Keeping Students Fed ... The Wylie Way

By Ian Halperin

The Wylie ISD Student Nutrition Department believes it takes a team to educate a child, and as an integral partner in the Wylie ISD team, their work now extends beyond the school building. When schools opened on Aug. 13, the district implemented a curbside meal pickup program to help meet the nutritional needs of its remote learners.

Finding ways to feed our children is not new to the staff. When schools closed due to COVID-19 back in March, the district’s Student Nutrition staff made sure that students could still access the meals they needed. School meals became a lifeline to many children and families, easing the financial strain and uncertainty caused by the coronavirus and providing a comforting source of consistency for students.

“School meals are critical to students’ well-being and readiness to learn,” said Dawn Lin, Wylie ISD’s Director of Student Nutrition. “Research has shown that children who eat breakfast and lunch at school rely on school meals for half of their daily energy intake.”

With Wylie ISD setting an example in North Texas to open for in-person instruction, the Student Nutrition employees rose to the occasion, smiling behind their masks and continuing to provide nutritious meals to fuel students’ academic successes and physical and cognitive developments.

With about 50% of the district’s families opting for remote learning, the district has set up food pickup sites at four campuses to allow parents the option to pur

Each school day families in Wylie ISD, from the safety of their vehicles, can purchase the same nutritionally balanced breakfasts and lunches as are offered in school cafeterias. Wylie ISD Student Nutrition employees have continued to meet the needs of our families by setting up drive-through meal pick up at campuses across the district.

Thank you note from Akin Elementary student.

chase balanced meals for their children. Both breakfast and lunch are offered. Menus are posted on the Student Nutrition website and offer the same variety and combinations as they would find in the cafeteria. With food insecurity rates skyrocketing due to the economic hardship triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, school meals have become essential to more children than ever. Research has also shown that school meals are healthier than meals brought from home or elsewhere; students eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more milk when they consume school meals.

The program has been very well received, serving 3,488 meals in August (1,957 lunches and 1,531 breakfasts). That’s about 150 lunches and 117 breakfasts among four remote curbside school sites per day.

Parents who came through the curbside meal pickup sites stated that they appreciate the additional service. Some parents were not able to pick up meals during the set hours so the district partnered with local community resources to serve more families. Joley Martin, the district’s family services liaison, recruited volunteers to help at two of the four remote curbside sites since the staff was also serving meals inside the schools.

“We are dedicated to enhancing your student’s academic performance while meeting or exceeding all state and federal government guidelines,” added Lin. “Our goal and promise are to provide the best customer care while serving safe, nutritious, quality meals, and encouraging students to develop life-long skills and knowledge to make healthy food choices.”

For more information on Wylie ISD’s Student Nutrition Department, visit: www.wylieisd.net/Page/1623. •