Austin Austin Education Education The Struggles That Thousands of Our Children Face Every Day Page 8
Ezine Fall 2019
Race, Retention, and Profiles Page 16
Closure On School Closures Page 21
The Scoop On Cafeteria Food Page 28
Contents
Letter From The Editors
8 Looking to Find What School is Right for You?
14 Race, Retention and Profiles
21 Your Perfect School Job
28 How Many Students Have Meals From School? 4 | Austin Education
6 The Struggles That Thousands of our Children Face Every Day
12 How To Become a Teacher
16 Closure on School Closure
26 The Scoop On Cafeteria Food
32 Austin Education | 5
Letter From The Editors This magazine was written to help teach people about the school system in which they and/or their children are educated in. We believe that everyone should understand the system which they are a part of, and that we should be open about the problems AISD faces so we can fix them, not shove them under the rug. However, we also believe that AISD’s accomplishments should be recognized because, as so often happens in government work, most of its beneficiaries overlook its good qualities, instead simply moving on to the next thing on their list of complaints whenever a problem is solved. When we identify and overcome failure while honoring our successes, the system cannot help but improve, for both the students and the teachers.
6 | Austin Education
Meet The Editors Will Bolduc is a freshman at LASA. His passions are playing Ultimate Frisbee, reading books no one has heard of, and playing obscure video games. He sincerely hopes you will ignore his... Interesting attempts at graphic design.
Quintyn Zoghby is a human being who attends LASA as a freshman. He watches anime, reads the occasional strange book, and is unsure why he is speaking in third person. Fun fact, Quintyn actually spent the majority of his time in Ezine creating cursed images in Photoshop due to sheer madness.
Gabriel DePalma is a nice young man and, coincidentally, a freshman at LASA. He loves playing and watching sports such as football and soccer. Gabriel hopes that you enjoy his group’s magazine!
Ben Miller is 14 years old and a student at LASA. He likes to play soccer and recently got a puppy, which he loves to death. Ben also hopes you’ll enjoy reading the magazine as much as he did making it.
Austin Education | 7
The Struggles that Thousands of By Gabriel DePalma
8 | Austin Education
our Children Face Every Day Cindy Anderson, (4th from right), celebrates her election success with a group photo of AISD board of trustees. Cindy Anderson has been an AISD trustee for district 6 since November 2016 when she beat David Quintilla. Photo by Austin ISD
Austin Education | 9
Approximately 10% of all of AISD students have been diagnosed with some type of learning disability, 28% of students don’t speak English as a first language and 50% are living in an economically disadvantaged home. How does AISD accommodate for these students? Well, AISD has employed several services dedicated to providing an equal learning opportunity for all students. For example, students that have a learning disability can qualify for 504. This service helps find the learning condition that any child can thrive under. For ELL (English Language Learners), schools often enforce a bilingual classroom where students learn from each other. AISD Trustee Cindy Anderson often works with IEP kids and is familiar with the AISD procedure.
Cindy Anderson poses after announcing her campaign for trustee. Cindy Anderson has spent 10 years working with AISD and has been involved in numerous committees Photo by Ballotpedia.
“I would find it amusing to watch the boys play soccer, because it’s the main sport in Mexico, and here it’s football. So they would be teaching the boys how to play soccer and our boys would teach them football. They love to learn from each other.”
8 | Austin Education
“Classes usually have a long term bilingual bi-cultural type experience, paired with 50% native Spanish speakers and 50% native English speakers.”
“Classes usually have a long term bilateral, bilingual bi-cultural type experience, usually paired with ideally 50% native Spanish speakers and 50% native English speakers. Spanish speakers are learning English, while at the same time the English speakers are learning Spanish,” Anderson said. This method has proven to be very successful in teaching students to become bilingual. However, It is not an easy road for a non-native English speaker. They often have an extremely hard time adjusting to reading and American social studies. For social studies, many students are ill equipped to understand the new vocabulary. Despite all these challenges, a child’s curiosity and will to learn prevails. Often times, both groups of children will learn from each other. Chistiana Nogay is an ELL teacher that has worked in many different school districts. “I would find it amusing to watch the boys play soccer, because it’s so crazy, and such a main sport and Mexico, and they take it very serious, and you know here, it’s football. Nogay said. So the boys, you know, teaching them, our boys how to play soccer and talk it out. I thought it was an amazing thing to watch. So they love to learn from each
other.” Nogay said. Not only is this a great way to share both cultures, you tend to learn a language better if it is first hand instead of teaching. Many students often feel overwhelmed with the social pressure of being different. “They have to adjust first to learn the social language, and then coming in and then learning, the academic side”. Nogay said. For kids with a learning disability, they often cope with serious depression and even suicidal thoughts. There are two main programs that AISD utilizes are IEP and 504 services. The difference between 504 and IEP regards to the severity of the learning disability. “An IEP is a diagnosis that typically requires additional services under a sort of umbrella of special education. Trustee Cindy Anderson said. Basically, it sort of speaks to I guess, what the federal government has identified as being more severe learning disabilities or even physical disabilities.” Anderson said. According to Anderson, students who are dyslexic, autistic, have a physical disability or a student who has mental health issues, would all fall under an IEP. These students are often placed in solo classrooms to get one on one learning. The biggest difference between 504 students and IEP students are the accommodations. While IEP students will receive solo classrooms, 504 students receive in-class accommodations. According to Nemours, the most common accommodations are preferential seating, extended time on tests and assignments, verbal testing, or technological aid. Both IEP and 504 students have unique resources and services provided for them that are completely dependent on their disability, and what they need to be in an educational environment that allows them to learn in the best way possible, just like a traditional students education. AISD is trying to make every student has an equal learning experience no matter what challenges they face on the way. “What do we need to help the student work, and provide the student in order to make them successful?” Anderson said. AISD provides services and resources to help every child get the perfect academic experience.
However, the most common challenge kids face isn’t having a learning disability or not knowing English, It is being economically disadvantaged. About 50% of students are economically disadvantaged. What does economically disadvantaged mean? If you are economically disadvantaged it means that your household income is below the national average. There are several struggles economically disadvantaged kids go through every day. For example, they are often under constant pity of teachers and their peers. These students are often very dedicated to their studies. “Teachers at {low-income} schools did not give up on these students”. Author Samuel Freedman said. “Instead, they focused on what could be done within the context of their work.” Freedman said. However, AISD offers a wide variety of resources that helps maximize their learning. Most teachers at AISD strive to make sure they have the same resources as other students. Some of the resources that economically disadvantaged kids have that traditional kids do not is a free or discounted lunch meal. More disadvantaged kids can qualify for a free meal, while kids just under the National average only get a discount. Students can also get free school supplies, free school shirts, and free admission to select field trips. Economically disadvantaged students are not required, but recommended to take courses such as Early College Prep or AVID, also known as Advancement Via Individual Determination. “It’s about creating a joyful, positive learning environment. That opens up the brain for learning and makes students more creative, more productive.” AVID high school teacher of the year nominee, Sean McComb said. These Courses are meant for students who would be the first person in their family to go to college and get a degree. AVID offers a wide variety of college support, including finding out what college is best for you, learning time management, and developing interests and skills that help you on later in life.
left [high school].” McComb said. Attending AVID is a tremendous bonus for kids with little to none college knowledge. According to Education Weekly, High school students that attended AVID are outpacing fellow students who did not take the class. Approximately 78% of all AVID graduates followed their high school diploma with a 4 year college degree. AISD has employed several tactics in order to equalize the success of every student. There are several programs dedicated to helping students such as IEP, Section 504, AVID, College Prep, along with the FRL program, known as the Free or Reduced Lunch Program. So far, the program has been a huge success and allows for every student to have a healthy lunch.
“It is so fulfilling, I think, as a teacher, to see these kids really successful after they Austin Education | 9
Looking to find out which school is right for you?
Are you looking to apply to Austin’s finest? We’re examining the top schools to improve your high school experience! LASA
VS
100% of all LASA 10-12 graders took an AP course and approximately 98% passed.
AP classes passed
Approximately, 98% of LASA seniors met state wide college readiness standards in math and reading.
Seniors meeting College readiness standards in reading and math.
LASA has the 3rd SAT score in Texas with an average of 1394.
LASA’s average ACT score was 30.5.
100% of all 2018 LASA seniors graduated.
12 | Austin Education
Average SAT score.
Average ACT score.
Graduation Rate.
McCallum 74% of McCallum 10-12 graders passed an AP course.
78% of McCallum seniors met college readiness standards.
McCallum has the 69th highest SAT score in Texas, with an average of 1090. McCallum’s average ACT score was 24.5.
94% of all 2018 McCallum seniors graduated.
LASA
Bowie Bowie is largest high school in AISD with approximately 2,800 students. It is above average with a 89% reading proficiency rate. 75% of kids enjoy school.
75% of students believe that they go to an athletic school. At least 1750 kids per school.
Anderson Anderson is one of the only schools in Austin that offers an IB program. Students typically meet or excel nation averages in SAT, and ACT.
99% proficiency rate in both math and reading. LASA has only 1,111 students but is ranked the 3rd best high school in Texas.
90%+ of students scored at above average reading levels. 95%+ Graduation rate
Part of AISD A public school.
Credit: Niche Austin’s top high schools.
At least 80% of students feel safe at school.
80% of kids feel safe at their school.
McCallum 38% of students enroll in AP courses. Credit; Niche “Explore Anderson”
McCallum has the strongest fine arts programs in all of AISD. Kids usually receive a traditional high school education and a extra fine arts focus.
Austin Education | 13
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he Austin Independent School District has to hire upwards of 600 teachers a year. Unsurprisingly, this gets very complicated. AISD is home to more than 80,000 students. It is a massive system of education and learning, and a major employer to boot. Of course, no school system can function without its teachers. The hiring of teachers is a long, complicated process lead by the AISD Department of Talent Acquisition. The department faces many different issues regarding hiring and keeping teachers, and is constantly trying to improve its practices.
Recently, the Talent Acquisition Department obtained a new director: Norma Castillo. Castillo is a former teacher and former principal, and has worked in education for twenty years. As the new Talent Acquisition director, she introduced a major new factor into how the district hires teachers: the Austin ISD teacher profile.
"Kids of color need to see people that look like them within the world, within the school day to understand their values."
The profile is made up of 18 different attributes that Castillo believed help make a teacher successful in Austin.
Austin ISD Talent Acquisition has an incredibly important role in hiring new teachers. Applications to teach for Austin ISD are submitted through them, and they refer all who the department believes are good candidates to the district’s principals. If a principal decides they want to hire someone, the department handles the whole process, from telling the applicant how much they will be paid to getting them a laptop and a badge if they accept.
"We partnered with parents, with social emotional learning, our multilingual department, just all levels of the organization contributed to the creation of that rubric."
18 | Austin Education
, tillo as ISD . C a of A ions le rm t b No ctor quisi onsi f e dir ent A resp ion o . e s l Ta wa reat rofil f p e ec o r h S th e sy ch for tea ourte llo. i the to C ast C o Ph rma No
“It took the entire district,” Castillo said. “It was created from a vision and mission, we partnered with principals to give us feedback. We partnered with parents, with social
emotional learning, our multilingual department, just all levels of the organization contributed to the creation of that rubric.”
The Talent Acquisitions Department is also focused on improving diversity among Austin’s teachers themselves. They believe that students learn better when they see themselves and their culture in their teachers, or, if their teacher does not share their culture, they need to at least be able to understand and respect the culture of the students they teach.
Ken Zarifis, the President of Education Austin, a local teachers union, has also emphasized the importance of diversity among teachers, saying that it is a vital factor not only for ethnically underrepresented children, but for white students as well. nt ide n. s e Pr usti A fis, ari tion en Z D’s a n e c Ke du as b f AIS d E o of ifis h ical g an . r t Za y cri hirin icies l r r f o e e o v ch n p sy tea entio ourte stin. ret to c on Au o Ph cati u Ed
“White kids need to be exposed to greater opportunities of diversity in every setting they're in,” Zarifis said.
This massive project was intended to help bring some consistency and order to the great amalgamation of hiring across AISD’s 129 schools. In a district as large and varying in ethnicity and economic status as Austin, having teachers who can work with a wide variety of different students is obviously a necessity. Castillo has used the profile to ensure that that goal is achieved. In addition to being directed towards teachers who are data driven and constantly improving, the profile was designed to find teachers who are “equity cultivators,” Castillo said, “who are very aware of their implicit biases, and who are able to work with students of very diverse backgrounds, and families.”
r, her te en Teac c , m z, era ISD fro ru Riv he A ard ul C l y a ia r t Aw t P hle s As ieve ise den spec lazie to c m re Pro nten is a at B Pho of peri era her ool. Su t. Riv teac sch D. lef eds tary f AIS ne men sy o Ele urte Co
Austin Education | 19
However, in the past, Zarifis has had some disagreements with the district over how to ensure diversity in teachers. A few years ago, Austin ISD tried to use TFA, Teach For America, to help them find diverse teachers. Upon hearing this, Zarifis, more than a little surprised, asked the district if they had tried going to Huston-Tillotson (a local predominantly black college) to find teachers of color, to which they responded by saying that they had only started to search for teachers there that year.
"But of course, one of the biggest, biggest contributors to retention is the culture of the campus."
“So they had gone for years ignoring a historically black college in our city that produces a lot of teachers,” Zarifis said. “I was just stunned by that.”
communities of color, to those institutions, to encourage them to look at AISD and to really go out on our campuses,” Zarifis said. However, the biggest problem with Austin’s teachers, according to Zarifis, is not the hiring. It is what happens afterwards. The Austin Independent School District has a 13-14% turnover rate every year. That means that every five years, more than half of the teaching population has left. By the time the average student completes their 12year schooling process, the district has cycled through roughly seven thousand teachers.
Zarifis concedes that the district does treat their prospective al zi, en Liber hires with “such respect, that they c s s Cre f the e ge are entering into such a great a c a i o l n c n Sta cipa Scie e ma r world that they’re very needed,” n d i e h pr s an y. S ach sy Zarifis said. “Yet,when they rte Art dem d te he u o n a t Ac ng a n at oto c zi get in, too often we see that i h n r o i i P e h ent y. esc that respect and that kindness t m r re de aC a goes away in the day to day, and Ac taci S of they’re not respected the way they need to be respected.” Unsurprisingly, this is not the only part of AISD’s hiring system in This high rate of teacher turnover which Zarifis thinks diversity could be can be detrimental not only to the improved. Zarifis repeatedly stated administration of the district, who are that he felt that the district’s Human having to hire more than 600 teachers Resources Department was not doing each year, but also to the students, who enough to “give more deference to suffer a significant lack of stability.
20 | Austin Education
Fortunately, AISD is working to solve this problem. Castillo, the aforementioned director of AISD Talent Acquisitions, said that her department has done a lot to improve retention, including teacher recognition programs, such as Teacher of the Year or Teacher of Promise, and forming cohorts of teachers with shared interests and goals to help support each other.
“But of course,” Castillo said, “one of the biggest, biggest contributors to retention is the culture of the campus.” Stacia Crescenzi, the Principal of the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, a local magnet school, agrees that retention is a major issue. “I would agree with Ken like, I think it’s one of the more difficult things to do,” Crescenzi said. “Partly because everybody’s busy. There’s no extra money to give some teachers off periods to specifically work with or mentor or observe.” On her campus, despite the lack of funding for it, Crescenzi does her best to help new teachers cope with the difficult transition, from assigning all the new teachers a mentor, to giving them the occasional day off to help catch up with grading, to taking them out to dinner so they can socialize with each other. In the end, it is clear that Austin ISD faces a host of problems in the teacher hiring process, and there is still a lot that could be improved. However, the many dedicated employees of Talent Acquisition Department, along with teachers and principals across the district, are dedicated to fixing these problems and ensuring an equitable and useful education for all.
The almost abandoned headquarters of the district is a metaphor for AISD’s initiative to move on from the past.. AISD is moving headquarters, an is beginning to abandon the old building. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Zoghby.
Tit
Closure on School Closure By Quintyn Zoghby
Schools are being closed around the city and parents are demanding answers.
22 | Austin Education
tle 24
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Zoghby.
T
he district is celebrating a boost to their budget, and all seems well. However, parents are beginning to fear for their children as news comes out about school closure. Austin’s public school district has faced budget problems for years, as they had to donate half of their budget statewide schools through the Robin Hood law. This year, they got 25% of the budget back. It should solve a lot of problems, but there are now twelve schools set to be closed. The district has been questioned about this topic, and they give the same answer over and over. “Sometimes what we've done in the past will not take us to where we're going to go in the future… And in order to do that, we can't be thinking about having a model that has kids lined up in
rows and rows in an old building,” Izzy Zandany said. Zandany is Director of Risk Management at AISD and interacts with the budget and insurance related issues. AISD has been targeting older schools to shut down. The district is very keen on moving on from the past in favor of the future, and doesn’t want to look back. In a short off-record interview with Nicole Conley, the Chief of Operations for AISD, I was told that the district wants to focus in the “bigger picture.” A good example of this situation is Pease, one of the oldest schools in the city. Students from all over the city apply to the elementary school, creating a kind of nexus for our vast district. They perform well academically, and the parents are content with the state of things currently. Meanwhile on the east side of Austin, the elementary school Zavala is suffering. With low attendance
and a partially rundown building, the parents of the school have fought to keep it open as they feel personal ties to the school. Now, Pease is on the chopping block. AISD plans to move Pease faculty and students to Zavala while upgrading the school and it’s programs. The Zavala community appears to be happy with the change, but the same cannot be said for the Pease parents. “I'm very disappointed in the plan in general and specifically I'm especially very disappointed in how it's being presented to the public,” Travis Weller said. “I have several issues with it, probably the the the main issue that I have is how quickly the district is proceeding with a vote… relative to the date that they announced which schools would be closed.” As a parent of Pease, Weller had a lot to say about the closure. According to
"Sometimes what we’ve done in the past will not take us to where we’re going to go in the future" -Izzy Zandany Austin Education | 23
him, the district has not been being honest about how they’re handling school closure. In an earlier conversation he revealed that he had confronted the superintendent about the matter, and still was denied satisfactory answers. He does, however, acknowledge some problems he sees AISD cope with. “They've gotten very entrenched.” Weller Said. “Systemic racism and poverty… are incredibly complex problems, and many of them are, quite frankly, outside the scope, outside the purview of what AISD is able to address directly,” Unfortunately the fact is that this city faces segregation on a racial, economical, and geographical level. On the east side, there are many middle to lower class individuals who are black and of Hispanic descent. On the west side, there are primarily upperclass individuals of European descent. It is the same in south Austin as well, and the most diverse part of the city is its nexus, downtown. While Austin is diverse, it is separated. AISD has previously sought to consolidate east side schools, and Weller believes they are trying to handle backlash by closing schools in better off areas. He also claims that Pease is diverse as well, and that there is no real reason to close it. Weller continued to openly criticize other schools in historically higher class areas. “The things that I feel like are really missing in this plan is our accountability from West Austin.” Weller said “What about Highland Park? What about Barton Hills? Are they sharing in the tough choices? Are they sharing in the difficult decisions? Absolutely not.”
"You know, our community has been really good about meeting our goals of not exceeding them, because they do believe that education is important." -Vera Muniz
This may be true for this year, but there have been budget meetings discussing the closure of Barton Hills. This year, they don’t have to dodge that bullet. Also, Barton Hills is located in the southern part of central Austin, not the western region. The Zilker PTA President Vera Muñiz believes a school’s fate relies on the support of the parents. “You know, our community has been really good about meeting our goals of not
24 | Austin Education
Title 25
Zaval parents protest to keep their children in their school. Now, Zavala will get the staff and possibly students of Pease along with an upgraded building. Photo courtesy of KEYE.
exceeding them, because they do believe that education is important,” Muñiz said “I think that goes a lot with communities are very successful with your PTA.” This may be true for Zilker, but not for everyone. During an off-record interview with Nathan Kennedy, a teacher at Barton Hills who has worked in Seattle, it was stated that while parents can help, they only help so much. Teachers still mostly pay for supplies, and pay-raises are blown out buy rising rates of cost in the city, whereas in Seattle, funding is relatively easy to come by. According to Weller, “They're just saying, well, sorry, we're taking Pease and we're consolidating it with a school that's absolutely 100 percent different. And they think that Pease’s parents are just gonna go there because we're told. They're wrong. We're not gonna do it because it doesn't make sense. You're taking something beautiful that our children have and you're digging it up and rooting it out and it's going to go away.”
found the money they need to carry it out. This whole operation has been an emotional rollercoaster for a lot of people. While the parents of Austin fear for their schools and fight to keep them open, AISD still plays the same message. Conley is focusing on the bigger picture and with plans moving forward, parents seem to only be able to wait in fear of their child's school closing.
"...they think that Pease’s parents are just gonna go there because we’re told. They’re wrong." -Travis Weller
Weller claims to have studied the current plan, and has found that AISD hasn’t even Austin Education | 25
Your “Perfect” School Job Is teaching up your alley?
School is full of different jobs. Let’s say you were going to get one. What job is right for you in this environment?
How can I help?
And explain things?! Academics? Eww... Ok... Athletics? Oh goody goody. That’s better.
So you could do another language?
And SWEAT?!
Teacher(Athletics) Maybe Music?
English please. (Insert LOTE) Great! Teacher(Academics)
Teacher(LOTE) Teacher(Music)
26 | Austin Education
Still no!!!
Back to the start!
Being in charge?
Ok, how do you like student interaction?
How about no.
More please.
Yes please.
Less is better.
Would you heal mentally or physically? Principal(Assistant) How do you feel?
Step aside: I’M A DOCTOR
There’s a couple options here.
Nurse
Counselor
Janitor/Custodian
Librarian
Bus Driver
Food Service
Graphics and info courtesy of The Balance Careers,
Clker, Wikipedia, Vexels, Icon Library, Perry County Public Library, PNG River, Free PNG ClipArt,Stich PNG, Icon Finder, Project Neuron, trzcacak, and Preston Public Schools. Austin Education | 27
HOW ANNELIESE TANNER IS CHANGING THE CAFETERIA FOOD GAME How AISD is changing the stereotype of cafeteria food being disgusting. W h e n most people think of cafeteria food, something disgusting comes to mind. Students wait in a seemingly endless lunch line, only to be served something that they won’t even enjoy. Well, this is not the case in AISD. Cafeteria food is known for being revolting, but the AISD is trying to change that stereotype by using fresh, local, and healthy ingredients. AISD is sourcing its ingredients from completely local farms like Johnson’s Backyard Garden and is cooking every meal from scratch. They are also teaching s t u d e n t s 28 | Austin Education
valuable lessons in staying healthy. Anneliese Tanner, the Director of Food Services and Nutrition, has been the leader of this movement, coming up with new initiatives for meals in AISD. She has always wanted to make a difference on our environment ever since she was a kid. “ I ’ v e always had an interest in the environmental impact of our food system,” Tanner said. “Even when I was six years old, I had heard on the news when my parents were watching about dolphins getting caught
in tuna nets and I organized a letter-writing campaign at my school to starfish tuna to have dolphinsafe nets. So I just have a lifelong history of really caring about how our actions impact the environment, and the food industry has, I think, the largest impact on the environment.” A healthier lunch is not the only benefit that comes from prioritizing using local ingredients to make all your meals. The added benefits of using local ingredients are not only for the environment but for the economy as well. “ B y prioritizing
By Ben Miller
AISD likes to teach lessons about maintaining a healthy lifestyle to students. This shows a lesson about sustainability. Photo courtesy of AISD.
This is one of the lunches that AISD makes. The meal is tacos with a banana, beans, and milk. Photo courtesy of AISD.
This is Aneliese Tanner, the Director of Food Services and Nutrition in AISD. Photo courtesy of AISD.
plant-based meals and focusing on vegetables as the center of the plate, we’re helping reduce carbon e m i s s i o n s ,” Tanner said. “And, we evaluate all the food that we purchase in 5 categories: We look at the nutritional value, the impact on the local economy, the sustainability, and how the products contribute to fair labor and animal welfare.”
Another initiative that AISD is pushing is teaching students how to get into the practice of eating healthy all the time. “I think that the food that we put on the menu it educates our students about what are healthy choices, and so we’re helping to inform our student’s lifelong eating habits,” Tanner said. “So by having lots of fresher vegetables
and whole grains, we’re helping our students b e c o m e accustomed to eating in a healthy way that will stick with them for the rest of their lives.” E v e n with all of the
Austin Education | 29
Shown is one of the Nacho Average food trucks meant to simulate the Austin Experience for students. Photo courtesy of AISD.
“Every student in AISD deserves the highest quality and everybody wants to have fresh food. When we serve meals from scratch, we can control the quality and then we can control the ingredients.” improvements to school lunches within AISD already, Tanner doesn’t plan on stopping improving them anytime soon. With improvements always needing to be made, Tanner plans to keep devoting her career to giving students the best meals she can. “In Austin ISD we’re reinventing what food in school looks like and that means that changes every part of our operation,” Tanner said. “We have plans to continue to improve the quality, and we’re part of the Good Food Purchasing Program. We currently have 3 stars and we’re working 30 | Austin Education
towards 4 stars, and then eventually 5.” However, there are drawbacks to getting ingredients in the way that AISD does. Because many of the farms they get food from are relatively small, if they have a bad season, it can be hard to provide fresh ingredients to students. “There are definitely a lot of challenges to reinventing what food looks like in school and when we talk about local and the local produce, there’s always a challenge because no one can control the weather,” Tanner said. “So we have to be really nimble because when we’re dealing
with fresh foods, we’re at the mercy of the weather.” Another initiative that Tanner has added is the Nacho Average Food Truck. The Nacho Average Food Truck is a small food truck outside of some schools, where students can go for breakfast or lunch. The idea for the food truck came from students at Anderson High School, and Tanner loved it. “The food truck is about giving all of our students the opportunity to participate or to eat in a way that’s very Austin,” Tanner said. “And then because it’s a
Anderson High School is a school in AISD and is where the inspiration for the Nacho Average Food Truck came from. Photo courtesy of AISD.
smaller format, it gives us the opportunity to try out recipes that don’t necessarily always work at a larger scale or to try out different products. We can feature more local foods off the food truck because it’s a smaller format.” AISD also teaches valuable lessons about healthy food on the food truck. “So one of the guiding principles on the food truck is that all of the entrees provide a fruit or vegetable in them,” Tanner said. “So it’s another way to help inform those healthy choices with our students by having fruits and vegetables in their entrees.” The environment that students eat in also plays a huge role in how much students enjoy their lunch. That’s one of the reasons why so many students enjoy the food truck, Carole McPherson, the lead counselor at LASA High School, believes that students should have the
“All of our initiatives have come from community requests and it’s so important that our food program reflects what the community wants.”
freedom to choose where they go during lunch because many students don’t like to stay in the cafeteria. “I think it has to do with the level of freedom, like I can go here and because you’re so restricted every single part of the day, you can be happy to be here,” McPherson said. “Then you have been five minutes and you have to be here, so it’s a part of the day where no one cares. I think as a student, I would have liked to have had that autonomy to do and go wherever I want. If I want to go to the cafeteria, get my lunch break or if I don’t want to sit in there, great. I’m going to do whatever I want to.”
Ms. McPherson also believes that it is important for students to have a full hour for lunch in order to take a break from academics in student’s busy schedules. “We want there to be an hour lunch as often as possible, to just let people breathe,” McPherson said. The lunches that a student gets from school can affect their eating habits for the rest of their lives, so it is important that students are provided healthy meals, that promote beneficial eating habits for the rest or their lives. It is also important that students are able to take a break from the stress of school, and a lunch break can provide just that. Austin Education | 31
HOW MANY STUDENTS HAVE MEALS FROM SCHOOL? Millions of Students from all over the country eat lunches from their school cafeteria everyday. Because it can be difficult for parents to buy and make meals from scratch for their kids, buying lunch from school can be a convenient and cost effective alternative.
20.2 Million
20.2 million students are provided a free lunch from school
4.9 Billion
11.77 million students are given a free breakfast through school
32 | Austin Education
4.9 billion lunched are served to students every year in the U.S.A
11.77 Million
Meal Cost Breakdown
This pie chart shows how the budget for school lunches is divided into the categories food, labor/benefits, supplies, and other. 2014, the budget for school food programs was roughly $20 billion dollars, and that number has Ben increasing since then.
$2.74
It only costs $2.74 to buy a lunch at a high school in AISD
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See See You You Next Next Year! Year!