{"id":13350,"date":"2022-08-23T19:36:32","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T19:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/indiana\/?p=13350"},"modified":"2025-04-04T16:42:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T16:42:33","slug":"back-to-school-why-is-this-year-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/indiana\/2022\/08\/23\/back-to-school-why-is-this-year-different\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to School: Why Is This Year Different?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"13350\" class=\"elementor elementor-13350\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5f45f54d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5f45f54d\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-70011322\" data-id=\"70011322\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3bc791db elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3bc791db\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All across Indiana, kids are headed back to school. Unfortunately, thousands of those students will re-enter the classroom struggling with hunger, making it harder to start the school year ready to learn.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">School meal programs play a crucial role in ensuring Hoosier students get three meals a day and have the nutrition they need to thrive in and out of the classroom.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But this school year, there\u2019s a big difference. Because Congress didn\u2019t extend the federal waiver authority that allowed all kids to eat for free the last two school years, this fall most schools are going back to pre-pandemic operations.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><b>This means that many Indiana families must submit an application form to their school to determine if their kids are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><b>School meals are a healthy, convenient option for busy families and they can also go a long way in helping make ends meet.<\/b><\/span><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Beyond ensuring kids get school meals, school meals applications may qualify families for additional benefits, like discounted exam fees and college applications, extracurriculars, scholarship opportunities, and even home wifi. They can also help your child\u2019s school secure additional classroom resources that will support all students\u2019 education.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">School nutrition teams are excited to welcome kids back to the cafeteria, but they too are contending with the increased cost of food, which has made it more expensive to feed kids. School nutrition departments are reimbursed for each meal that they serve, so when more kids participate in the school meals, it helps strengthen the programs in Indiana for all students.<\/span><\/p><h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here are two ways you can help:<\/span><\/h3><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you have school aged kids, be sure you go to your school district\u2019s website to fill out the school meal application or get a paper form from your school.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Spread the word! This <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/express.adobe.com\/page\/1IPGBCsq9UO89\/\"><b><span style=\"color: #ff6600\">free toolkit<\/span><\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> provides template materials to get the word out about school meal applications, including social media graphics and posts, newsletter blurbs and more.<\/span><\/li><\/ol><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After all, when it comes to school supplies, nutritious school meals are as important to students\u2019 learning as notebooks and pencils.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All across Indiana, kids are headed back to school. Unfortunately, thousands of those students will re-enter the classroom struggling with hunger, making it harder to start the school year ready&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":12967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Back to School: Why Is This Year Different? - INDIANA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/indiana\/2022\/08\/23\/back-to-school-why-is-this-year-different\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back to School: Why Is This Year Different? - INDIANA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All across Indiana, kids are headed back to school. 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