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.