vast majority don’t avail themselves of what is so readily available.</p>
<p>" No wonder there are so many fat people, if not only does there have to be food, it has to be “fun food.”</p>
<p>It also has to be food that they will eat. It’s darn expensive to administer and run a program like that and then have the kids not eat the food.</p>
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<p>Maybe so. I could see some merit to not having a breakfast “program” with its attendent possibilities of singling out and stigmatizing some kids as poor.</p>
<p>Instead of a formal program, why not just have a big bowl of fresh bananas and apples set out every day, maybe with some bagels on the side? And have it available to ALL students? It would be quick and simple with minimal preparation and no cooking facilities required. No kid would have to go hungry and and no kid would walk around wearing the “po’ folk” label.</p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<p>I have taught in very impoverished schools before, where the great majority of families lived below the poverty line & qualified for the federal free breakfast program (at the time). I was grateful that they were nourished before instruction. These were not communities where parents were substituting acrylic nails for children’s meals. However, I have occasionally seen the latter.</p>
<p>Regardless, I understand the point that SS was making in post 15. A breakfast program (or lunch) is one thing. Let me tell you in many homes where children <em>are</em> getting at least physically fed, there are so often other forms of neglect by immature parents, that the learning is equally & more compromised, if that’s possible. This country seems to believe that public schools in poor (or moderately poor) neighborhoods should be social services breadbaskets. It is not humanly possible to be so, and still maintain a learning environment & learning outcomes. These schools are 50-60% arms of the Social Security Administration + county agencies (food, psychiatric services, court mediation, custody negotiation) + law enforcement. Such redirection of educational resources is enormously impactful on the entire class, since very often these functions are being performed IN the classroom and/or the class is being interrupted to announce such teacher unavailability to teach.</p>
<p>The above trend is not new, mini (if you think this is a result of diversion of funds to Iraq; it is not). I think SS’s point is: Where does it end? Because I’ll tell you, in such areas where I work, it is NOT ending, but rather such inappropriate roles for the teacher, principal, other school administrators are multiplying. At least there have actually been local & nat’l demonstrations against the Iraq war, showing that a few people are awake. But the nation is still asleep when it comes to its tax dollars being misspent in the public schools, & ineffectively so. (Just in case you think it actually works to have teachers act as M.S.W’s and psychiatric M.D’s and in judicial roles.) I can understand why the parents in those schools don’t demonstrate: they’re too busy trying to keep it together to find the money to put the breakfast on the table. I don’t understand why the richer taxpayers who are funding these social service agencies masquerading as schools, are not marching in the streets.</p>
<p>Students whose home lives are so compromised, due to a combination of hunger & other impediments, should have their needs taken care of OFF CAMPUS first. Families with multiple issues (and most of the ones going hungry do have these multiple issues) should come under county, state, and/or federally funded agencies – addressing those needs first. Teachers are then brought into those supervised environments (or supervised schools) to teach those children. Separately, the students without these encumbrances can attend their local traditional schools, confident that teaching will actually be occurring. It is a major violation of the rights of those children to opportunity & to the Pursuit of Happiness to have their educations denied while their teacher neglects the teaching to perform nonteaching roles. Since these are citizens without power & without money (or they’d be in richer districts or private schools), this neglect is beyond immoral.</p>
<p>And I like coureur’s idea! Food is available to those who want it, need it. Heck, plenty of well-fed middle school boys never seem to get enough to eat, & will welcome any opportunity to grab a bite if offered. In primary grades there is often a whole-class-provided snack about mid-morning, near a recess time, and again, even the “non-hungry” kids benefit.</p>
<p>I think coureur is right, simpler is better. I don’t like the idea of soliciting donations for something like this. For a one-time event, sure, but how do you ask places of business to provide that many items every day? And as Stickershock pointed out, you would then create an expectation. Why not talk to the parents and get their suggestions? Who better to pitch in? If pitching in is even necessary. Lots of kids that age simply don’t want to eat in the morning. Personally, I’d keep a stash of tiny cereal boxes and granola bars on hand and call it a day. For the record, I’d feel differently if these were small children.</p>
<p>I like Coureur’s idea very much. Another item could be a big jar of lucky charms or other cereals that would keep if not all consumed in a single day. </p>
<p>My S rolls out of bed and heads straight for class without stopping by the cafeteria for breakfast. He drinks a glass of milk from his mini-fridge and takes along a packet of cereals he took from the cafeteria the night before. Gone are the days when mom made sure he ate breakfast before setting off for school.</p>
<p>“The above trend is not new, mini (if you think this is a result of diversion of funds to Iraq; it is not).”</p>
<p>Didn’t say diversion. Money to support the military-industrial complex is NOT a diversion - it is the main purpose of government. I said DEPENDENCY - there is a difference. American corporations in a culture of corporate socialism thrive on dependency.</p>
<p>As to feeding their kids, if you believe you should send your kids to Ivy-land or some such because of the value of having smart peers, you might do better by firing the teachers (I didn’t say that - the school district did) and making sure your kids’ peers have some food in their bellies. If not, YOUR kids suffer.</p>