meal status for our students (kudos to those states who have deemed it necessary and important to offer free meals to all kids!). Our students are demanded so many things – early start times, practice after school, part-time jobs, college-credit courses – and they need food to sustain their energy and brain power throughout the day. Outside of school, kids are introduced to so many different options. You want Mexican food? Cool, that’s down the street. You want Thai? We’ve got that too. You want a cheeseburger? Here’s a list of 25 restaurants in the area that offer that option. If they’re lucky enough to have mom and/or dad home at dinner time, do they have the time to cook or the money to buy food? A lot of our kids aren’t even used to home cooking anymore. All of this leaves us guessing, calculating, and trying anything necessary to get kids in the door.
only encouraged but expected. Students want the opportunity to pick what they want to eat for lunch. If they have the choice to leave campus, we need to offer them choices not to.
Young kids are more adventurous than you’d think
Obviously, our most popular count days are things like chicken nuggets and pizza in our elementary schools, but we’ve been trying some new things that are encouraging as well: mandarin orange chicken, egg rolls, carne asada meat, etc. The most important thing is to not give up after the first menu day.
Here are some of the hot tips & tricks I’ve found to get the kids in our doors:
Variety is the spice of life Especially in the older grades, offering a second, third, or even eighth choice is not
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