LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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Daily Sitka Sentinel

School Breakfast Support Crosses the Bridge

By ABIGAIL BLISS
Sentinel Staff Writer
    In a recent illustration of inter-connectedness in a small community, students from one school in Sitka set out to support their counterparts at another.
    Mt. Edgecumbe High School’s National Honor Society held a bake sale on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 to raise money for the Sitka School District’s breakfast program.
     The students presented the fruits of their labor, totaling $750, to Sitka School District Superintendent Mary Wegner, who made the trip to MEHS Tuesday morning to meet with the National Honor Society group.

Mt. Edgecumbe High School National Honor Society members present a check to Sitka School District Superintendent Mary Wegner, Tuesday. The Edgecumbe students raised money at a bake sale for the district’s breakfast program. Pictured are, from left, Katie Turner, Annie Masterman, Makayla Kameroff, Wegner, Samantha Wade, Helen Leinberger, Haylee Steffes, Christy Anderson and Elizabeth Alowa. Not pictured: Vasilla Fisher, Alyssa Afcan, Jada Shelton and Bridget Atseriak. (Photo by Christy Anderson)


    While speaking with the students, she relayed insight into the importance of the breakfast program that Baranof Elementary School counselor Jeanine Brooks had provided at a School Board meeting the night before.
    “I shared with them what Jeanine Brooks shared with us on Monday: that the breakfast program is about more than food,” Wegner told the Sentinel. “It’s about starting your day right, about welcoming the students and supporting them in being successful in the day ahead of them.”
    Christy Anderson, a Mt. Edgecumbe teacher and sponsor of the school’s National Honor Society, explained that the students had selected the cause out of recognition of the importance of a nutritious start to a school day.
    “NHS members chose to lend a helping hand to this specific program because it gives a good and healthy start to a hungry child’s day,” she said.         The breakfast program began with Brooks, who observed negative effects on behavior and achievement when students started the day on empty stomachs. Because the Baranof school day starts at 8:05, the earliest start time in the district, many families do not have time for a full meal as they rush out the door, she explained.
    “It’s just too early for some families who have a lot of stress in their lives to make sure their kids have something,” she said. “In some cases, it’s just too early for kids to eat.”
    Some families, she noted, would not have the resources for breakfast even if they had ample time.
    Brooks began by working in tandem with Americorps fellows and using donations from the White Elephant shop to provide a simple breakfast of oatmeal to Baranof kindergartners and first-graders in the morning. She remembered seeing immediate changes in students’ behavior and academic achievement, as kids were better equipped to forge “positive connections with their peers” and focus on the lessons at hand in the classroom.
    Now the breakfast program benefits all five schools in the district with some 125 students, or about 10% of the district’s student body, participating in the program each day. It’s funded primarily by the National School Breakfast Program, with additional funding donated by its longtime partner, the White Elephant.
    Similarly, the program’s offerings have expanded from a bowl of oatmeal to an array of options. At Baranof, Brooks explained, children receive fruit, milk and a choice of main dishes. She estimates that 25 out of some 200 students at the school take advantage of the program on a regular basis.
    The breakfast program is open to all students, regardless of their family’s financial ability. Brooks said the program’s inclusivity mitigates any stigma that might otherwise surround the program. Additionally, it creates a sense of community at the start of each day.
    “As important as getting food in their bellies is the community they get to be a part of before school,” she said.
    In reflecting on the recent donation from students at Mt Edgecumbe, Wegner emphasized that the same communal feeling brought to Baranof by the breakfast program extended to the community as a whole.
    “We all care about the humanity and each other,” she said. “And what a wonderful example of that.”

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

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