At Iola schools, the end of the school day now comes with a choice: head home or stick around for a healthy snack and 15 minutes of chatter with friends. For a little more than 100 students each day, the answer has been easy. The newly implemented Super Snack program is quickly becoming a favorite of students, district-wide.
The rollout of the program started two weeks ago with the elementary school, then expanded to the middle school and the high school this week. In total, about 949 snacks have been served Monday through Thursday across the schools, as well as to students in the district’s alternative school and SEKA (an after-school program through the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center).
The highest participation has been at the elementary level. “We’re seeing roughly 100 students a day there,” said USD 257 Food Service Director Staci Talkington. “That’s about 20% of the student population — not counting preschoolers, who already receive snacks through daycare.”
Participation is expected to grow further when SAFE BASE, the district’s after-school program, begins offering the Super Snack next week. Talkington estimates that could increase the count by at least 50 meals per day.
Each Super Snack meets five nutritional components — protein, vegetable, fruit, grain, and dairy — and might include options like a ham and cheese sandwich, grape tomatoes, a banana, and milk. The district has also found success with a “share pan,” where students can leave items they don’t want for others to take. “Hummus wasn’t a big hit with the little ones,” Talkington laughed. “The share pan balances it out.”
The program is funded through the Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), administered by Child Nutrition & Wellness under the Kansas State Department of Education and the USDA.
BEYOND nutrition, the program also gives students 15 minutes of social time at the end of the school day. Teachers and paras are present to supervise and even provide light homework help if needed, though most of the time is spent eating and chatting. “It’s fun to see them,” Talkington said. “I have to remind them, ‘Come on, we’ve got to eat, we’ve got to eat,’ because they enjoy that social time so much.”
Still, the new program comes with some growing pains. One ongoing challenge is student pickup. Parents are required to collect their children 15 minutes after the dismissal bell — 3:45 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and 2:55 p.m. on Wednesdays — but some have been arriving late. “Every day, we have at least one family not on time,” Talkington said. “That’s what will make the program not work, because staff have to stay late. We just need families to stick to the schedule.”
DESPITE the hiccups, Talkington believes the benefits outweigh the challenges. In Allen County, where 15% of residents experience food insecurity, programs like Super Snack help meet a critical need. Across Kansas, one in five children struggles with hunger, according to Feeding America’s “Map the Meal Gap” study.
“We have such a high free and reduced lunch rate here,” Talkington explained. “By the time kids leave school, they’ve already burned off their lunch. This program means they’re not going home hungry, grabbing junk food, or rushing mom and dad into fixing something fast. It takes pressure off parents, too.”
Students must be signed up in advance to participate. Elementary families sign up through classroom teachers, while middle and high school students add their names to a list in the front office by 10:30 a.m. Snacks must be eaten on-site and cannot be taken home.
Talkington says she’s encouraged by the strong start and hopes to see the program continue as long as funding remains available. “I’m very happy with the turnout so far,” she said. “More kids just means more we’re helping.”
