|
Students can purchase pre-paid lunch cards which they then enter the number into the key pad when they go through the line. School staff can also look the name up in the computer if necessary.
The Grab and Go crew.
New SJISD lunch program explained at drop-in forum Aug. 28
posted 08/24/2008
Chef Tom French of the Experience Food Project will be at the Friday Harbor High School Commons from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, August 28 at a drop-in informational forum to answer questions about San Juan Island School District's pilot lunch program which begins Sept. 2. A 30-minute presentation will be made at 6:30 p.m.
The initial seed money for the pilot program is provided by Connie and Steve Ballmer (CEO
Microsoft) and their local partner, the San Juan Community Foundation. SJISD had cut the school lunch program back to serving sack lunches to students who qualified for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program.
At the August 28 meeting, forms will be available for parents to register students for for the federal lunch programs - the qualifications have changed recently - or to prepay for lunch cards. Information about prepayment and registration will also be sent home with the back-to-school packets.
Microsoft CEO and SJI Community Foundation
underwriting pilot School Lunch Program at SJISD
By Sharon Kivisto
posted 08/14/2008
The school cafeteria takes on a new significance this fall for San Juan Island School District students. The bleak prospect of shutting down the hot lunch program due to financial cutbacks turned into an opportunity to provide just the right setting for the Experience Food Project to launch a pilot program.
In the classroom the program employs a tactile approach. Students visit farms. Grow edible school gardens. Learn about the history and culture of local farming.
Improved lunch options are provided in the cafeteria. Locally grown food is incorporated into the menu. Chef Tom French met with the service employees union and a memo of understanding has been written. "They've stepped up," he said.
There will be economic analysis of the program by a Seattle economist Vicky Sontag.
Other outcomes will also be analyzed in light of the upcoming review of the Child Nutrition Act - such as do students know more about nutrition at the end of the year that at the beginning.
Seed funds for the project were made possible through a grant from Connie and Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. The San Juan Island Community Foundation is the local philanthropic partner.
The purpose of Experience Food Project is systemic change in school lunch programs. Because Friday Harbor has no fast food restaurants and the school lunch program was going to be reduced to sack lunches, this was a chance for the program to come in and see how the pilot program would work as a whole.
French said it is vital that everyone eligible for the federal free and reduced lunch program apply. "The income threshold went up. We need to encourage kids to eat the lunches. We'll be marketing to them," he said.
The project will host a series of community events including dinners at the school and will provide numerous opportunities for community participation.
The genesis of the change to a school lunch program which included locally grown food came from a small group of parents, community members and the Agricultural Guild which began working together last year. They approached the school board with ideas and contacted French. More information about the onging process is available on the group's BLOG has led to a successful outcome.
|
