National School Lunch Week: a big time under the Big Top in LCPS cafeterias

This week, school lunches come with a side of red foam noses and face paint as LCPS school nutrition teams stir some fun into their celebration of National School Lunch Week and its “Cafeteria Circus” theme.

Established by President John F. Kennedy in a 1962 proclamation, National School Lunch Week is observed during the second week in October. Its celebration, led by the School Nutrition Association, aims to “highlight the vital role school lunch plays in the health, well-being and academic success of students across America,” according to the Association.

Students coming through the lunch line at Northwest Elementary School on Monday were served by a playful pride of lions and tigers. At Contentnea-Savannah K-8, clowns wearing round red roses and multi-colored wigs staffed the serving line.

“Our school nutrition staffs always work hard to make their cafeterias a friendly place for students to be, so National School Lunch Week with such a fun theme is something they can really get behind,” Danelle Turner, LCPS’s school nutrition director, said. “They love to see students smile.”

The School Nutrition Association has framed “Cafeteria Circus” as a celebration of the jugglers, magicians, high-wire artists and the ringmasters who make school lunches such an integral, nutritious part of the school day.

In volume alone, it is a feat deserving of the spotlight.

The School Nutrition staff at Lenoir County Public Schools serves nearly 10,000 lunches and breakfast meals each school day, provided without cost to the students. On average, the district serves meals to nearly 70 percent of its 8,000 students.

It’s a big time under the Big Top as LCPS school nutrition teams celebrate National School Lunch Week and its ‘Cafeteria Circus’ theme. At Northwest Elementary School on Monday, Wanda Becton gets a playful response from a student with her best impersonation of a circus tiger.