PCHS Starts the Day Right with Breakfast Club
by Julie Liebman
Natasha Lo Basso, a teacher in the Crossroads program at PCHS says morning recess at the Breakfast Club is a busy time. “There’s a lot going on in our breakfast room,” which takes place three to four times a week during morning recess between 9:07 a.m. and 9:27 a.m.
Thanks to funding and a partnership from the Breakfast Club of Canada, PCHS is on its 7th year of the breakfast club. Natasha’s dedication to the project has created a well-oiled machine that is efficient in handling requests for peanut butter, cream cheese, bagels, and toast, set-up and take-down.
“We are so incredibly proud of our entire Breakfast Club Team! The PCHS Breakfast Club is a student organized and run project under the direction of Ms. Lo Basso and these students work diligently every day to ensure that there is food ready and available for our school population.
Our students are not only providing a valuable service, but they are learning that the simple gesture of helping others can bring pride, self-satisfaction, purpose, and contentment. They bring smiles to our school community every day!
Well done PCHS Breakfast Club!” says Sheila Honeyborne, principal of PCHS.
In fact, last November, the Breakfast Club of Canada visited the school and created a short video of a typical morning.
Unlike the first years it ran, they now get food delivered every two weeks and were supplied with tools like toasters, spatulas, tongs, and anything else they might need to roll-out a breakfast for 100 staff and students. The Breakfast Club of Canada even donated fridges that the team can use store milk and any other perishables.
The club is run by students in the Crossroads program, and alternative learning stream for junior students. While breakfast is offered three or four days a week, the rest of the days are used to prep. Breakfast days can be hectic and stressful for students, so the prep days give them an opportunity to recharge and to prepare for what’s to come.
“Preparing breakfast on a daily basis, calculating portions, ensuring they are ready on time has taught students what it means to be organised and punctual. It responsibilizes them while providing a tangible service for the PCHS community,” says Natasha.
For example, on pancake day, students can make up to 100 pancakes! “Those are the more stressful days because students are on a tight timeline and need to measure, count, and prep all of the ingredients while managing their expectations because recess starts at 9:07 a.m. no matter what!”
It also provides them with a tremendous sense of accomplishment and pride when they see just how many teachers and student benefit from their hard work.
The breakfast club has become a recess tradition at PCHS, where there’s a sense of family and community and where students and teachers use recess to congregate, chat, and catch-up over some coffee or a snack. Natasha says nobody is ever turned away and there is always plenty of food for everyone.
“From the very beginning, we didn’t want to exclude anyone, so we opened up the club to all teachers and students. Whether someone forgot their lunch at home, didn’t have time for breakfast, or for some of our more needy students, the club as always been opened to all and that’s what makes it so wonderful,” says Natasha.
PCHS staff and students continue to be grateful and appreciative of such a unique program.
“Many people don’t think of teenagers as being grateful or hands-on, but so many students have told me how this is one of the best traditions that has come through PCHS. This has been a worthwhile project for both Crossroads and those who pop in for a snack,” she explains.
