LUNCHES KIDS LIKE: SCHOOLS TRY TO OFFER LUNCHES APPEALING TO STUDENTS

Megan Steimle looked over the computerized menu system at Jefferson Elementary School. How to prepare the meals, as well as nutritional value, is stored on the districtwide system.

Megan Steimle stirred taco seasoning into 20 pounds of ground beef to make taco salad for lunch.

It isn't just mom that has trouble getting the kids to eat lunch.

Schools have that challenge too.

It isn't easy planning a menu for more than 1,000 children.

Lisa Elfrink is director of food services for the Cape Girardeau School District.

She plans those menus of chicken nuggets and ravioli, with the help of her cafeteria managers. The district has nine cafeterias.

"You are always going to see the pizzas and you are always going to see the hamburgers," she said.

The menus vary in school districts. "A lot of it depends on what you get for commodities," Elfrink said.

"Right now, we have blueberries. So next month we will have blueberry cakes," she said.

All school districts seek to serve healthy meals that meet federal calorie standards.

But schools also must offer entrees that their kids will eat.

It doesn't do any good to cook a lot of food that has to be thrown away because the children won't eat it, Elfrink said.

"Our kids just love chicken pot pies. Our kids love corn dogs," she said.

Chicken nuggets also are a hit in the Cape Girardeau schools. The district has tried to appeal to the fast-food appetite of the students.

In contrast, Bootheel schools have mustard greens and ham and beans on their menus.

"Kids down there just love it," said Elfrink. They are used to such foods at home.

"They don't drive through McDonald's and get Chicken McNuggets every day like our kids do," she said.

Terry Gibbons, assistant superintendent of the Jackson School District, said each of the district's schools orders its own food.

Some of its kitchens are better equipped than others, which can make a difference in the kinds of meals served, he said.

The Jackson Middle School has one of the finest school kitchens in the area, he said.

"A lot of it has to do with students and what they will eat," Gibbons said.

Elfrink said schools offer more variety to students in the higher grades.

In elementary school, students may have two entree choices. In seventh grade, they may have five or six choices, she said.

Salads are popular with seventh-graders at L.J. Schultz School.

By junior high school, students have even more freedom when it comes to meals. At this age, many students are picky eaters.

"We have some problems with the kids not eating," said Elfrink. "Girls are starting to get worried about how much they weigh and what they look like," she said.

In such situations, a bag of chips is often a meal.

"I would much rather see them eat a bag of chips than nothing all day long," said Elfrink.

At both Cape Girardeau and Jackson high schools, students are free to leave the school grounds for lunch.

As a result, both districts have a tough time getting high school students to eat school lunches.

Only about 15 to 20 percent of Cape Girardeau High School students eat in the cafeteria.

Jackson also has a low turnout.

Gibbons said the Jackson School District hopes to make some changes to encourage more students to eat lunch in the cafeteria.

"If we can increase it 10 percent that still wouldn't be a great number, but that would be better than where we are right now," said Gibbons.

The district soon may offer more a la carte choices. It also may adopt some of the marketing techniques of fast-food chains, with an emphasis on eye-appeal, lighting and decor.

"One of the things we want to do is add to the atmosphere to where maybe they won't want to get out and ride around," he said.

"The idea in our mind is to try to market the cafeteria and food service more."

A hamburger that is wrapped in a foiled wrapper looks better than one wrapped in plain cellophane, he said.

Elfrink said it is hard to sell high school students on school lunches when they are free to leave the campus for fast-food fare.

The Cape Girardeau district has plans to build a new high school. If that occurs, the district may change its policy and require students to eat lunch on campus, Elfrink said.

"Virtually no schools in the Bootheel have an open campus," she said.

The district continues to look at how it can make school lunches more appealing to high school students.

"The best thing we can do is get the food out of the cafeteria," said Elfrink.

Food stands would appeal more to high school students, she said.

School districts spend sizable sums of money to provide meals to students from kindergarten through high school. Students pay part of the cost.

The Jackson School District plans to spend more than $700,000 to feed students this year. That doesn't include the free government commodities.

Even with federal payments to the district for students who qualified for free or reduce-price meals, Gibbons said the district's food service had a $30,000 deficit last year.

Elfrink said Cape Girardeau's food service operation is financially sound.

"Even though the high school doesn't make any money, we do OK," she said.

The Cape Girardeau School District expects to spend $836,000 this year to feed its students.

The food service operation isn't entirely self-supporting, but it does help pay its way.

"Because we have a fairly healthy balance, we are beginning to pay for some utilities and trash," said Elfrink.

But school lunches aren't just a matter of money. For food-service officials like Elfrink, the real success is in getting kids to eat.