Just because students aren’t coming into class every morning anymore doesn’t mean that they’ll be cut off from the popular breakfast programs that are run throughout the district and serve students nutritious meals to help power them through the day.
In its shift to online learning, SD 51 Boundary School District has also connected with families to evaluate what it could do to help ensure food security is in place for its students. Among four principles laid out by the province last month to guide districts in how they grapple with the change, maintaining the health and safety of students, staff, as well as supporting vulnerable students.
“Understanding that the breakfast program that was so popular at all of our schools obviously is not able to function, […] some schools are actually doing their own food program for their families” while Carol Mitchell, whose district role is to promote healthy schools, is also helping connect families with the food they need, explained SD 51 Director of Learning Anna Lautard.
“We’re relying very heavily on that continued contact with families – our child and youth care workers and teachers just checking in,” Lautard said.
“Because, it does take a village, basically,” Lautard said, “just that whole idea that we’re making sure everyone’s needs are met, and we’re not tripping over each other.”
Just in the past week or so, Lautard said, they’ve noticed an increase in interest for food support. Partly because, “when kids are home, they eat so much more than when they’re at a school,” she said, based on personal experience with her family.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, SD 51 had already been developing a backpack program to compliment its breakfast initiative. The new program would have sent students home with food for the weekend, to bridge any gaps between nutritious meals. Now, Lautard said, they’re going through a bit of a forced trial run.
“Our initial idea was that we were going to have the backpack program begin in September and we were going to do what we’re doing right now – from spring break to the end of the year – to just see where the needs are and see how we could help.”
Right now, Lautard said that families who are interested in the food security program running now can contact their school principal or Mitchell at carol.mitchell@sd51.bc.ca to learn more about how they can get connected.
@jensenedw
Jensen.edwards@grandforksgazette.ca
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