Creating a Game Plan

Overwhelming.

That was my initial reaction when I realized the undertaking I had just committed myself to. I wasn’t sure where to start or what to do, and as I thought about it, I recognized, with some uneasiness, that planning something as essential as a food pantry for my school was going to be extensive. Like everyone else, my time is precious; I didn’t want to take on a project that was going to consume me, yet I wanted to do something to help the children at my school. I contemplated with anxiety the considerable challenge ahead of me. Then I remembered one of the earliest lessons I learned when I first started teaching: “Think smarter, not harder.” Keeping that philosophy in mind, I took it and applied it to this feat.

 

Step 1: Create a list of questions

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to start. I had a million questions running through my head at a mile a minute. I realized that I would drive myself crazy if I didn’t find a way to organize my thoughts. Being the type of person who likes to have a plan for everything, I decided to make a list of my questions.  I thought by doing this, I’d be able to formulate a strategy to help me get started.

Tips: Here are some of the questions that I had when I was first getting started:

1. Do we already have a backpack program in place at our school?
2. If not, is there a way to implement one that is already in place with the state?
3. If so, is there a way to notify teachers, so we know how to help our students in need?
4. Which students can qualify for this program?
5. How can we help kids who don’t qualify but need assistance?
6. Can teachers refer students to get help?
7. If there isn’t a program in place, are we allowed to start one?
8. Does our school have any resources that will allow us to start a pantry and backpack program?
9. Are there other schools in the county currently offering food assistance to students in need?
10. Whose permission do I need to start up/ implement a food assistance program at my school?

 

Step 2: Reach out to your school’s principal

Because I didn’t have any real jumping off point, I decided to start my research by speaking to my school’s principal to get answers to my questions. I wanted to see if there was a way for us to get a food pantry or backpack program that was already in place with the county or state into our school. Why should I recreate the wheel, when I could simply use a model that was currently working? She informed me that because we are not a Title 1 school, we didn’t qualify for assistance in the form of a backpack program. This was discouraging, to say the least. Our student population who met the qualifications for free and reduced breakfast and lunch wasn’t high enough to get them extra assistance for food over the weekend. It also didn’t encompass the population of families who made just a bit too much money to get assistance, but who didn’t quite have enough money to make ends meet. Since our school didn’t qualify for a program that already exists, my principal gave me her blessing and support to start our own in-house program to help the students at our school.

Tips:

1. Find out if your school falls into the Title 1 category.
2. If you are Title 1, reach out to your local food banks and backpack programs to see if they have support systems currently in place for your school.
3. Reach out to your school’s principal. He/she should be able to answer your questions and guide you in the right direction.
4. Due to potential unforeseeable legal reasons, I’d recommend getting the principals prior approval before starting/ implementing an assistance program.

 

Step 3: Reach out to your school’s social worker

Once I had answers to some of my questions, and my principals approval, my next step was to reach out  to my school’s social worker. After explaining to her everything I had found out thus far, I asked her if she had any resources I could contact who had already successfully accomplished the task of starting a food pantry at their school. (Again, think smarter, not harder.) Unfortunately, she didn’t have any resources that would benefit this project, but she offered to reach out to all of the other county school social workers to see if anyone had anything that would be helpful. Within an hour of her email being sent, we had several responses from various other schools in the county.  Each one offered advice, experiences, paperwork, ideas, or contact info of the individuals who had started up pantries at their schools. As the emails came in, this daunting project started to seem less intimidating to me.

Tips:

1. Ask your school’s social worker for resources.
2. Ask your school’s social worker to reach out to his/ her network for resources.
3. This is the email the my school’s social worker sent to her network of county social workers (feel free to use it):

Hello all,

We have a teacher at (insert your school’s name here) who is putting together a food pantry for our students. She is asking for some input on what the best way to go about this is since we are not a Title 1 school.  I think some of you have started food pantries at your schools, so I told her I would seek your input.  Some of the questions she’s asking are:

How are you collecting food? What is the best way to go about distributing the food? Do you open the program to all students or limit it to referrals from parents and teachers? What would be other ways to identify students who need help since income/ free lunch/ homeless info is confidential?

Thanks for your input!

 

Today’s “take away:”

If like me, the process of starting your own school’s food pantry and backpack program is overwhelming for you, start by asking questions first. By making a list of questions and speaking to both my principal and my school social worker, I felt like I had a more defined direction in creating and implementing a food pantry and backpack program at my school.   I’d highly recommend that you use the resources around you, so you can get the information you are seeking in order to get started.

Look ahead:

Follow my blog for the next steps on how to implement a food pantry and backpack program in your school! I’ll be adding more information in the near future that helped me along my journey; hopefully this information will assist you in your endeavor.

My “Ah- ha” Moment

A little over a year ago, my life changed forever.

As a teacher, I enjoy learning new things. I learn as I read, as I speak with friends and colleagues, as I attend staff development and trainings, and as I take continuing education courses, but the one source that impacts my learning the most is my students themselves. I can honestly say that not a school day goes by without at least one of my students teaching me something.

On Thursday, September 19, 2013, I learned one of the most impactful, valuable lessons from a student that made me do a lot of contemplating and self reflecting. It all started with me issuing a working lunch pass to a student, so she could come to my room with her lunch to catch up on some work the next day. I told her that the pass would get her to the front of the lunch line, so she would have more time to work in my room. Looking at the ground, she quietly told me that she didn’t buy her lunch. Without missing a beat, I responded by telling her to just stop by her locker then, grab her lunch, and come to my room to work. She looked at me, slightly embarrassed, and replied with, “I don’t eat lunch.” Being someone who eats small snacks every couple of hours, I simply couldn’t comprehend how someone could not want to eat lunch, and I said as much to her. The response that I got from her was not at all what I was expecting. She completely shocked me with, “I want to eat lunch. My family just doesn’t have any money for it.” I was rendered speechless for a good 30 seconds as my brain processed the information that blindsided me.  I asked her how long she’d not been eating lunch this year, and she shared that it had been every single day. To say this broke my heart would be an understatement. Every day for the first three weeks of school, this girl would come in to my class with a smile on her face, volunteer, and participate, and not once did she ever complain about being hungry.

That evening, I went home still thinking about this girl and the information she confided in me.  Of course it really bothered me that this girl hasn’t eaten a lunch in the past three weeks, but she also shared with me that the next day was her birthday, and I was upset by the fact that she may not have a special day. I knew I had to do something. I couldn’t let this girl go hungry another day, especially on her birthday! While I was packing lunches for my husband and I that night, I packed an extra one for her. After sharing my reason for packing an extra lunch with my husband, he handed me $40 to put on her lunch account, so she would not go hungry the rest of the month. I decided to take a picture of the lunch I made for my student and then posted it to my facebook page, sharing her story, and reminding my friends to be grateful for what they had.

The response to this post by my friends was immediate. My notifications started blowing up with people “liking” and “commenting” on this photo. Discussions ensued and people offered to help her out. A school counselor then posted on my photo that she had a twin sister at our school on a different team. Upon finding this out, I marched right back into my kitchen and packed another lunch. This staggering news also affected my friends and traveled like wildfire throughout their facebook pages. I had several friends and co-workers step up and give money for each of their lunch accounts, and several more offered to bring them both small gifts and birthday cake to school the next day. Watching my community of friends pull together to help children they didn’t even know was so inspirational to me; however, the most thought provoking part of my facebook post was a comment that was made encouraging me to start up a food pantry or back pack program at my school to not only help these two girls, but also to help others in the same situation. It was that one comment that stands out in my mind. That one comment made me realize that I needed to do something to help, not just talk about helping, or give money to someone else to help. That comment influenced me, encouraged me, inspired me, and made me realize that I could make a difference in many lives if I was willing to rise to the challenge.

Challenge accepted.