Food Services Tour

A few months ago a group of moms started talking about the IPS lunches. They had some questions regarding the food itself, but also the way the lunch is served and the conditions of the lunch room.

On June 21st a few of us met at the IPS Food Services Center for a tour.


Here we all are. Pictures are parents from CFI 2, 84, and 27 and Jane Cookson, Director of Foodservice.

We all met at 8:30 am. The food service center was easy enough to find, but not as easy to get in to. One mom referred to it as Fort Knox. A few of us downed our remaining coffee in the parking lot before heading in. Again, we had to be buzzed in.

We were greeted right away by Jane and Steven Gudorf, Foodservice Project Manager.
The tour started with a powerpoint giving loads of information on how foodservices is managed. Because IPS receives the Federal Funds for 90% of the meals, IPS is held by very strict guidelines by the USDA. They gave us information calorie count by grad level, fruit and vegetable components, cost factors, ordering procedures,meat and grain components, and much more. Enough guidelines and restriction to give you a headache.

I think the group was pleasantly surprised at the health quality of the food. The whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, low fat dressings, NO FRIED FOODS!
One concern that did come up was the SPORK.




It is almost impossible to eat crisp lettuce in a salad with a spork. However to replace the spork with a fork / spoon combo it costs and additional 3 cents. Let's do the math. Roughly 26,000 eat lunch a day (not including breakfast). That's $780.00 a day. Times 180 days of school = $140,400 a year. Jane said she would rather that money be put into the food that is eaten. And I agree with her, but the spork is simply awful.

Next on the tour was a chilly walk through food services. Being summer the center is preparing about 3,000 lunches. If you don't know IPS has certain school all over the district that prepare breakfast and lunch at no cost to anyone under the age of 18. THis is still funded by the federal government, but controlled by IPS.

To take the tour we had to pull back our hair in a net and wear the gowns. We then walked through some foam spray that cleaned our shoes, and maybe a little of our pants.
I wish I would have thought to take pictures once we were back there. It was very clean, efficient, organized, and cold. THe entire area is kept around 40 degrees. Except the freezer which is 12 below. We didn't stay there too long at all.
On the menu that day was chicken salad and fresh strawberries. These strawberries looked beautiful.

All in all it was a great tour. THere are still concerns and improvements to be made, but a lot of these are at the school level. One main concern being the amount of time children have to eat. How they are treated while they are eating, and the limitations of talking. I still stand my ground on the milk.

Jane and Steve did an amazing job with the tour. THey answered all our questions and were extremely knowledgeable. I really appreciate the fact that they took timeout of their day to do this for us. As a board ember, I am glad I have this knowledge. As a mom I am happy to be apart of this group. THank you to al who showed up and Julie who organized.

Retreating on the retreat

Right now the IPS school board is having a retreat. I am sitting at home. Why?

I did go down to the Ed Center, a few minutes early to make copies of something I was presenting today. My husband was covering the home front and all the kiddo schedules. Last retreat we "tried" to talk about the difficulties those of us with kids at home have making it to an all day Saturday retreat. One of us was always coming late or leaving early or leaving in the middle and coming back. But somehow we just ended up shifting the time of the Saturdays, which really didn't help any of us. Apparent because I was the only one of the three of us there.


I mentioned that we recently held an Executive session on the board evaluation of the Superintendent. A few days ago I called the Board secretary to ask the outcome of the tallies. I was instructed to contact the board president. So I did. She told me that information would be in our Friday packets. I was frustrated that I had to wait but accepted it. Yesterday I received an email saying there would be no Friday Packet delivery, we would get our packets at the retreat.
Today, my packet held no information on the Evaluation. I asked the President, she said I will get it on Monday.
Our Board President seems to have more power than the bylaws state. That position should not be privy to information the other members do not have.

As I sat there waiting for the meeting to begin, I became more and more upset. I am so tired (really, mentally exhausted) of being treated like I don't matter and that it is ok for information to be kept from me. I thought about my kids at home and my husband, and all the running around they will have to do today. I thought about all the moments in their life I have given up to put the board first, only to be outcasted from decision making.

So I left.

I am not proud of it, and I regret that I will miss out on valuable information. However, my heart could not take the treatment for another minute.

Got Milk?

One thing you many not know about me is my interest in good, healthy foods. After watching a few documentaries on food (Food Inc., King Corn) my outlook on what we eat has changed. it is not where it should be or where I desire it to be, but it is changing.
We no longer buy meat from our regular supermarket. Instead we buy from local farmers. We can do this through local Farmer's Markets, Green Bean delivery, or Pogues Run grocery. We do this to ensure our meat is not full of corn, hormones, and to ensure humane treatment of animals.
Since becoming a board member I have felt like a hypocrite when it comes to school lunch. I pack lunch for my children. If they forget, I usually drive to school so they don't have to eat school lunch.
*This is no way an insult to our food service department.
I just want my kids to have fresh fruits, veggies, and meat with a trail I can follow.
One thing that is very important to me is sugar intake. My kids have their share of sweets. Mostly because I want my share (and yours) of sweets. But my kids also have a lot of exercise and none are overweight. I have proposed on a few occasions to the school board to reduce the flavored milk options. This has been met with mixed feelings. Last month we brought in a pediatrician who serves many IPS students. Below I will share the minutes from that meeting. IPS also presented information from the food service department.


Dr. Johnson introduced William J. Fisher, MD and Brooke Barada, PNP who gave a presentation on Childhood Obesity and how it relates to Public Schools.

Ms. Barada gave the current obesity statistics:

Childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years
34% of American children are obese
60% are overweight
Overweight children cost 14.1 billion dollars yearly in

healthcare expenditures

Risks of Adult Obesity:

14% chance if obese as infant
25% chance if obese in preschool age
41% chance if obese at age 7
75% chance if obese at age 12
90% chance if obese as teenager

(Citations for these statics can be found in Pediatrics in Review,

Obesity Prevention and Treatment, volume 32, number 9,

September 2011)

Dr. Fischer explained;

The reasons for choosing milk:

Studies show that substituting for sugary drinks leads to weigh

loss and does not result in compensating for lost sugar calories

with other foods

It is everywhere – kids drink 16-24 ounces of milk per day
Studies show consuming sweetened drinks results in the desire

to consume more sugar

Statistics on IPS chocolate milk vs. skim milk:

IPS chocolate milk = 160 calories
Skim milk = 80 (some 90)
If a child makes one switch a day that saves them 80 calories x 5

Days = 400 calories a week, x 4 weeks = 1600 calories a month

3500 calories make a pound of weight loss

In 9 weeks kids could either gain a pound of sugar weight or not
Bottom line – we can easily spare kids four pounds of sugar weight

Gain per year with one simple change (not including breakfast issues)



The Body Mass Index:

BMI is a math equation involving height to weight ratios plotted against

an individual’s sex and age

BMI is used to predict future health problems, the higher the number the

more likely you are to have diabetes, heart disease, etc.

Pediatric BMI charts for children are from the Centers for Disease Control

and the World Health Organization

BMI of > 85% is overweight, > 9a5% is obese



Why Do We Want to Lower BMI:

10% decrease lowers blood pressure by 10
HDL (good cholesterol) increases by 10%
Triglycerides lower to goal of less than 100



What Medical Problems do Obese Children get to Look Forward to:

3 x more hypertension
3 x more diabetes
Early coronary artery disease
2 x more cholesterol problems
Sleep apnea
Worsening of their asthma
Depression, low self-esteem
Shortened life spans

Dr. Fischer said he has heard “if we don’t offer flavored milk the kids will not drink milk!” He said kids cannot make health choices for themselves, a six year old offered chocolate will take it. He said our jobs as adults, with the privilege of safe guarding kids, is to protect them and keep them healthy. He said if kids are offered only skim milk or water, almost all kids will pick skim milk after a few weeks.

Dr. Fischer said now is the time for change because obesity and diabetes have overtaken smoking as leading risk for death in the US and Indiana ranks 46/50 of most obese state in the US. He said this is an opportunity to be in front of an inevitable wave of change, and an opportunity for IPS to have good press which is something that is not always easy to come by.

Commissioner Arnold asked if the calcium amount is the same in skim milk as it is in vitamin D. Dr. Fischer said it is the same.

Commissioner Roof asked Dr. Fischer how many of his patients are IPS students and how many of them are over weight are. Dr. Fischer said that 30% of his patients are IPS students and 60-70% of them are over weight.

The Board and Dr. White thanked Dr. Fischer and his assistant Ms. Barada for their presentation.

Ms. Jane Cookson, IPS Foodservice Director, and Mr. Steve Gudorf gave an overview of Foodservice requirements;

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010: Breakfast and Lunch Requirements

for the NSLP and SBP:

Consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Establish minimum/maximum calorie levels by grade range
Require a reduction in sodium over the next 10 years
Require <10% of total calories be from saturated fat Mandate zero grams trans fat per serving Caloric and Sodium Requirements: Caloric Ranges K-5 Breakfast 350-500 Lunch 550-650 6-8 Breakfast 400-550 Lunch 600-700 9-12 Breakfast 450-600 Lunch 750-850 Sodium Requirements Incremental Decreases School Year 2014-15 School Year 2017-18 School Year 2022-23 Implementation Deadlines: Lunch – July 1, 2012 Breakfast – July 1, 2013 Meat/Meat Alternate Component: Current K-12 1.5-2 oz daily minimum New K-5 1 oz. daily and 8-10 ounces weekly 6-8 1 oz. daily and 9-10 ounces weekly 9-12 2 oz daily and 10-12 ounces weekly Grain Component: Current Whole grains encouraged but no requirements for whole grains K-12 Minimum of 1 oz. serving daily and 8 servings weekly. No maximum Number of servings New July 2012 – 50% must be whole grain July 2013 – 100% must be whole grain K-5 1 oz. daily and 8-10 oz. weekly 6-8 1 oz daily and 9-10 oz. weekly 9-12 1 oz. daily and 10-12 oz. weekly Milk Component Current 8 oz offered daily Must offer more than one level of fat content. New 8 oz offered daily All flavored milk must be fat free. Only fat free and 1% low fat milk allowed. New K-5 ½ cup fruit & ¾ cup veg per day 6-8 ½ cup fruit & ¾ cup veg per day 9-12 1 cup fruit & 1 cup veg per day IPS will offer ½ cup servings of fruits and vegetables Fruit and Vegetable Components Current A total of ¾ cup of fruits & vegetables per day. IPS currently offering two 3/8 cup servings Fruits Canned packed in light syrup or juice Frozen without added sugar Fresh Fruit juice must be 100% strength No more than half of the fruit or vegetable offerings may be in the form of juice Vegetables Weekly requirements for Dark green (broccoli, romaine, spinach) Red/orange (tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes) Starchy (potatoes, corn, peas) Beans/Legumes (baked beans, black beans) Other (cucumbers, green beans, iceberg lettuce, etc) Offer vs. Serve Provision - Lunch Allows students to decline food they do not intend to eat. Current Must select three components May select four or five components New Must select three components; one must be a fruit or vegetable

K-12

May select four or five components

K-8

May select 2 vegetable servings

9-12

May select 2 vegetable and 2 fruit servings






Additional HHFKA Provisions

State Agency compliance monitoring will be conducted every 3 years
Water must be available for any student requesting it (effective July 2011)
An additional $ .06 will be added to the lunch reimbursement after all regulations are implemented and verified by the state agency
Paid meal equity guidance
Indirect cost guidance

Breakfast

Effective July 2013
Must offer ½ cup canned or fresh fruit or vegetable in addition to 4 oz. juice.

Students may select both.

Meat/meat alternate can only be served after the minimum daily requirement of grain is met.

2011-12 Reimbursement Rates

Breakfast
Paid $ .27
Reduced $1.50
Free $1.80
Lunch
Paid $ .28
Reduced $2.39
Free $2.79
Commodity Entitlement $.2225/lunch



Mr. Gudorf, IPS Foodservice Project Manager, shared the following information about the IPS Foodservice Department:

IPS Foodservice Department Mission Statement

To provide students with nutritious meals they will enjoy and at the lowest possible cost to students, parents, and taxpayers.

Centralized, enterprise organization
Self supporting since 1984
18 million dollar operating budget
43% Labor
40% Food
12% Operating Expenses
5% Equipment and Repairs

(Includes bond program expenses)

231 employees when fully staffed
96% of revenue comes from government reimbursement



USDA Programs Administered by IPS

National School Lunch Program

63 sites serve 4,656,000 lunches annually

School Breakfast Program

63 sites serve 2,700,000 breakfasts annually

After School Snack Program

36 schools serve 200,000 annually

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program

24 schools serve 2,160,000 annually

Summer Food Service Program

various locations during summer school & intersessions

Additional Services Provided for Students

51 of 63 schools serve all students breakfast and lunch at no charge
13,100 Meal/Textbook assistance applications are processed which provides additional dollars through E-rate, Title 1, and grants (April 2012, 88% of students qualify for free or reduced meals)
50,000 box lunches are packed annually
Modified meals prepared and served to 80 students with medical restrictions



IPS History of Nutritional Integrity

1985-1990 - 1% milk, eliminated a la carte snack foods, moved from canned to frozen vegetables
1990-1995 – Offered entrée salads, moved to light syrup canned fruits
1995-2000 – Eliminated fried foods, moved to reduced or non-fat dressings
2005-2010 – Moved to turkey based products, served more protein at breakfast, increased the variety of fresh fruits and vegetables
2010-current – Increased whole grain bread offerings, moved to reduced sodium and low fat cheeses, served skim flavored milk, spec’d zero gram trans fat foods

Commissioner Arnold asked if fat-free milk has sugar in it. Ms. Cookson said it is free of fat, but it does contain sugar. Commissioner Arnold asked what the cost is for full paying students for breakfast and lunch. Ms. Cookson said that breakfast is $1.00 for all grade levels, and that lunch is $1.40 for elementary, $1.65 for middle school, and $1.80 for high school. Commissioner Arnold asked if there are very many children with lactose intolerance to milk in IPS. Ms. Cookson said there are some and they are given fruit juice in place of milk.

Commissioner Roof asked what percentages of students eat breakfast and lunch. Mr. Gudorf said as of March for elementary 69% ate breakfast and 94% ate lunch; middle school 46% ate breakfast and 76% ate lunch; and high school 30% ate breakfast and 82% ate lunch. Commissioner Roof expressed concern that students are only given 20 minutes for lunch and sometimes throw away there oranges because they do not have time to peel them. She said she hopes that IPS will look into the amount of time students are given for lunch and take that into consideration. Commissioner Roof asked if a pizza is considered a grain. Ms. Cookson said the crust of a pizza is considered a grain. Commissioner Roof said that the strawberry milk that is served in IPS does not have any strawberry in it and has red dye #40 in it which directly affects the behavior of students with ADHD, ADD, and autism. She said this is a great concern for her and other parents. Commissioner Roof asked if Foodservice sees any road blocks for serving only white milk. Ms. Cookson said some districts have tried it and been successful and some have not.

Commissioner Arnold asked if the flavored milks are more expensive than the white milk. Ms. Cookson said there is about a penny difference in cost. Commissioner Arnold asked how much a year IPS would save if they only bought white milk. Ms. Cookson said she would get that figure for the Board.

Commissioner Roof said she feels IPS has nothing to lose by going to just white skim milk.

Commissioner Arnold asked if IPS could just try a pilot program of just using white skim milk. Dr. White said it would not be the whole district doing the pilot, just a few schools. Commissioner Arnold asked why not the whole district. Dr. White said the results of just a few schools would be all that was needed to make the decision of whether or not to change the whole district. He said it would really depend on the Foodservice Department of what kind of pilot program they can put together.

Consensus of the Board was to direct the Superintendent to investigate a possible pilot program along with the pros and cons. He said he will bring back the results of his investigation to the Board at the retreat.

Commissioner Arnold asked what the caloric difference is between flavored milk and non-flavored. Ms. Cookson said the flavored milk is 50 calories higher.

Non-blogger

I have several blogs that I like to frequent. I get irritated when they aren't updated so I am sorry that I haven't been posting lately. I need to set a rule for myself to post every three days no matter what.

Personally, I have been extremely busy. Three kids in three schools proved to be more than I could handle. And EVERYTHING seems to be scheduled for the end of the year. Teas, choir performances, projects, field days, graduations, award ceremonies, orchestra concert, and on and on. Now it is the first day of summer, and I can breathe...a little.


The board hit a busy spot as well. You may or may not be aware of the situation at Tech. That proved to be a busy time for emails, phone calls, meetings and more. For different reasons I will not discuss those happenings. 1) We are still in investigation. 2) This is a child.

We have also held meetings to discuss a lawsuit against the state for funding issues. Recently we held an Executive session so board members could submit their Superintendent Evaluation. This Saturday we will meet in an all day Retreat, from 1-8pm. And last night we were all at a graduation ceremony. I attended Manual.


There are specific topics that were important to me, and I will blog about those separately.

The board relationship is no better than it has been in the past. It's candidate time and I have heard form several people who have stated they will run for school board. I am trying to be more sensitive about this issue. I would love to start the year off with a "new" board. I want to canvass, and support, and back certain candidates. But I have really struggled with the concern of what damage that may do. If someone wins the seat that I didn't support (current members or someone new) I am afraid that will cause even more tension on the board. This board dynamic is so damaged it can not handle much more. At the end of the day, the board can do more if there was mutual respect among board members. I sincerely question if this could ever be repaired among the current board, but I certainly don't want to make it worse.

The Generation Gap

Generation Gap: n.
A difference in values and attitudes between one generation and another, especially between young people and their parents.



I have always felt this invisible line between some of the board members and myself. I like to sum it up with the words: Generation Gap. I am not talking about age difference. I am referring to the problems the two groups have with one another and the inability to see eye to eye.


I noticed something immediately when we went to Boston and spent the weekend with thousands of board members. I was of a minority. I would say that there were more men, but almost everyone was over the age of 50. Do I think someone can't be a good board member because of their age? Absolutely not. Do I think there is a huge problem with the fact that young people aren't getting out there, being involved, and serving on boards? Absolutely!!! But there are other concerns as well.




1) Session after session board members would stand up and say something like, "My name is Sally Mae and I have been on the board for 24 years" and the audience would applaud. I don't get it. They didn't say they were a "great board member for 24 years" just that they were there. Why does holding a seat for years and years earn you an applause? Tell me you have been amazing for the last 2 decades, then I will clap for you.



2) Fear of Change. This is a biggie. In some sessions they would speak of new and innovative ways to communicate with parents. Such as having a Board Facebook Page. In another session, FB pages were met with criticism and insult. As if that is a teenagers way of living, not a corporation.


3) Seeing someone younger as someone who is not an equal. I face this on my board everyday. I hear the comments. I know I am treated differently because of my age. I saw it at the conference as well. After one session I waited in line to speak with the presenter. Not once, but twice, as it was my turn to step up and speak, two older men cut right in front of me, as if I didn't even exist. I know they thought they were more important in their suits. Was it because I was a woman? Was it because of my age? I don't know for sure.


4) Seasoned board members seem to be afraid to "let go" of the reins and give someone else a chance to run things. This is true of the board I serve on. Not only will they refuse to "let" someone new and fresh serve as chairman, they don't even let us in on the discussion. I fear that other boards are the same, and who will run these meetings ten to twenty years from now? Who will serve on these boards? If we don't teach the next generation and give them a chance are we really helping our students?



5) Resentment and feeling unappreciated and the whole "we tried that it didn't work" phrase. I have one word for you. Bacon. When I sat on our preschool board, much smaller than IPS but very successful, I considered myself a seasoned member. I knew all the fundraisers in and out. Someone younger and very energetic came onto the board and had new ideas. I disliked her immediately. She wanted to serve bacon at our Santa breakfast, and we all knew that didn't work. It took too much time to cook, made a mess, lots of clean up, and slowed everything down. We tried it. However she was adamant. She needed bacon, she was in charge, and there would be bacon. So what did I do? I went to this event, saw that she had her bacon and saw that it messed everything up. HA! I was right! I sat there and watched this fail, I watched families leave because they were waiting for food, I saw people be unhappy, kids getting restless. So it failed because she didn't listen, right? No. It failed because I didn't get off my ass and help her fry that bacon. That was the moment I knew it was time for me to leave. If I would rather this event be a flop and disappoint our families, than step up and help her even though she wouldn't listen to me, then it was time for me to go. And I did. I chose to let my pride stand in the way of making something better for our children. Next time, I choose bacon.



I got a lot out of the NSBA, but I do think there could be a session on the generation gap and how to confront it respectfully.

A little ditty about Sam and Diane

This past weekend I boarded a plane and headed to Boston with two other board members, Samantha and Diane. Early on in my blogging I stated that I would not mention any board member by name. However, I have permission from them to share our weekend with you. I have struggled with attending conferences because of the cost to the district. November of 2010 I went to Florida for the Council of Great City Schools. I am glad I did because Indianapolis is hosting this event this fall. I decided to attend the NSBA, National School Board Association. I am so thankful that I did! I really needed the motivation and hope that I received from this experience.

We got in Friday night and rushed over to the Convention Center to pick up pick up our info packets. We made it with about three minutes to spare. After that we headed out for dinner. The next three days were sessions, speakers, and more sessions. We listened to amazing students from all very the country perform beautiful music. We tried to attend different sessions so we could gain and share more information. I noticed a pattern in my session choices, and that was Climate. I spent a lot of my time listening to ideas of building board relations. I also decided to face reality and I went to some sessions on Superintendent Evaluations and Superintendent Searches.

In the evenings Sam, Diane, and I headed out. We tried to do as much sight seeing as possible, a fair share of eating, and lots and lots of talking. We talked about our kids, our spouses, our childhoods. We talked about our sessions and shared what we had learned. Mostly, we talked about the board. We talked about what went wrong and when. We talked about if we can help fix it and how. I will share more details soon regarding the sessions themselves. The three of us want to give a presentation to the other board members, and I want them to hear this info first. I can tell you though that wherever we went, education was on our mind. One night the hostess at our restaurant joined in our conversation, well, she joined our dinner. Turns out, she was a public school teacher and works with children with autism. We talked to other board members from all over the country and heard their stories and shared ours. It was such a great experience. These ladies are great. I am so glad I got the opportunity to spend so much time with them and learn so much about them. And mistakes have been made, but we all really truly have children's best interest at heart. We have a respect for one another, and an unquestionable trust. Diane and Sam did not start off well. In fact, they started off very bad. They have both buried the past, and are only looking to the possibilities. As soon as we present to the other Board Members, I will share the session information here.

Empty chairs at empty tables

It's been a busy week for me. On Monday we were scheduled for our Legislative meeting. Before that meeting began though, we voted an a HR issue. You can read about it here...

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120410/LOCAL18/204100324/IPS-may-ditch-policy-staff-members-transporting-students


That was a good night. A really good night.

On Tuesday we held a Resource meeting. At the end of the meeting we were handed the new IPS plan that Dr. White will present at the Central Library on Monday April 16th. Try and make it if you can, there will be a sign up sheet for questions and comments.


And last night was the highlight of my week. I skipped the Educational Meeting that was scheduled, because I had received an invitation weeks ago to do something else.
If you remember I posted about visiting Manual HS. During that visit Mr. Lloyd (choir director) told me that he takes his students to see a Broadway show every year. They go to a nice dinner beforehand and then off to the show. I was so impressed with his dedication and excitement and I was more than thrilled when he extended the invite to me! This year the show, part of the Broadway Across America, is Les Miserables. I was SO EXCITED. Of all the shows I have seen, I have never seen Les Mis. I know most of the music, just never seen the show.

Finally the show night came. I must say a quick thank you to my family. It turns out my daughter's conference at school was this night as well. The all jumped through some hoops for me so we could get there early and I could make it to the dinner reservation on time.

I met Mr. Lloyd and his students at Canal Bistro in Broad Ripple. I was very excited to see Mr. Lloyd's wife, Stacia, there as well. I have heard about her from Spencer himself and through Matt Tully's book. My sister also knows the Lloyd's which shows once again how small the world really is. There were around 30 students, a few teachers and alumni, then me.

At first I thought, do they really want a Board Member apart of their "family" for the evening? Was this one of those uninvite invitations? Like the wedding invite you sent to your mother's great aunt once removed because you feel you have to, but you don't really want her to show up and you even leave her out of the dinner count? As I was waiting for the big yellow bus to pull up I thought, "What if I am that aunt?" Five minutes later, I was welcomed into this group and that aunt didn't cross my mind again.

One thing I noticed was the behavior of the students. Not once did I see Mr. Lloyd or the other teacher present give a reminder of behavior expectations. They just seemed to know. I was really impressed with the students at dinner. I served for many years, and a table of 30 teenagers would have been my complaint of the night. But these ladies and gentlemen were just that. They were kind, considerate, patient, and appreciative. The dinner itself was delicious.

The talk was even better. One student shared with me her frustrations about other students not caring. She talked about the test scores, the behavior, and the overall attitude. We discussed the fears with the takeover process, and the hope of it bringing much needed change. We discussed the bureaucracy BS that seems to overpower and stifle so many great ideas in IPS. I heard about their programs, their accomplishments, their trips. I saw the shock when one student heard there were gangs at the school. The adults talked about the children they left at home to attend this evening.

I was reminded how very real and sometimes quite painful young love can be as one of the young ladies struggled with some heated texts. It made me think of my daughters and hoping they won't hurt like that, but knowing they probably will. I wanted to tell that young girl that she has her whole life in front of her and the boy that makes her cry doesn't matter. How can I say that? I loved my husband when I was 15, and I cried over him many times. Maybe I should have told her that this moment won't break her, this moment will make her. It will help define who she will be later in this life.


Dinner was wrapped up and we headed to Clowes Hall. I drove myself to the theater. I had a long walk from my parking space and not much time. By the time I made it to my seat the show was just beginning. The show was awesome. The sets and the effects were some of the best I had seen. The students seems to enjoy it as well. They reacted to the more mature moments in the show. Stage performances seem to be pretty risque and I heard some giggles. One thing I also noticed was the use of cell phones among teenagers. They are so connected to their phones I worry they couldn't be completely connected to the show. In fact, I had a hard time staying connected to the show because of the lights of the phones. One young lady even talked briefly on her phone. This wasn't so much of a problem for me, but I felt sadness for these kids. I am sad that they can never quite be free. As a parent it makes me consider having some rules that I am sure my kids will think are completely unfair. But I don't want them to be accessible to anyone at anytime. I don't want them to be so worried they will miss something when they are actually missing what is happening right in front of them.

I am so thankful to Mr. Lloyd for inviting me. I am thankful to the staff who welcomed me. I enjoyed meeting and getting to talk to Mr. Weber, the band teacher. I appreciate all he has done for his students. I adore Stacia Lloyd, who is everything you would imagine her to be. A kind, sweet soul. Without her strength, guidance, and her willingness to share so much of her husband, he would not be able to be the choir director that he is. I think it's awesome that she is so involved. I am grateful to the students who didn't mind me imposing on this night. I am thankful and surprised that I came home to an awesomely clean kitchen! It was a wonderful night.