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Hamden school staff tackles hunger in the classroom

“Hunger and food hardship are seen in Hamden schools every day by teachers and principals,”according to Facts and Faces: Food Hardship in Hamden. 

 

Before Carolyn Martin became the head coach of the Women’s Track and Field teams at Quinnipiac University, she taught science at Hamden High for 5 years. Martin would occasionally bring in something for breakfast for her students. She felt this not only showed the students she cared but also created for a better learning experience. Martin did not recognize some of the students faced food hardship immediately, however with experience in the classroom she began to recognize this issue.

Teacher responses to UWGNH's survey on food insecurity in classrooms.

“The only meals that they were getting were the meals they were getting at schools,” said Martin. 

80% of teachers who responded to a United Way Survey conducted in 2018 about food insecurity stated about half to almost half of children in their classroom depend on school meals for the majority of their nutrition. 80% of teachers who responded also stated that lack of food was a problem to a large problem for families and students in their schools.

Teachers are often able to identify which students are hungry. Hector Velazquez, family engagement coordinator at Church Street School states teachers are able to see which students are constantly seeking more food during meal times or which students have an awful attitude. Velazquez states often, when a student is less than amicable it usually changes once they are given the opportunity to eat. 


 

Elementary school students have the option to receive a breakfast provided by the school. However, other students do not. In fact, if students qualify for free or reduced lunches, they can also receive a free or reduced breakfast, which comes to $1.50 a week.

 

“Hamden schools provide free or reduced price breakfasts and lunches43 to eligible students in elementary and secondary schools whose family income is at or below 130% (free meals) or between 130% and 185% (reduced price meals) of the federal poverty level,” according to Facts and Faces: Food Hardship in Hamden.

Families who do not qualify for free or reduced meals can still decide to have their school provide their child with breakfast for a cost of $1.15 a day. 

 

Staff within the school attempt to assist students in any way possible, including connecting students with programs outside the school. 

 

“I mean they don’t come right out directly and say it but when we have a suspicion, we ask questions or we will do things like so we will send home the child a little something with the child in their book bag or well give this little cookies, whole grain cookies or cereal, cereal sometimes comes in individual things.

 

A lot of times they will ask. ‘Can I save this for later,” or “Can I save that for later,” said Allison Batson, a pre-k teacher at the Hamden Early Learning Program located in Helen Street School.

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While meals are provided by the school, children may arrive late and miss that meal for the day or are still hungry. Batson states teachers usually keep a supply of snacks which they usually purchase in their classroom.

 

Leslie Salamack, a social worker at Church Street School, said that while many students do receive breakfast, students come without a snack for their allotted snack time. Salamack states that teachers attempt to mitigate this issue by keeping left over items served from breakfast in their classroom. 

 

“I work for these children, I advocate for my children and they are part of my family. So I have to work with the family to make sure these children get what they need to get,” said Batson.

Velazquez works with social workers and teachers to recognize students who may not have access to proper and adequate nutrition. 


 

Velazquez can see which families are directly certified for the free meal program or certified for reduced meals likely due to circumstances such as low income in the home, if it is a single-parent household and other factors such as number of children in the household.


 

41.9% of the Hamden School District is eligible for free or reduced meals. However, Church Street School has the highest eligibility rate at 79.3%, with Helen Street School not far behind at 68.3%.

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Velazquez assists families in filling out applications for the lunch program.

 

“Not a lot of the families fill out the application, or they don’t know or they are reluctant to fill it out,” said Velazquez. “Some parents don’t have the social security[...], some families think they do not qualify and the families that probably do, miss the deadlines or forget about it.”

“End Hunger Connecticut, in its 2018 School Breakfast Report Card, reports that only 50.8% of those eligible for FRPL in Hamden participated in the breakfast program compared to 56.7% nationally. “ Facts and Faces. 

 

This means that the Elementary Students that could receive breakfast at a free/reduced cost may be paying full price or simply not eating at all. For older students, this could be their scenario for lunch.

 

However, Batson states that the majority of her classes she has seen are eligible to receive free or reduced meals.

 

“I have 16 children in my classroom and 14 out of 16 get free or reduced lunch,” said Allison Batson.

 

Access to healthy and adequate quantities of food means that students perform better in school. 

 

According to Facts and Faces, Hamden students who were eligible for free or reduced-price meals, on average scored lower on summative state assessments in English, math, arts and science compared to students who are not eligible for free or reduced priced lunch.

 

The chart shows the average performance of students on state assessments (DPI) in the following areas:



 

“Students who eat school breakfast are less likely to visit the school nurse and receive disciplinary referrals and more likely to have greater levels of academic achievement and classroom attendance,” according to End Hunger Connecticut.


 

“I have had children, in New Haven, not here, that can’t get seconds they would cry ,because they couldn’t get seconds on a meal or they couldn’t get more because there wasn’t any more,” said Batson.

Velazquez hopes to change the level of participation amongst students and connects families with other food resources the school offers as well as.

 

Paradoxically, Velazquez states that sometimes not everyone who qualifies for programs such as the Connecticut Food Bank Kids’ Backpack Program, can participate.

 

The Kids’ Backpack Program provides 40 bags, which sometimes means Velazquez must choose from a lottery of students. 

 

The backpack program is intended to assist students with access to healthy nutritious food on weekends, as they cannot rely on school meals. Often, other family members may rely on this resource as well. Students may express that their parents sometimes enjoy eating snack from their bags as well.

Some communities struggle more than others. Therefore, another important job of Velazquez's is assisting Spanish speaking families with accessing or understanding information.

 

“There is not a lot of communication to the Spanish speaking community here in Hamden. Everything is in English and whatever access they find they cannot get that translation and get over that obstacle,” said Velazquez.

 

The same United Way survey which asked teachers about food insecurity about students, asked communities about food insecurity in their area. 90% of Spanish speaking communities in Hamden responded that lack of food was moderately to very concerning in their neighborhood. 

 

Velazquez states that the Spanish community is not focused on and he assists families in understanding any information they receive that they cannot understand. However, outside of the school system, Velazquez is unaware of the resources Spanish speakers my have. 



 

Efforts from those who work in the Hamden Public Schools to provide students with food both during the school day and while at home are essential to promoting students’ wellbeing. 


 

Students who are selected for programs such as Connecticut Food Banks Kids’ Backpack Program look forward to receive their snacks said Velazquez. 



 

“They are happy. They are happy they are selected for something,” said Velazquez. “We don’t know they go through there lives at home and that bag of food that they get on Friday could be their joy for the weekend.”


 

 

“I’ve shed many tears over the years over kids that I have reached the limit of what I can do for them. But you still do whatever you can and I am satisfied with that but it is still very painful if you can’t help a child, in the way you think they should be helped,” Batson.

 

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