Pantries stocked by food drives at Madison and Rainbow elementary schools
Recent food drives by Madison and Rainbow elementary schools are indicative of community outreach in Madison City Schools.
Again this year, Madison elementary conducted a school-wide, canned food drive to benefit the efforts of Christmas Charities Year Round.
“As always, Madison Elementary School parents came through,” principal Dr. Timothy Scott said. “We had approximately 350 items donated by parents,” and 21 teachers contributed to the cause.
Scott said they chose Christmas Charities Year Round “because they have been instrumental in assisting families in the past and have streamlined the process for those who decide to participate in the event.”
Identifying a student who is hungry is actually quite easy, Scott said. “Often times, they are not actively engaged in the lesson and will rest their heads on their desks.”
“When this occurs, Madison elementary teachers discreetly ask the students if they do not feel well,” Scott said. Most of the time, these students respond by saying, ‘I skipped breakfast,’ or ‘I didn’t have enough time to eat before coming to school.’
“If the student is hungry, the teacher usually will call the parents to bring a snack to school, or the school cafeteria will try their best to provide a healthy snack,” Scott said.
Scott never realized student hunger would be an issue in his classroom, but it has — on several occasions.
“As a classroom teacher, I always keep extra snacks in my classroom to give to students if they were hungry,” he said. “As a principal, I’ve had a few occasions where students were hungry and, thankfully, I was able to get the students something to eat by enlisting the help of community resources and our wonderful lunchroom.”
At Rainbow, students and faculty participated in a canned food drive that wrapped up on Nov. 16. “We support a local food pantry,” principal Dorinda White said.
Students brought non-perishable food to Rainbow “to help replenish this pantry for our neighbors who may need help,” White said.
