BRATTLEBORO — When a school lacks a cafeteria, where do students eat?
This was the concern Green Street School administrators had, since breakfast participation, when served in the gymnasium, resulted in only one-third of students eating the morning meal.
Last September, breakfast was moved into the classroom, served after the morning bell, and provided free to all students. With these changes, breakfast participation has more than doubled.
To help bolster the program's obvious success, Green Street School was recently awarded a $2,700 grant that was funded by New England Dairy & Food Council and the dairy farmers of Vermont.
“We know how important it is for students to start the day with a well-balanced meal, so we have committed to serving breakfast after the bell to make sure that as many students as possible have access to a healthy meal,” said Principal Mark Speno in a news release.
But with a new program comes unexpected hurdles.
“Our biggest challenge so far has been to manage the increased amount of waste that is now generated in the classrooms. The bins were too small to fit food scraps and packaging-in addition to waste already generated throughout the school day.”
Head Custodian Eugene Frost created a prototype for how classrooms can more effectively manage the morning waste. The three-bin, color-coded system allows students to separate their breakfast leftovers as organic matter, recycled materials, and landfill waste. The mobile system makes it easy for custodial staff to collect and for teachers to store.
“This grant money will go toward implementing the three-bin system throughout our school, which will be instrumental towards improving classroom waste management,” said Speno.