Students create school lunch menus

  • By MEGAN PETERSEN
  • Sunday, December 7, 2014 4:26pm
  • News

KETCHIKAN (AP) — Of all the things to serve for lunch, the kids suggested seaweed.

Genevieve Hiatt and Hailey Hubble, fourth-graders at Houghtaling Elementary, won the November Dream Healthy Lunch Menu Contest, and come Dec. 19, the school lunch menu in Ketchikan School District will include salmon, brown rice, seaweed and a pineapple-strawberry fruit cup.

The contest was inspired by new U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations for school lunches. With the passing of the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and the campaign against childhood obesity, school lunches have switched from pudding packs to fruit cups.

“With the new school lunch regulations, we had to change a lot of menu items,” said Emily Henry, the school district’s wellness coordinator.

Henry said the district’s food services department started the contest in November as a way to include students in the menu planning and design process.

“We thought the contest would be a good way to generate excitement and sort of have a say. … It’s a way for the kids to feel like they were involved,” she said.

In November, 24 Houghtaling fourth- through sixth-grade students submitted meal ideas and illustrated posters for the contest. Henry said the submissions were required to include a fruit, a vegetable, a carbohydrate and a source of protein and dairy.

“The kids seemed really excited about it,” Henry said. “We had a lot of really interesting ideas.”

One idea was venison tacos with nacho cheese topping, Henry said.

“That’s what we were looking for — is different ideas,” she said.

The posters were displayed in the hallways at Houghtaling, where students could vote on their favorite meals. After determining the nutritional integrity of the suggested menus, Henry and a team of judges, including food services director Madonna Brock and Kayhi culinary arts teacher Doug Edwards, decided on three finalists based on creativity and poster presentation. The finalist with the most student votes won.

At Houghtaling, fourth-graders Genevieve Hiatt and Hailey Hubble won first place. Fellow fourth-grader Lexi Vasquez won second, and sixth-grader Robert Cope-Powell won third place.

The winning meal will be served to the entire school district Dec. 19, and the students who won get a tour of the school district’s kitchen facilities at Schoenbar Middle School, where are school meals are prepared.

And the contest continues, Henry said. Fawn Mountain Elementary students are participating in the contest this month, and their winning meal will be served in January.

More in News

Kenai Middle School Principal Vaughn Dosko points out elements of a redesign plan for the front of the school on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Work soon to begin on Kenai Middle security upgrades

The security upgrades are among several key KPBSD maintenance projects included in a bond approved by borough voters in October 2022.

The Kenai Fire Department headquarters are photographed on Feb. 13, 2018, in Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Kenai adds funds, authorizes contract for study of emergency services facility

The building shared by Kenai’s police and fire departments hasn’t kept up with the needs of both departments, chief says.

Kenai Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Best shows off a new inclusive seesaw at Kenai Municipal Park in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai awards contract to develop Parks and Rec master plan

The document is expected to guide the next 20 years of outdoors and recreation development in the city.

Balancing Act’s homepage for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget. (Screenshot)
KPBSD launches ‘Balancing Act’ software, calls for public to balance $17 million deficit

The district and other education advocates have said that the base student allocation has failed to keep up with inflation.

Natural gas processing equipment is seen at Furie Operating Alaska’s central processing facility in Nikiski, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Harvest Alaska announces proposed redevelopment of Kenai LNG terminal

The project could deliver additional natural gas supplies to the Southcentral market as early as 2026, developers said.

A depth marker is almost entirely subsumed by the waters of the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
After delay, borough adopts updated flood insurance maps

The assembly had previously postponed the legislation amid outcry from the Kenai River Keys Property Owners Association.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche points to where the disconnected baler ram has bent piping at the Central Peninsula Landfill in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough approves federal request to fund recycling redesign

A large baler that was used for recycling was recently left inoperable by a catastrophic failure in its main ram.

A person is detained in Anchorage in recent days by officials from the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (FBI Anchorage Field Office photo)
Trump’s immigration raids arrive in Alaska, while Coast Guard in state help deportations at southern US border

Anchorage arrests touted by FBI, DEA; Coast Guard plane from Kodiak part of “alien expulsion flight operations.”

Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist asks participants to kneel as a gesture to “stay grounded in the community” during a protest in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday focused on President Donald Trump’s actions since the beginning of his second term. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Trump protest rally at Alaska State Capitol targets Nazi-like salutes, challenges to Native rights

More than 120 people show up as part of nationwide protest to actions during onset of Trump’s second term.

Most Read