PASSIONS
Fishing for
LESSONS
Stacie Nutt is the founder of Go Nutts Lunch Club, which pays for school lunches and weekend food packs for Tulsa students.
LUNCH BUDDY Tulsan wants every student to eat a nutritious lunch. BY MADISON SCHULZ
I
n early 2017, fatigued and frustrated from all of the negativity surrounding the 2016 presidential election, Stacie Nutt was seeking purpose. As she perused an issue of “Reader’s Digest,” she noticed a section with advice on simple ways to give back. One tip mentioned going to a local school and paying lunch balances. “When I read that, God slapped me across the face and He was like, ‘Here is what I want you to do,’” Nutt says. “He could have come knocking on my door, it was that powerful.” Nutt visited schools and talked with parents. All elementary students qualify for free lunch in Tulsa Public Schools, but some middle through high school students can go without lunch if they don’t qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program. Additionally, if a middle or high-school student has a negative lunch balance, they might get an alternative lunch or be simply refused, according to Nutt.
24
TulsaPeople AUGUST 2019
And so began the Go Nutts Lunch Club, or simply “The Lunch Club,” which has paid for about 3,400 lunches and 100 weekend food packs since its inception in 2018. Nutt is focusing on micro-giving to fundraise for her organization. She wants to focus on “people in the working community who want to do something but don’t have a lot of money to do it.” She will continue accepting donations of any amount and wants to expand into team meals for student athletes before games. “Food in school should be like any other school supply,” Nutt says. “It shouldn’t be another way that we label kids. Food in school is like the great equalizer. It gives every kid that same opportunity.” TP
To support Go Nutts Lunch Club, visit gonenuttscuffs.com.
Students in Madelyne Jones’ science class at Street School did more than just learn about trout this past semester — they raised them, then released them into the wild. The project spanned October to May and taught students about the importance of fish to lakes and streams, Jones says. The project was made possible by a grant from the Tulsa Chapter of Trout Unlimited, which paid for a 55-gallon tank and other equipment needed to raise trout from eggs. Jones’ father, Eddie Jones, is a local chapter member of Trout Unlimited and served as a classroom volunteer throughout the Street School project. Her mother also volunteered with the class. However, the experience went beyond just a science lesson. All 35 students traveled with Jones to the Illinois River south of Lake Tenkiller Dam near Gore, Oklahoma, in May to release the trout. Many had never been outside of Tulsa County, Madelyne Jones says. In addition to releasing trout, students learned to tie a fly, cast fishing rods and hunt for fossils. Most importantly, students were able to experience a world outside the classroom. “It was my opportunity to share the outdoors with these kids,” Jones says. “It gave them an opportunity to connect with nature.” From an early age, Jones says her father taught her how to fly fish and about the importance of fish to the ecosystem. She says she was proud to be able to share these lessons with her students and with the support of her own parents. “Many of these kids are surrounded by stress in their homelife and at school,” she says. “Being outside is a way to release stress and anxiety, it’s quiet, it’s stimulating to the senses.” — MORGAN PHILLIPS
PASSIONS: GREG BOLLINGER; STREET SCHOOL: KELLY MCELROY
Street School students release trout into the Illinois River on May 8.
