The students in Hawthorn School District 73 wanted a salad bar lunch option so much that in 1990, a salad bar cart was part of the legacy left behind by the graduating 8th-grade class at Hawthorn Junior High School in Vernon Hills.
”They had asked me and I had turned it down because we didn`t have the money,” said Jess Porres, the district business manager and treasurer. But the school`s 8th graders, who traditionally sponsor a series of fundraisers to pay for class gifts left for future junior high classes to enjoy, put a salad bar at the top of their gift-giving list.
”At graduation, I was sitting in the audience and found out we were getting a salad bar,” Porres said. ”I could`ve said no still, but I felt if they were that sincere in wanting something that nutritious . . .”
”I think they wanted it because people requested salad, and they thought it would be a good thing to have for lunch,”said Melissa Phillips, an 8th grader at Hawthorn. ”I think it`s good because I like salad a lot. It`s not fattening and also it`s nutritious. I get it when I don`t bring a lunch (from home).”
”I like it a lot. It gives you better choices,” said 8th grader Samantha Shmikler. ”This is usually the only time I have salad. I like salad. It`s good for you.”
Porres said about half the district`s 3,100 students buy their lunch at school.
”Our participation has drastically increased within the last year, and that`s because of the salad bar and the other options,” he said.
Students at the junior high get a choice between salad, a Type A lunch
(designated by the federal government to include 2 ounces of protein, a serving of bread, three-fourths cup of fruit and/or vegetables and a half-pint of milk) or a meal from the ”options bar.” Porres said the options bar changes daily; one day it`s a deli bar, offering a variety of sandwiches, the next it`s a pasta bar, a Mexican bar or a potato bar.
The district`s other five schools, which include students in kindergarten through 6th grade, offer Type A meals that are prepared at the junior high and transported to each of the schools at lunchtime.
”I`m very pleased. We offer a varied menu,” Porres said.
