i haven't been here for a while. i have a million excuses. but this blog is important to me and it's time to continue telling the stories of a real classroom at a high poverty public elementary school.
first the hunger.
school meals are truly terrible.
i call breakfast a handful of sugar dipped in sugar. a bowlful of sugar with a side-order of sugar. waffles dipped in syrup. a poptart. a sweet roll. there are occasionally biscuits and gravy (carbs dipped in carbs). egg or sausage biscuits. pancake on a stick (a nebulous protein wrapped in carbs dipped in - you guessed it - sugar). yogurt parfait (yogurt topped with granola over strawberries in syrup - maybe the most healthy breakfast, but ignored by most kids since it's the LAST thing on the line after the sugary choices).
my main complaint with lunches are that they are disrespectful to MANY of our students who are native to other cultures. rice would be a great thing to have every day because it is a familiar staple to our asian and hispanic students. but our rice doesn't have any connection to the rice they eat at home. i can't even describe it, but one of my students said it best. asian student, who eats rice at every meal at home, pointing at school rice, "what is that?" seriously.
students can only choose one entree, two sides and milk. they are hungry. they sometimes want two entrees. nope. against regulations set by the federal government. if you are on free or reduced lunch - 75% of the kids in our school and 90% of the kids in my class - you follow the rules. can you take 2 bowls of applesauce? no! two of the same sides is against the rules. and you pay (or the government pays) full price for a lunch even if you only get one side because you can't stomach the "choices." i use that term VERY loosely. the posted menu is not always the meal that is served. they run out of condiments, sides and entrees. imagine a salad (a bowl of shredded iceberg lettuce) without salad dressing. we don't run out of ketchup. for some kids that's the only thing that makes the meal or the sides palatable. cover the taste or enhance the bland with something familiar.
i digress.
my kids are hungry. but they are still picky kids. so we share food. this is totally against protocol. but if someone won't touch their entree, i pass it to someone who will. or i divide it up and share it with several hungry kids who will gladly eat it. YES, the first kid is going hungry. but i can't force them to eat food that they don't want to eat. we throw away little to nothing at our table. that's the goal. more food in more bellies.
and they still cry "i'm still hungry."
mondays are the worst. well, not quite as bad as tuesdays after a monday holiday or the first day back after a vacation. i bring in bags of apples, boxes of granola bars, etc. anything to keep the hunger at bay until the next meal.
can kids learn if they're hungry? are they able to think, question, discuss? can they reach their personal best?
rhetorical question. duh.
