Free Lunch

From the BCCT.

Mark February 28 on your calendar too!

There really is a free lunch
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times

Morrisville School District employees were treated by Chick-fil-A for keeping the students' education going after a furnace blast at one school.

Morrisville staff members received a treat for their recent resourcefulness in a tough time.

Chick-fil-A provided the entire district staff with free boxed lunches Friday for their efforts to continue the educational process with as few disruptions as possible following recent upheavals at M.R. Reiter Elementary. About 140 staff members enjoyed the lunches of sandwiches, wraps, fruit cups, brownies and iced tea.

"I'm overwhelmed. They were so generous. The teachers absolutely loved it," said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson.

The Chick-fil-A "Eat Mor Chikin" cow stopped by the elementary classrooms to say hello to the students, too.

Chick-Fil-A gives the elementary students a positive character trait of the month as part of its Core Essentials Program. Teachers encourage students to explore and demonstrate that trait through classroom reinforcement and activities. The restaurant also provides supplemental materials for teachers and take-home information for parents.

If students are good at exhibiting the character trait of the month, they earn a free Chick-Fil-A nugget meal.

January's trait was resourcefulness, which district teachers and staff showed abundantly after a December furnace blast made Reiter unusable, said Jodi Hartenstine, the marketing director for Chick-fil-A on Oxford Valley Road in Middletown.

"It's using what you have to get the job done. They were exemplifying the trait there. Everybody was working together, and we wanted to do something to honor them for that, so we came up with the appreciation lunch," said Hartenstine.

Teachers and staff in Morrisville Middle/Senior High School and Grandview Elementary adjusted their activities and spaces to accommodate Reiter students as Reiter teachers worked to help their young students through the crisis.

More than 250 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grades still are displaced and in various district buildings. Grades one and two soon will leave the high school and settle into modular units on the property of Grandview Elementary School. Grade five will stay at the high school for now, and kindergarten, third and fourth grades are sharing space with Grandview's regular population. Pre-kindergarten is at the Morrisville YMCA.

"It's so nice to have something to celebrate," said Diane Woodruff, a Reiter kindergarten teacher who's now in Grandview Elementary School. "We have bounced around this year. This was just an 'Ah-haaah.' You take a deep breath and really appreciate it.

"We've had to be really resourceful. It sort of saluted what we've been doing. It was delicious, and the kids thought the cow was absolutely adorable," she said.

Woodruff said she's been teaching her students to be resourceful.

They think of ways to use materials to substitute for things they sometimes might not have since leaving Reiter.

"We talk about how animals are resourceful in getting and storing food in winter. We have to do things so that if one way doesn't work, come up with a new one. Don't give up," she said.

The Middletown Chick-Fil-A will sponsor a Morrisville School District Spirit Night Feb. 28 during which customers who mention Morrisville School District will get discounts. About 15 percent of proceeds from the event will be given to the district, according to a company press release.