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FROM THE WPS WEBSITE:

Your Child Can Eat Breakfast and Lunch for FREE at the Worcester Public Schools!!

Q. & A.

As part of the 2010 Healthy and Hunger-Free Kids Act, Worcester, along with other districts, will begin offering free meals to all students this school year. For parents, that means no more forms to fill out, no online meal account to remember, no last minute scramble for change before the bus, and no more lunchboxes to pack. All students can eat for free!

What do we need to do to get a breakfast or lunch at school?

For those schools that are providing breakfast directly in the classroom, your child can simply take the breakfast items that are offered. For other schools, the child can simply go to the cafeteria in the morning and eat breakfast. For lunch at the elementary level, classroom teachers will ask students if they wish to have a school lunch that day, and they’ll send the counts to the cafeteria so enough meals can be prepared. At secondary schools, the student can simply enter the lunch line and take a meal. All students will still need to have their meals recorded at the register.

What is served at breakfast and lunch? What are my child’s choices?

During breakfast we offer two grains (or one grain and one protein), two fruits, and a milk. All your child needs to do is take at least 3 menu items (with one being a fruit) to be considered a free meal. During lunch we serve a grain, protein, vegetable, fruit, and milk. All your child needs to do is take at least 3 different items offered (one being a fruit or a vegetable) to be considered a free meal. Check the newspaper or our website for daily meal choices.

What if my child only wants a milk or a single item?

We are only reimbursed by the USDA for complete meals. If you child only wants a milk or a single menu items then those items are available for cash purchase on an individual basis; for example, milk costs 50 cents. In order to be free, your child must take a complete meal consisting of three different items (one being a fruit or vegetable).

What does a school meal look like today?

We provide fresh fruits and vegetables every day at every meal; we serve only whole-grain breads, low fat and fat free milk, minimally processed foods; and we use locally sourced food whenever available. We never serve fried foods. We provide salad and vegetarian offerings at the middle and high schools. We have been state and nationally recognized for our farm-to-school program and menu offerings. We recently hired a professional chef to continuously improve and expand the menu options for students.

What if I still have money on account?

All students with money remaining in their account will be sent a form for a full refund; you may however keep the funds on account for the purchase of individual items.

Questions?

Your building principal or your school’s Nutrition Manager are a great start. You can also contact the Worcester Public Schools Child Nutrition Office at 508-799-3132 or email us at WPSNutrition@worc.k12.ma.us. Your feedback is always welcome!

For more information please visit http://worcesterschools.org/school-nutrition.

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Chef Joey is in France where they serve INCREDIBLE SCHOOL LUNCHES to ALL their students!

Always include a yummy fruit in your kid’s lunch sack!  (pic – R.T.)

BACK-TO-SCHOOL YUM YUMS!

By Chef Joey

Well, it’s that time of year again, sort of like January 2, when students are off their winter break and parents are jumping for joy.  Yes, the anticipated “Back to School” and all those pencil and clothes ads.  The mumbles of “we used to go back in September” and “why August?” are heard among the crowds.  It does not really matter the start date because the length of the school term is the same.

So we know that Education has been around for years. During the early beginnings the settlers would designate someone to teach but it was all focused more on the survival techniques. It wasn’t until after the American Revolution, between 1750 and 1870, that parochial schools appeared; thanks to the efforts by parishes. Generally, these “parochial” schools were just for the elementary grades.  Open to all children in the parish, being of course mainly Catholics, but also Lutherans, Calvinists and Orthodox Jews. “Nonsectarian Common schools”  started opening  thanks to the former Massachusetts Sate Rep Horace Mann.  His basis for school  was: “universal public education was the best way to turn the nation’s unruly children into disciplined, judicious republican citizens.” The principle was to teach the 3 “R’s”:  Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic, but with a side serving of geography and history.

The first American Normal school began in 1823. Reverend Samuel Read Hall founded the first one named the “Columbian School” in New England, of course,  located in Concord, Vermont.  Its purpose was to to improve the quality of common schools by creating qualified teachers.

Massachusetts was the first state to pass a law making education mandatory in 1852.

It wasn’t until 1917, in Mississippi, that  a second state passed a similar law!

In the 1890’s, high schools were starting to emerge, and, by 1910, more than three quarters of American children were in schools.  During this time is when was the proving ground was established, thanks to the teacher accreditation and creating standards for exams and course requirements that are still prevalent today.

Moving closer to 1930, there was 100% enrollment in schools, except for disabled or medically challenged children.  Then there was a plunge due to World War II.

Post-WW II is where the food aspect of schools came in to play.  The National School Lunch Act was created in 1946 to provided low-cost or free school lunches to students via subsidies for the “full stomach” idea.

The tragic part about all this was in some states, this was not offered to African Americans, and they were literally banned from the lunch programs!

It wasn’t until the late 1950’s that things started to change – great strides.  We are fortunate enough to have coalitions for just about everyone/everything, but we still as educated adults tend to fight the road to the future … but that’s another article.

School lunches have come full circle to nutritious well-balanced and ethnic pleasing menus.  But there are still those who like to bring their own lunches, and in today’s world of ready-to-go food, lunches are a breeze to put together.

Here are a few ideas to spruce up your child’s lunch:

Cold Pizza – wrapped in foil it warms up by lunch time and who doesn’t like cold pizza?

No pizza? Pizza wraps!

Fast and easy and you can add all kinds of toppings!

Take 2 tortilla wraps and spray with vegetable spray on both sides and place on a cookie sheet.

Place in preheated 400 degree oven, toast for 5 minutes; remove and top with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and whatever else you want: olives, peppers, pepperoni etc. Put back in the oven and bake 5-8 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly.

Remove from oven and, using a spatula, flip over each side making an envelope of sorts. Let cool, wrap in foil and refrigerate.

Place in fridge and place in the lunch bag the next day. Easy to make, inexpensive and fun to eat.

Hummus Lunch! Lots of protein!

Veggie sticks and some fresh fruit – buy a small container of hummus , carrots and celery, and a small bag with fruit for dessert, cherries, plums apples  – Yummy and Fun!

Yoghurts are a great protein and don’t necessarily need to be refrigerated,.as it is already cultured. Two containers is plenty of protein and with the fruit, it’s like a dessert!

Try and stay away from pre-processed meats and lunches – the sodium alone is brutal!

Get back to basics with salads with berries, nuts, citrus slices and cheeses, chick peas, or beans for protein once a week  to break it up!

You know your child better than anyone – take their favorite foods and make them portable!