Mr. Teacher

Breakfast is served!

by John Pearson

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I work at a Title I school. This is the classification for a school where most or all of the students fall under the poverty level. As a result, most of my students qualify for a free lunch and breakfast.

Up until recently, breakfast was served in the school cafeteria. From 7:15 until 7:45, the kids could enjoy their steak and eggs while perusing the Wall Street Journal and discussing politics with their peers. I'm kidding, of course. To be more accurate, replace "steak and eggs" with "cereal," replace "Wall Street Journal" with "Pokemon cards" and replace "discussing politics" with "fighting and arguing."

After Thanksgiving break, my school switched to a new format. Now breakfasts are served in the classroom. Two insulated bags are delivered to my door (and every door) each morning. One contains milk and juice cartons, the other holds the daily foodstuff. I get to be the maitre d'.

Now the first 15 minutes of every day are spent on breakfast. Notice I don't say they are spent on eating. I am amazed at how much gets thrown away. It's a constant struggle for me to get my kids to actually eat. They pick up their food and drink, take them to their desks, and then leisurely nibble and sip while talking and laughing.

I wind up coming across as a mix between an Italian mother -- "Mange! Mange!” -- and the announcer from Mortal Kombat -- "FINISH IT!!!”

There are a few good things about having the breakfasts in class. All of the kids (at least the kids who aren't tardy) do get a chance to eat breakfast, which they might not get at home. Also, teachers can partake of the feast as well, and I haven't had this much chocolate milk since I was in third grade myself.


4 Comments

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Other readers' comments on this article:

  1. Hi Pearson, I picked your article for my class TECA 1311, Educating Young Childre.  I had been in the school system for the last five years as a bilingual aide, so I know what you are talking about.
    My heart "cries" when I see all the food in the waste.... I was born in Ecuador, South America, the most beautiful place to live... if you have money.  I was fortunate to have a Dad, who was a teacher and wrote some official text books, and a mother that did not have to work.  However, we did not waste anything, we eat everything on the plate, your mother as well as mine - will tell us:  acaben TODO, and we did it.

    Posted by Nancy S. Alvarado on Feb 5, 2008 11:28 pm

  2. I can't believe they are wasting educational time on breakfast.  It needs to go back into the cafeteria where it belongs.  Shame on them.  If it is a teacher duty problem, solve that problem.

    Posted by Mystery Teacher on Feb 6, 2008 1:02 pm

  3. Ah the insulated meals.  I actually have to chaperon lunch in the same manner.  Our minions, oops!...I meant students!... are sent down to the first floor and made to carry up those insulated bags to the 5th floor (no stairs in NYC) to have lunch.  The stairwells are littered with garbage.  The hallways reek of pizza.  Hundreds of pounds of food are thrown away because quite frankly nobody is EVER going to eat the spinach or 3-bean-salad when it's mass produced and has to be served up by the likes of moi.  I've often taken home bags of fruit and veggies to eat at home or give to neighbors.

    Posted by Miss Seora on Feb 8, 2008 10:15 pm

  4. While I sure wish when I was a kid that I had the sugary deliciousness your kids get, I remember being server what sort of resembled scrambled eggs (powdered I can only guess), toast, pancakes (if we were lucky enough to come early to get them), fruit, and the occasional sugary cereal (again if we were lucky enough to beat the other kids to it). I have to say though, the school would never allow food to be served in the classrooms (unless special pizza parties were awarded for winning a recycling contest or something of the sort) for they feared the monstrous south Florida bugs would invade their classrooms. To be asked to server food in the classroom seems just silly, like you said, you lose 15 min of what should be educational time. To some 15 min isn't a lot, but at 15 minutes up for each school day and sure does. Not to mention the time it takes if there is a spill or if kids are particularly hyped up on sugar and need to fall back into a zombie like state also known as a sugar comma.

    Posted by Jessica on Jul 17, 2008 10:51 am



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