The Church of Peace had a good time with the Summer Lunch Program for neighborhood children, and decided to serve lunches again for the Intersession this October as well. The Rock Island School District rearranged the school calendar a few years back to have a shorter summer vacation break and to add vacations in the fall, winter and spring to make a more balanced schedule with shorter breaks. The basic premise is that children loose less ground academically when they have shorter breaks, and the school district also hoped to provide special learning opportunities for students during these breaks, called "Intersessions."
We know that some of the kids in our neighborhood really miss their school lunches when they are not available, and so we are providing lunch here at the church during Intersession. Also, we provided lunch for the students at the Intermediate Academy, who came by here for lunch after spending the morning at school
Having lunch here also made it possible to provide a meal for the children of the adult students in the Lights ON for Learning Family Literacy Program. The most challenging part of having meals during intersession is having children remember that a meal is available when it is only served for a short time. We put our "chefs" out on the street to spread the word!
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