Free Breakfast and Lunch

Adria loves Kindergarten. This fact is not in question.

She's excited to put on her school uniform every morning and exhausted by the day's fun when she gets home. It's a pretty long day for her, with school starting at 8:45 a.m. and ending at 3:50 p.m., but she's adjusted well. There was a minor breakdown on Friday afternoon after her first full week,

but otherwise she's had nothing but good things to report.

Yeah! It's a big step to send our baby girl away all-day, everyday and trust that she'll be in good hands. And from what I've heard, not all the kindergarten students are doing well with the transition into school.

Adria loves many things about school, but the highlights of her day that she always likes to share include what she had for breakfast and lunch. Her pallet can be rather picky, but this girl loves good food!

She insists on not eating breakfast at home because it's provided at school.

Most days I like to walk her down the halls and drop her off directly at her classroom, so I've seen her little morning routine a few times:

• She turns over the star tag with her name to indicate she's in attendance
• Takes her "agenda" book out of her backpack (which I have to sign every night and indicates her behavior that day...always good)
• Hangs up her backpack while saying hello to her friends
• Swaggers over to a table covered with milk, juice and pancake packets or whatever the breakfast fair of the day is
• Piles her arms full of food and drink and takes it to her table
• Proceeds to enjoy her morning breakfast and chatting with her classmates at the table

It's all pretty adorable really, yet makes her seem so grown up.

Adria at recess with two of her best buddies

A few hours later, around 11:30 a.m. they head to the school cafeteria where she waits in line for her tray of food. We have the monthly school menu on our refrigerator, so I see the good diversity in the meals served and the healthy choices provided. At first, I always asked her if she ate her fruits and veggies that day, but now she'll usually tell me without asking :)

The best part of the two meals a day that they serve children at Adria's school, is that they are all FREE!

I was surprised to learn this because I thought only certain students who "qualified" based on their family income would get free lunches. Apparently that has been the case in the past, but for the first time this year Breakfast and Lunch are free to ALL students in the Woodbridge School District.

There is a new program called the Community Eligibility Provision in School Nutrition that basically says if more than 40% of students in a school district qualify for free or reduced price meals, the whole school will get free meals.

Here is what the school website says:

Community Eligibility Provision in School Nutrition Programs

Beginning with the school year 2014-2015, students that attend Woodbridge School District will be able to eat school breakfast and/or lunch at no cost due to USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision.

Community Eligibility Provision was enacted as a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act 2010 and provides universal meal service to students in schools/districts that qualify.   The CEP is an alternative to collecting, approving, and verifying household eligibility applications for free and reduced price meal benefits.  If a school has an Identified Student Percentage of at least 40, the entire school qualifies for the CEP. 

Good nutrition can contribute to the academic success of students.  USDA encourages districts/schools that qualify for the CEP to consider this option and the many benefits it provides:

• Reduced administrative cost and burden in preparing, distributing, and processing annual free and reduced applications
• Streamlined meal service at the Point of Service
• No school meal debt, all students eat free
• No overt identification of student eligibility

For more information, please contact Bonnie C. Workman, Coordinator for Woodbridge Food Services at
302-337-7990, ext. 207.

While this does give proof that we do not live in an "economically vibrant" area, I am still very thankful for the opportunity for Adria and our family to benefit from the tax dollars we pay. Where we live in western Sussex County, Delaware is a rural community full of farmers, chicken house owners, and blue-collar laborers. There are doctors and small business owners who do well, but for the most part incomes are lower than the national average. For example, the median household income in our town is less than $35,000/year, which is well below the national average of more than $50,000/year (according www.census.gov)

At the end of the day, I know there are some challenges that come from living in a lower income area, but I am thankful for God's provision for our family and this is another way I can appreciate that. I work hard to create a good living for us and am not ashamed to take advantage of a good opportunity.

Last week, I had the chance to step away from work and surprise Adria for lunch. It was quite an experience to be in a cafeteria full of Kindergarten students, but I enjoyed it. And for the modest price of $3.50 I enjoyed a lunch of shepherd's pie, salad, apple, roll and chocolate milk :)

Big girl carrying her lunch tray through the cafeteria.

The special lunch crowd I dined with last week.

And the fun kids across the table who liked getting their picture taken.
(Believe it or not, I let the boy on the left take this next picture for me)

Yeah for lunch with my girlie!

And now trying to get my phone back from the little boy...

Since I work just a block away from Adria's school, I'm hoping to find time to occasionally escape the model home and join her for lunch. It really was a special treat!

Let's see...what's on today's menu? Soup, grilled cheese and fresh fruit. She'll love that!