Hot summer had hot lunches

A hot summer wasn’t without hot lunch for Cedar Grove-Belgium summer school students.

Food Service Director Tammy Peiffer and her staff members made 3,307 hot lunches for 24 days of summer school during the June and August sessions.

The lunches were free to students with costs covered by federal funds.

Peiffer said School Board member Laura Schieffer developed the idea to serve hot lunch during summer school for the first time in the district.

Peiffer and Business Manager Tera Rogers agreed that if enough staffing was available they would offer the lunches.

Peiffer called the district’s milk distributor, Mapleton Dairy, got baked items from Pan-O-Gold and food from Gordon Food Service.

“We wanted to help out busy parents with a nutritious hot lunch already made for (students) to bring along home with them. The kids were very excited every day to hear what was being offered,” Peiffer said.

“We had some of their favorites from the school year such as chicken nuggets, French toast sticks, mozzarella pizza dippers and cheese quesadillas. We delivered them right to the classroom so that they had it at the end of the day to bring home. Some kids stayed for gym and swim and stayed to eat in the cafeteria.”

Elementary School Principal Jeff Kondrakiewicz said food service staff members made the rounds near the end of the last class to distribute the lunches.

“She’s got it organized really well,” he said of Peiffer.

While many districts offer food during summer school, not all are hot lunches. Some are more like snacks.

“I told Tammy I was really proud of her and the work that she’s doing — not just throwing junk in a bag but really thinking about feeding our kids,” Rogers told the School Board this month.

“Kids are happy, and the feedback from the parents is great.”