School Lunch

As a part of Jiro's Star Week, I was invited to lunch. I went on Friday at 10:15am. Yes, 10:15.

Jiro brings his lunch, but I wanted to buy lunch since I've interviewed Tony Geraci twice now and heard all about how he is transforming lunch in the city schools. So we went through the line and Jiro asked if I could get him and his friend, Jameson, a slushie. I said yes, and then said to myself, "Wait. They sell slushies??"



I hadn't checked the paper to see what they were serving, and was pleasantly surprised to see baked chicken and salad. I saw some vegetable soup and a heartier salad with ham on it. They also had chicken nuggets and green beans. FRuit options were canned peaches or a fresh apple.



The boy next to me got a very healthy looking lunch, which was great, but as you can see he brought a Pop tart and spicy Cheetos from home!



I just got a chicken breast, roll, and side salad. At checkout the woman added a pack of granola and some string cheese. I was probably supposed to grab a milk, but I didn't.



The chicken was good but definitely dry. I worried about my ability to chew it in the allotted time for lunch! They had some bbq dipping sauce for the nuggets. If I had that it would have been easier to swallow. I used some of the ranch dressing out of necessity.

Jiro was very busy with his buddies and I ended up talking to Jada for most of lunch. Or, I should say Jada was talking my ear off. It was cute.



Jiro's lunch that I pack everyday is pretty sad. I wish he would eat the school lunch. He finished his chips, gave his cheese & crackers to Jameson, told me he thought his yogurt tube had gone bad, gave me his juicebox, and then tossed most of his slushie in the trash when they came around at 10:35. I was all, "There's ten minutes left! Why is everyone throwing away their food!"

I definitely felt pressured to eat fast and Jada made me nervous with all of her talking.

I thought the noise level in the cafeteria was fine. When they wanted the kids attention, they said, "Snowden five" and everyone shut their mouth and raised their hand.



Ms. Garrone was out sick, so Mr. T had everyone say, "We miss you Ms. Garrone!" and he videotaped it. Very cute. Then he had them do some math challenges like counting to hundred by twos and fives. It was an obvious ploy to let them be loud in a constructive way.

Jiro and his crew played along for the most part but then did lots of their own talking. When they started lining everyone up to leave was the only time they seemed super serious about the kids being quiet. I reminded Jameson that there was no talking and he burped and said, "They didn't say no burping!"

(He's been to our house several times so he feels comfortable around me.)

I walked out with the boys for recess and was tickled by the fact that they were sent to run laps.

Overall, I give lunch a solid B. There seemed to be enough time to eat and enough healthy items to choose from. The kids had a chance to talk and get some of their wiggles out. I wish they had more time, but it was a lot better than I thought it would be.

I enjoyed meeting the kids in Jiro's class, getting to talk to his teacher after lunch, and getting to know Mr. T a bit better.