bbq chicken sandwich

Family group lunch Monday

On Mondays the students are put into groups with older and younger students and an adult. The groupings stay the same for the entire year, and its a great way for students to become friends with kids who are not in their class. The group always has a moral topic of discussion to chat about between bites. Each Monday a different sandwich is featured. The most popular sandwiches are bbq chicken, chicken salad and caprese. Besides the featured sandwich we also offer peanut butter and jelly, turkey and cheese. The students pre order their sandwich the week before so we know how many to make. Besides the sandwich we also pack string cheese, chips(baked), a juice box and a piece of fruit.
Sometimes a small bag of carrots or a cookie will be served.
Each family group order is put into a large picnic style bag and one representative from each group comes and picks it up.
The lunches are eaten picnic style all around the school.

It sounds a lot easier than a regular lunch day, with no dishes, or time spent serving each child. However, Mondays are not easier, as I am here on Sunday preparing for tomorrow. It takes a lot of effort to feed the entire McGIllis school at one time.
I prep the chicken on Sunday, so that there will be time to prepare, wrap and sort all of the family group lunches on Monday.
With some careful planning, and hustle, hot foods are served hot and cold foods are served cold. We try hard to make this an enjoyable lunch for all. Most students like the change of pace and scenery from the dining hall.
For us in the kitchen, its a day to catch up on our cleaning schedule, and planning for the upcoming week.

I really like the idea of the students becoming friendly with students of other ages. At the soccer game last week, I overheard a student cheering, his mother asked him who he was cheering for, he smiled as he answered, " my family group friend".