Feeding the Hungry at Crockett ISD
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – These are unusual times we live in and unusual measures are being taken to help area students. While education is the primary goal of any school system, making sure students have access to at least one meal a day has also become a top priority.
It’s no secret that Houston County is not the richest county in the state, with many of the residents living below the poverty line. This economic plight has allowed Crockett ISD, as well as other districts in the county, to qualify for a district-wide free breakfast/lunch program, administered through the USDA.
With schools now shut down until at least April 17 – because of the COVID-19 pandemic – educators are having to adapt to new ways of taking care of students. Online learning and homework packets have helped school districts continue the education part.
Many students, however, depend on the school system to help provide needed nutrition. Over the years, studies have shown students perform better academically when they don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from – or when.
As a result, most school districts have implemented some type of meal service for students in their respective district’s and on Monday of this week, CISD Superintendent John Emerich spoke about what Crockett is doing to help its students stave off hunger.
“This past Wednesday – which is when we are doing our homework packet pick-ups and drop-offs – we decided, instead of coming up every day to get a lunch, we would give out the whole week’s worth of meals at one time,” the CISD superintendent said.
“In the week before we were planning to do this,” Emerich continued, “we learned we could also give out breakfast. We were also told we could do this for weekends. So this past Wednesday, we gave out a seven-day supply of breakfast and lunch to everyone who wanted a meal. We passed out 1,330 of those.”
The CISD superintendent explained this was for everyone, not just CISD students. There were also students from other areas within Houston County who came by, as well.
“If you multiply that by 14 meals, that’s 18,620 meals that we gave out this past Wednesday. We had been giving out around 200 per day prior to that. We definitely gave out a lot more meals by doing that in this fashion,” he said.
Emerich indicated he had spoken with several parents and reported many were very appreciative of what CISD was doing.
“Now, they only have to come up once a week to get the meals instead of coming up here five-days-a-week to get lunch. They also said not all of them could come up to the school between 11 am and 12:30 pm. Some of the parents were able to come up in the morning to drop off homework, pick up homework and take advantage of the meal distribution. All of that allowed us to give out more meals. We actually gave out more meals than we have students here at Crockett ISD,” he said.
The superintendent said the district planned to continue the program for as long as the school district is closed.
“Right now, it’s week-to-week. All of the county schools are shut down until April 17,” Emerich said. The day after this article was written, Texas Governor Greg Abbott pushed the opening of schools back to May 4.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
