Red ‘n’ Green
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020
The
VOLUME 52, ISSUE 8 222 Memorial Drive Berlin, WI 54923
A BERLIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT OPEN FORUM SINCE 1924
Food buses keep children fed
Grace Hoffman
Reporter
The Berlin Area Schools Food Service has taken part in helping to keep children fed since the statewide closure of schools by implementing food buses. These food buses are a group of school buses that travel daily routes and set up at different locations to deliver “grab-and-go meals” to children. According to the district notification made by Superintendent Dr. Carl Cartwright, “any child under age 18, regardless if they are eligible for free and reduced lunch, are school age, or are a student of the Berlin Area School District, can receive free breakfast and lunch.” The meals have been reaching many children, and there is hope that the number will continue to grow. “We have been serving between 650-850 meals daily for both breakfast and lunch, depending on the day,” Food Service Director Caz Goldamer said. For many, these meals are important as many families experience less work, therefore less income to purchase food. “Many families are losing jobs or seeing hours cut during the Safer at Home order so it is more important than ever that families use the food distribution to fill in for those income gaps,” District Communications Coordinator Carrie McCarthy said. “We are providing breakfast and lunch seven days a week for children, and if they pair that with the dinners provided by the Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County Area and visit the local food pantry, families can shift their expenditures to
Photo: G. Hoffman Community members gather outside of the Boys and Girls club waiting to receive their meals from the food bus. The food buses are a group of buses that provide breakfast and lunch to all children under 18. “The main goal of the food bus is to ensure all of our students don't go hungry during this time of the Safer at Home Order. Approximately 55% of our students in the district are eligible for free and reduced lunch and families count on these meals from the school to feed their children,” District Communications Coordinator Carrie McCarthy said. safety and have been working in- bus and remain on the bus at all dents and children in the commuthings such as paying their morttentionally at keeping safety guide- times,” Goldamer said. nity so they can focus their time on gage or rent.” lines and standards in mind. The food bus will remain an im- learning and continuing to get their To receive their meals children “While preparing meals our staff portant part in serving the commu- education without worrying about meet at one of the many locations is wearing gloves and masks and nity. Families are encouraged to vis- where their next meal will come to receive that day's lunch and the practicing good hygiene as always. it one of the food bus locations, or from. Many parents are being laid next day's breakfast. The meals conWe make certain that all work spac- reach out if they are unable to make off as companies are closing and we tinue to meet federal government es are sanitized many times per it to one of the drop off points. want to help by being a resource meal pattern guidelines ensuring a day as we normally do. We are also “Our main goal of having the to provide these important meals healthy and whole meal. wearing gloves and masks while food bus is to provide a well bal- when they are needed most,” GolWith keeping the food healthy, serving the meals from the food anced, nutritious meal to our stu- damer said. the staff continues to prioritize food
Students given weekly 'catch up' day Carlie Streck
Editor-in-Chief
Once hearing of other school districts in surrounding areas implementing a “catch-up” day in each department’s weekly plan, administrators knew this was something that BASD students would benefit from as well. Starting the week after spring break, each department was encouraged to allot one day a week as a buffer day where no lesson or homework was assigned in hopes of preventing students from getting too bogged down by their workload.
“We realized that this new format of teaching/learning can be and is overwhelming, so we wanted to help ease the stress and anxiety for all of our students and staff,” Principal Lynn Mork said. With the realization that not every teacher or class assigns homework daily and the fact that many students are now working more hours as essential workers or caregiving for younger siblings while parents work, the idea for BASD to put this plan into action came quickly. “When we jumped into online instruction I think many of us felt that we had to as-
sign something each day that would be equivalent to the 70 minutes students would have gotten in class," English Department Chair Amy Wenig said. “However, the reality is that when we are actually in school students may not receive homework in every class, every hour, every day. When teachers started to assign this online, it was suddenly an overload of work.” Science Department Chair Dave Reich also agrees that when online learning started it was easy to over-assign work. “Not many of us had experience with Odysseyware until recent events, so we probably
gave too much work, but we responded and adjusted. Hopefully, this takes some pressure off,” Reich said. Not only will students benefit from this “day off,” but teachers will now better have the ability to stay on top of their grading and have more time to reach out to struggling students as well. “This day will allow teachers to catch up on grading and will allow us to create new material. Just like the students, teachers were also thrown into this new mode of instruction and we've needed time to put lessons together,” Wenig said. Although online schooling is
not how any student saw the 2019-2020 school year ending, it is something everyone is going through together. “We will work together to make this happen and be successful, that is what Berlin does,” Mork said.
In this
Issue
-Prom pg. 3 -Covid Kindness series pg. 4