Thursday, October 3, 2024
The 2025 TOY Speech can be viewed on WisEye.
By Rachel Sauvola
Every single teacher I know has a drawer of granola bars.
That might sound wholesome at first.
But let me explain why it isn’t.
I have one colleague who spends over 60 dollars a week of their own money just on snacks for their high school students.
Now we know high schoolers can be ravenous. But this goes beyond that. You see, in my district, elementary kids were so hungry, they were going into other students’ lockers to steal snacks.
Before you pass judgment, think a minute.
Do you know that feeling of being stuck in a meeting that will not end, and you start to get hangry? I certainly do. And let me tell you, if WE as adults have trouble concentrating without food, imagine what it’s like to be a growing kid.
I don’t have to imagine, because I was one of those hungry kids.
At the age of eight, my mom left my dad, my three year old sister and me. She took all of the money from our farm earnings, and she went to feed her drug addiction.
Money was tight after that, and my dad was a single parent. He needed to work doubly as hard as a farmer, with some help from my grandma, raising us kids.
I remember going grocery shopping with my dad. My job was to use the calculator to keep a running total of what we were spending. If something wasn’t in our very tight budget, it went back on the shelf. Sometimes, if I miscalculated, we got up to the cashier and had to take things off our bill in front of all the people waiting in line behind us.
So you see I know a thing or two about hunger. And about how we stigmatize it and blame folks, just for being hungry.
That’s one of the reasons I became an Agriculture teacher… After my first National FFA Organization meeting at age twelve, I was hooked. I made the connection between being able to grow food, feeding hungry people, showing leadership and having fun while doing it. I was determined to help break the cycle of hunger.
One of my favorite things to say is “If you give me a hurdle, I WILL find a way over it or around it.”
So here is how I’ve done just that. I have been an Agricultural Education Instructor and FFA Advisor for 26 years. I’ve taught thousands of students and community members how to grow and raise their own food.
I founded our school farm, the SOAR Center. Our students and volunteers do all the chores and experience firsthand raising vegetables and beef which we use in our school cafeteria. Since 2018, we have provided over 22,000 pounds of locally grown beef and thousands of pounds of veggies for school lunch! Food grown, raised and processed by students, which lands on their plates.
Our district’s Happy Kids Backpack Program helps make sure kids have food at home, too. We provide vouchers for meat, milk, veggies, fruit and eggs to our families.
It’s simple paperwork to fill out. They just have to ask. Cynical folks might call that a waste. But let me ask you: Is feeding hungry kids a waste? I sure don’t think so.
In the past I’ve seen families who need to apply for free or reduced lunch miss the cutoff by $1.57. Imagine that. Less than two dollars a month over the income limit, and you get no benefits. That leads to hungry kids who can’t concentrate to learn!
That’s bologna!
Giving every student access to free, healthy breakfast and lunch eliminates the stigma of getting free school meals. And let me tell you, our cafeteria makes all our food from scratch, and it’s good!
We’ve already rolled out a snack food program in our elementary and middle schools. The high school program is in the works, so our staff won’t have to dig in their own pockets to make sure kids are fed.
I’m also on the Executive Board of our Five Loaves Food Shelf, making sure hungry families in the area are fed.
It’s pretty simple: good people don’t want children to go hungry. Good people don’t look at those who have less, and think that those people are worth less. And I will always, always choose to feed and value all children. In education, we talk a lot about equity and inclusion. This approach walks the walk.
Poverty is not a moral failing.
NOT helping those with fewer resources is a moral failing. And doubly so when it comes to children, who have no say in the matter.
When you have enough food to eat, you do better at school. Schools know that. Why do you think schools offer free breakfast on standardized test days?
Here’s the thing. It’s pretty simple. No student in our state should go hungry. It’s within our power to change.
Other states do it, and we CAN too. I’m doing my part, and want to help schools everywhere to succeed. But I need YOUR help!
Let’s get everyone fed, Wisconsin. WE CAN DO THIS!
About Rachel Sauvola
As an agriculture teacher at New Richmond High School, Rachel Sauvola developed the Students Opportunities with Agriculture Resources educational center and manages the school farm, which gives students the opportunity to produce goods for school lunch. She is also the National Association of Agricultural Educators’ mentor facilitator, where she helps agriculture teachers from around the nation develop inquiry-based instruction modules for students.
Read more about Wisconsin's 2025 Teachers of the Year
Read or watch Dr. Jill Underly's 2024 State of Education Address