First Posted: 3/29/2013

Contributed

PEMBROKE — Union Chapel Elementary School is the first school in the Public Schools of Robeson County to offer a Grab-N-Go food program, which allows students to pick their breakfast up on the way to class.

“I like it because I rarely ate breakfast in the cafeteria because it was so crowded and you had to stand in line, but it is cool to eat with your friends in class,” said Raegan Locklear, a student at Union Chapel Elementary School.

The Grab-N-Go breakfast program allows students the flexibility and choice to eat breakfast where and when they want. In one week the school breakfast participation numbers jumped from an average of 23 percent to 94 percent of the student population eating breakfast.

The students receive the standard four food items: fruit or juice, bread, a protein, and a beverage, which is normally milk.

According to the school’s staff, the program is well received by the students, but one of the biggest advantages is the space savings and cleanup.

Union Chapel Elementary School has 564 students in pre-K through sixth grades. It was picked for the pilot program because the school has a small cafeteria that seats only 190 students.

The breakfast program begins at 7:45 a.m. as the staff delivers food from three locations in the school. Previously feeding breakfast to the pre-K through second grades took the staff till 9:15 a.m. Now the staff can serve all the students in the school in 35 minutes.

Kimberly Cummings, cafeteria manager, said with the previous schedule, the food service staff was divided between serving lines, cleanup and payments.

“With Grab-N-Go serving, cleanup is as simple as the students dropping their plates in a trash can in the class. This change allows our staff to move forward with lunch preparation by 8:30 a.m. and it cuts the stress and workload,” Cummings said.

The Grab-N-Go program may expand to additional elementary schools if it proves successful at Union Chapel.

This article was provided by Tasha Oxendine, the public relations director for the Public Schools of Robeson County.