Focus on TUSD - February 2008

Principal Lunch Idea
Jefferson Park Students Lunch With Principal as Attendance Award
It's not every day a kid gets to go to lunch with his principal.

But for Jefferson Park Elementary School students, all it takes is one lunch during the year with Dr. Deborah Anders, the principal, to make them feel special. Students who have been in school every day on time are eligible for the weekly lunch honor. Each Tuesday morning during the school's family assembly, the previous week's winner draws the name of Anders' next lucky lunch partner as the grand finale.

Second-grader Angel Bustillos accompanied Anders to a Subway restaurant recently, choosing a Philly cheese steak with chocolate milk and Cool Ranch Doritos for his lunch, Anders explained that he wasn't allowed to have soda pop because of the school's wellness guidelines.

Angel didn't mind. Settling into a bright yellow booth across from his principal, he chatted about his family. He said that he plays outside with his sisters in his free time, that his father works in construction and his mother works at a doctor's office. One of his sisters works at a Subway restaurant, possibly predisposing Angel to choose Subway for his lunch.

Last year, during the lunch program's first year, Anders said students chose any restaurant they liked. "I ate more lunches at McDonald's than I want to remember," she said. This year as healthier alternatives, students choose among Subway, Beyond Bread, eegee's, Baggin's and Quizno's.

Angel said that if he could pick any location, he would go to Golden Corral's buffet.

The lunchtime outings have been popular, said Anders, who is in her second year as the Jefferson Park principal. "Kids say all the time that they know where they would go when I pick them," she said. "I say to them that I don't pick you. You earn it."

She also tells them that they can't learn if they're not in school. Punctuality and regular attendance are two of the Jefferson Park Way tenets, she said, in addition to being safe, respectful and responsible.

Winners have been evenly distributed among the grades, but sixth-graders with 96 percent attendance and fifth-graders with 95 percent have the best records, followed by second-graders with 93.6 percent.

The honors didn't end for Angel with the lunch. He was looking forward to drawing the name of Anders' next lunch partner at the assembly.

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations

TUSD - Proud Supporter of Small Classes

Photos in the February issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations, unless otherwise noted.

The deadline to submit material for the March Focus is Friday, March 7. The Focus will be published Monday, March 17. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the online Tip Sheet.