When it comes to rural communities, we know that school districts play a vital role in providing families and students the support and resources they need to reach their fullest potential – especially as it relates to school meals. That’s why No Kid Hungry Texas created the Texas Rural School District Cohort to support small and medium sized rural districts in their efforts to feed students and address rural hunger.
In collaboration with the Texas Rural Education Association, the Texas Rural School District Cohort provided 6 rural districts from across the state with $30,000 in flexible grant funding to address food insecurity utilizing community led solutions ideas. In addition to grant funding, the districts met bi-monthly to discuss project progress, learn about topics like school gardening and farm to school partnerships, build relationships with one another, and brainstorm on addressing challenges associated with addressing food insecurity in their community.
As we complete the 2022-2023 Texas Rural School District Cohort, we are highlighting and celebrating the progress that was made in each district through our partnership.
Henderson Independent School District
At Henderson ISD, the child nutrition department utilized funding from No Kid Hungry Texas to convert a school bus into a mobile meals site that will provide specialty scratch cooked meals for school events and will serve as a summer meals location. Tanya Davis, director of child nutrition, designed the bus and worked closely with the district’s transportation and maintenance department to find a school bus, order parts, and make her vision a reality!
Tanya shared that in Henderson, there are families who struggle to take care of their child’s needs so she loves that the district has the opportunity to provide food for them both during the school year and all summer long. The bus is still currently under construction, but Tanya hopes that it will be completed by the start of this school year! Tanya expressed, “This grant was a blessing and a dream come true. We would have never had the opportunity to do anything like this if we had not received this grant.”
Brookesmith Independent School District
To meet the preferences of the 148 students who attend Brookesmith ISD, Alline Bolt and her child nutrition team sought out to purchase an air fryer that would help them increase meal quality, which was met with gratitude by both students and teachers. Additionally, Brookesmith ISD was able to start a weekend backpack program through a partnership with Good Samaritan and provide mid-day snacks to students before school releases for the day. Alline shared, “Our students are extremely excited about snacks and backpacks at school. If something happens and snacks are delivered late, students let their teachers know about it. It’s an important part of the day for them.”
Slaton Independent School District 
Just outside of Lubbock in Slaton, Texas, Paula Garcia and her child nutrition team focused on increasing breakfast participation by upgrading breakfast carts and point of sale machines across all campuses. Paula shared that for many students, school meals might be the only food they receive all day.
Students were excited by the new carts that were implemented in each school and shared that they really enjoyed the experience of grab and go breakfast in the hallways. Not only that, but this investment helped to increase participation. According to Paula, Slaton ISD served just over 10,000 more meals in the 2022-2023 school year compared to the year before.
“Kids with a full belly learn better. If bellies are growling all day, they aren’t going to be able to study or keep focused,” Paula shared, “We don’t make a lot of money here so purchasing big items like what we were able to get with the grant made our little program operate on a higher scale.”
Bland Independent School District
At Bland Independent School District, child nutrition staff chose to utilize their rural cohort funds to update and upgrade equipment to maximize staff capacity and increase meal quality so the 776 students who learn at the district every week had access to healthy and delicious food that they wanted to eat! With the purchase of two steamers, two dishwashers, and a tilt skillet for both the elementary school and the high school, the district has increased their scratch cooking, which has helped increase participation from 12% to 60% – that’s just over 450 kids eating school meals every day! Jeff Miley, the former child nutrition director shared “No Kid Hungry has made an impact here at Bland ISD – the grant nearly doubled our annual budget. It has made a huge difference in staff operations and both the quality and variety of food we are able to serve. Our staff has made sure that the impact of this grant will be felt by this district for years to come.”
Junction Independent School District
At Junction ISD, the district has utilized funds to make critical updates to the child nutrition program – including new cafeteria tables and kitchen equipment that will help increase meal quality and will also make the cafeteria a more welcoming place for all students. Misty Stewart, child nutrition director for Junction ISD shared that this grant opportunity really helped the needs of the cafeteria and students!
Smithville Independent School District
At Smithville ISD, the cafeteria is more than a space for students to eat and hangout with their friends – it’s also a classroom where they can learn about healthy food consumption! The district utilized its funds to acquire items like kitchen equipment and hot plates, and simultaneously expanded partnerships with farms to incorporate more local foods. Throughout this process, the child nutrition staff has done an excellent job engaging students in the child nutrition program.
Candy Biehle, child nutrition director, shared, “After 25+ years in Child Nutrition I didn’t know if I could find anything to keep me excited to continue in this career but working with the No Kid Hungry has rekindled my fire about feeding hungry children. This year has been a wonderful experience and I am so happy that so many others will be able to experience this opportunity as well. I am grateful for all that No Kid Hungry does for child hunger.”
No Kid Hungry Texas is proud to collaborate with these districts as we work to make No Kid Hungry a reality across all communities!