Feeding a hungry kid

I have documented fairly well the type of students I teach on a daily basis. Most of them come from some pretty rough homes. I always try to remember this when I am treated so poorly by so many kids. I teach a lot of angry children and I guess I would be angry too if I lived like they did.

Last Thursday my students were in Music class and I was in my classroom working by myself. One of my angriest and most needy students walked in because he had arrived late to school. As I always do, I smiled, gave a cheery greeting and asked how he was doing. I always try to start kids out on the right foot. Without even looking at me, he yelled, "Horrible". I asked him what the problem was and he said that his family woke up late for school and he had arrived too late to get his school provided breakfast. My heart really went out to this kid. It's hard to function when you're hungry. I told him to sit down and I would see what I could do to help him. I went to my desk and found a granola bar, a couple of cookies and a bag of garlic parmesan bagel chips. I told him it was all I had and asked if he wanted it. He readily accepted the offering. I knew he would need something to wash down the dry, salty food. I gave him a Sprite because I had nothing else to offer. I know it's not exactly a nutritious breakfast of champions, but I figured this meal of sugar and snack food was better than nothing. You should have seen how this kid inhaled the cruddy breakfast I gave him. If I had to guess, I'd say he probably didn't have much of a dinner the night before and his last good meal was his lunch at school on Wednesday. I don't make a habit of providing spur of the moment meals to my students, but this seemed like a situation where I was able to offer some help.

I'm not telling this story to make everybody think I'm some kind of great guy for feeding a bunch of junk food to a hungry kid. I just want people to know what some teachers are facing these days. Sometimes school is a bit more than just ABC's and 123's. It's pretty hard to focus on school when your basic needs aren't being met. I know I find it tough to do my job when my stomach is rumbling. I can't imagine what it must be like for these kids. For some of these kids, the only decent meals they get are the ones they get at school. This is why I'm concerned this week. Our students will be off for 5 days for Thanksgiving. As I'm enjoying my dinner on Thursday, I'll also be wondering if some of my students will be eating a turkey dinner or even eating at all. My heart breaks for them.