Im not going to complain about food at school. Promise promise promise, not one negative word here! But...I would love your opinion. Quick back story: I wanted to present a no food birthday idea for our school (explained here: kitchenstewardship/2014/03/08/how-many-birthday-cupcakes-can-one-kid-eat/) and instead had a 90-minute meeting/conversation with the principal. At the end, I was told I was not going to be permitted to speak to the parent group nor have a way to share my idea in any way, and the compromise we reached was to pilot an idea in 3 classrooms - to send home food birthday treats in baggies, such that then parents and kids could decide together if they should be eaten and when. The principal would talk to the 3 teachers and see if they had any other ideas. I was skeptical, but it was the only improvement on the current system offered, so I figured lets see what happens. So...after 2 weeks this is the note I got from our principal: Hi! Thank you for your recent conversation about healthy eating at school. It has been a busy week...so I thank you for your patience. Below is a list of things that we have done, are doing, and will continue to do to encourage health in [our school]: *café serves healthy food options only *there are no longer vending machines at school with pop or snacks *our [district] elementary parent handbook recommends healthy snacks *teachers are encouraged to share birthday treats at the end of the day whenever possible *there is list of alternative to food rewards regularly given to teachers as a reminder *in many classes children do bring own snacks for breaks and if not, the donated class item is asked to be a healthy one *our running club stresses exercise *snacks for school wide events include healthy items, i.e. grapes *teachers teach about good nutrition *physical education classes encourage exercise and health and are offered twice a week *Walk-a-Thon is major fundraiser Regarding conversations with the [3 teachers]: *a few children take their own snacks approved by parent for times when there are birthday celebrations and your child is welcome to do that *birthday books and other items are always welcomed *children are taught to say no thank you, but Happy Birthday anyway if they dont like the treat or dont want it, there is no pressure *children either say yes, please or no thank you and students have the opportunity to get their own snack if they decline the birthday treat *we will be happy to provide a baggie, if you would like your child to take the treat home for you to check or save for another day Thank you for the article about the school that did not have treats, interestingly however, students had to apply to go to that school so those supportive of that philosophy would know that upfront. Preschools are the same. Since there are many diverse opinions about food in society in general and since the public schools represent all those individuals, please understand that many viewpoints must be considered. Many parents value celebrating birthdays by having their child sharing their favorite food and have shared their viewpoint. Hopefully, by knowing your child has options and an opportunity to do something different and by reviewing the bulleted list of ten action items, you, too will feel like your viewpoint is heard and considered. Thank you for understanding. Please call if you have any questions. Let me help you read between the lines on a few items: 1. the walk-a-thon ended with popsicles and included ice cream parties for all classrooms that brought in their forms on time (+ a pizza party for highest earning class) 2. everything in the first list is already happening - or at least in print, not always in practice (for example, many many many food rewards are offered by individual teachers, the principal, and at school events) I need help evaluating this! Do I have a next step here? (and PS homeschooling is a very individual choice, so please leave that option out of any advice.) Thanks KSers!!!!
Posted on: Mon, 05 May 2014 00:18:09 +0000
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