How do you teach children when they come to school hungry and have no food to eat at home? Going hungry is a third-world problem in our first-world classrooms.
I absolutely loved teaching Saturday Kindergarten with the silliest and cutest NES (None English
Speaking) and ELL students, teaching 12-14 little darlings with giant smiles and even bigger hearts was a treat, even going into school on Saturday.
I was very excited to get back to reading, singing, and playing with the little ones on Saturdays when the new school year started. The first day of "Saturday School" the kinders came in with their little backpacks and nervous apprehension about a new teacher "think Rubeus Hagrid". We did our normal introductions and told parents we would see them after lunch.
We got right into singing my favorite Spanish-English song that is usually a great ice breaker that gets kids smiling. "Amigos, Amigos, uno, dos, tres! "Todos mis amigos estan aqui! Tu eres mis amigos, Maria, es mi amiga, Jesus, es mi amigo, Franky, es mi amigo, Amigos, Amigos, uno ..."
"Con permiso?" "Con permiso?" This precious tiny girl was desperately trying to get my attention, she looked up at me with these big sad eyes, with tears rolling down her cheek, as she tried to ask me a question in English. I asked her in my broken Spanish what was wrong sweetie, thinking maybe she missed her mom and wanted to go home. She looked up at me with these sad eyes and said, "A qué hora desayunar", "A qué hora desayunar, Por favor" What time is breakfast. please? My heart sank, I was brought immediately to a sad realization, my mind was on teaching my Saturday English class, learning a new song and having fun, and her mind was on her real hunger and her need for someone to feed her breakfast. I was totally gutted, we stopped immediately and prepared breakfast for all the kids.
Her world had new light, joy, and color, all brought back with a simple breakfast that drove away the hunger. She had gone from a hurting darkness with no chance of learning anything to a world of light and joy with a renewed passion for learning. Our student's world will never be full of magic, love, sunshine, unicorns, and rainbows when they have had nothing to eat, sometimes for dinner and breakfast.
Working at a Title I school I see kids daily that get 90% of their nutritional needs met at school because they have no food or not enough food at home. Many parents of undocumented students are now afraid to seek federally subsidized free school lunch because the political climate "hatred" against Hispanics.
Starting out my career as a self-contained special education teacher I got in the habit of eating lunch daily with my students. I continue that practice even today, sharing a daily meal with my students is a blessing.
I am shocked and dismayed at lunch sometimes when my students bring a tiny bag of Cheerios or a few chips to eat at lunch. You can see their shame and embarrassment about not having a "school lunch", they will try to hide their sadness and disappointment to no avail. They will stare at what other students are eating and try to disappear or hide their emotions. It is always heart-breaking to see children suffer, and it makes me see politics through very different lenses.
16 years as a teacher, I stock my class with nutritious goodies for breakfast and lunch. Days when I cannot get the lunch ladies to provide a free lunch for my students, I will always buy them lunch because they need nourishment to learn. My heart breaks when I see kids not getting what they need to thrive, the racism and hatred in our country is suffered on a daily basis by our kids.
I absolutely loved teaching Saturday Kindergarten with the silliest and cutest NES (None English
 |
| By DC Central Kitchen - Lunch at DC Public Schools |
I was very excited to get back to reading, singing, and playing with the little ones on Saturdays when the new school year started. The first day of "Saturday School" the kinders came in with their little backpacks and nervous apprehension about a new teacher "think Rubeus Hagrid". We did our normal introductions and told parents we would see them after lunch.
We got right into singing my favorite Spanish-English song that is usually a great ice breaker that gets kids smiling. "Amigos, Amigos, uno, dos, tres! "Todos mis amigos estan aqui! Tu eres mis amigos, Maria, es mi amiga, Jesus, es mi amigo, Franky, es mi amigo, Amigos, Amigos, uno ..."
"Con permiso?" "Con permiso?" This precious tiny girl was desperately trying to get my attention, she looked up at me with these big sad eyes, with tears rolling down her cheek, as she tried to ask me a question in English. I asked her in my broken Spanish what was wrong sweetie, thinking maybe she missed her mom and wanted to go home. She looked up at me with these sad eyes and said, "A qué hora desayunar", "A qué hora desayunar, Por favor" What time is breakfast. please? My heart sank, I was brought immediately to a sad realization, my mind was on teaching my Saturday English class, learning a new song and having fun, and her mind was on her real hunger and her need for someone to feed her breakfast. I was totally gutted, we stopped immediately and prepared breakfast for all the kids.
Her world had new light, joy, and color, all brought back with a simple breakfast that drove away the hunger. She had gone from a hurting darkness with no chance of learning anything to a world of light and joy with a renewed passion for learning. Our student's world will never be full of magic, love, sunshine, unicorns, and rainbows when they have had nothing to eat, sometimes for dinner and breakfast.
Working at a Title I school I see kids daily that get 90% of their nutritional needs met at school because they have no food or not enough food at home. Many parents of undocumented students are now afraid to seek federally subsidized free school lunch because the political climate "hatred" against Hispanics.
Starting out my career as a self-contained special education teacher I got in the habit of eating lunch daily with my students. I continue that practice even today, sharing a daily meal with my students is a blessing.
I am shocked and dismayed at lunch sometimes when my students bring a tiny bag of Cheerios or a few chips to eat at lunch. You can see their shame and embarrassment about not having a "school lunch", they will try to hide their sadness and disappointment to no avail. They will stare at what other students are eating and try to disappear or hide their emotions. It is always heart-breaking to see children suffer, and it makes me see politics through very different lenses.
16 years as a teacher, I stock my class with nutritious goodies for breakfast and lunch. Days when I cannot get the lunch ladies to provide a free lunch for my students, I will always buy them lunch because they need nourishment to learn. My heart breaks when I see kids not getting what they need to thrive, the racism and hatred in our country is suffered on a daily basis by our kids.
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