Hot or cold: healthy meals prepare students for learning
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Tacos, country fried steak, pizza, cinnamon rolls and chef salad are all favorite school lunches, according to the experts: kids who were eating lunch at the Cherry Valley School summer program.
During the school year, lunch is an important part of every school day. It’s easier for kids to concentrate in the classroom with a healthy breakfast and lunch under their belt.
Needing lunch doesn’t stop when school is out for the summer months. Many children eat lunch at their school in the summer months compliments of the Summer Food Service Program. Sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture, the program is administered by individual states. Nationwide, the USDA estimated they’ll serve more than 200 million free meals. The program serves kids 18 years of age and younger. In Polson, the program serves breakfast and lunch at Cherry Valley School, and as many lunches as possible contain fresh food grown in the Mission Valley.
When school begins on Aug. 26, Polson students can eat lunch and breakfast at school. Kids whose families struggle to make ends meet may qualify for free or reduced meals. For information, call the school your child attends.
Do children bring their lunches to school? Melissa Bahr, Polson Middle School teacher, said some kids brought their lunches, maybe 10 percent. Amanda Steel, Boys and Girls Club After School Program director, said many of the elementary school kids, especially kids with dietary restrictions or picky eaters, packed a lunch and brought their lunchboxes.
One mom polled said her second-grader feels more secure knowing her peanut butter sandwich is in her lunchbox, and she doesn’t have to deal with lunch trays and standing in line.
Other kids choose to bring a lunch when the school is serving something they don’t like, so Polson School District 23 publishes a menu every month that’s displayed prominently at each school. Many times the lunch menu is broadcast over the school’s intercom system with other daily announcements.
Meal prices in Polson schools have increased this year. They are:
— Breakfast, $1.60 for all students, $2 for adults
— Lunch $2.15 for all students, $3.25 for all adults
Second helpings cost 50 cents for everybody, and milk is provided with every meal. An additional milk is 30 cents.
For information on lunch accounts, contact the school your child attends.
