School Lunch

Cookware greased and hairnets applied just right, school-lunch cooks across Maryland spent the week toiling, but this time, not for their kids. They were instead preparing goodies for today's annual school food services bake-off in Ocean City.School cafeteria bragging rights are at stake.Edith Brown from Guilford Elementary in Baltimore will be there with her bread pudding. So will Patsy R. Kreppel, bringing a blueberry tea cake from Chesapeake High School in Essex. And Dianne Snyder, presenting almond cookies from Friendship Valley Elementary in Carroll County.

The price of a school lunch will go up 25 cents for city public school students this school year, but students who get free and reduced lunches will not be affected, school officials said yesterday.The price increase -- the first in 15 years -- will mean elementary school students pay $1.25 for a lunch and middle and high school students $1.50, officials said.The cost for a reduced price lunch will remain at 40 cents, officials said.West Baltimore man charged in killing Sunday in BrooklynA 21-year-old man was charged yesterday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting Sunday night of another man during an argument in a house in Brooklyn, police said.

WASHINGTON -- Strawberries imported from Mexico and processed in California have caused 153 cases of hepatitis A infection among schoolchildren and teachers in Michigan, federal health officials said yesterday.Thousands more children in five other states, Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa and Tennessee, may also be at risk, and they are being advised to get gamma globulin shots to help prevent the viral liver ailment, which generally causes a mild illness, the health officials said at a news conference.

The best school lunch bargain in the area may be coming to an end.Starting at $1.10, Anne Arundel's student lunches are at least 15 cents cheaper than meals in other area school systems, and the prices have remained steady for more than five years.But the school board has been put on notice that this may have to change in August, depending on the state of the system's school lunch fund."We do not know yet, but it is possible we may have to raise the price of our meals," said Ralph Luther, chief of facilities management for the public schools.

Kevin Jones scarfed down a small mountain of lasagna as he sang the praises of the new Wilde Lake High School lunch program, which was honored last week for innovative cafeteria practices.The west Columbia school offers a "scramble" lunch program that allows students to serve themselves from separate food stations rather than one long serving line. Students and teachers alike praised the increased variety as well as the speed of delivery."I gotta tell ya, it's pretty good," said the senior around a mouthful of fries and soup.

25 years ago (week of Oct. 3-9, 1971):It was announced that Howard County residents would be able to buy flood insurance, at federally subsidized rates, from local insurance agents under the emergency flood insurance program. Howard qualified for the subsidy by agreeing to adopt control measures for future construction that would minimize flood damage.50 years ago (week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 1946):The Howard County Council of PTAs met in the Savage Community Hall. The group was addressed by Mrs. Gertrude Bowie from the state Department of Education.

A program that grew up with the Baby Boomers -- the National School Lunch Program -- turned 50 this year, and it's getting a face-lift.As of July 1, federal rules require that school lunches conform to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines. That means school meals will be based on the new food pyramid, with its emphasis on grains and legumes and fruits and vegetables, and de-emphasis on dairy products and meat."It's the biggest change in the national school lunch and breakfast program since it began," said Linda Miller, who oversees nutrition programs for the Maryland State Department of Education.

It tasted kind of like chicken.Maybe it even was -- one of the many mysterious patties served yesterday for "Bring Your Family to Lunch Day" commemorating the 50th anniversary of the national school lunch program.The event brought adults back to the nation's lunch rooms -- older, but not necessarily wiser."You don't always know what it is," said Arvin Sampson, who ate with his three kids at North Bend Elementary School in Baltimore, one of roughly 300 schools to participate in the event across the country.

At 11 a.m. every Friday, second-grader Nicholas Maloney performs a dissection at Hillcrest Elementary in Catonsville.Like millions of American children, he chooses his favorite hot school lunch -- pizza. He carries it to his table, lifts off in one piece the 4-by-6-inch layer of cheese, then folds it in half, sauce side in. That's the part he eats."He always does that," fellow second-grader Erin Whelan said from across the cafeteria table last Friday.Children may be picky, but pizza is the universal favorite in school cafeterias.

The next pencil your child brings home from school could be made from someone else's garbage.As Baltimore-area school systems encourage their students to protect the environment, school officials are looking to teach by example -- by replacing the traditional No. 2 wooden pencil with two new brands made from recycled school-lunch trays and denim blue jeans."

School lunch prices rising by 40 cents School lunch prices in the county are set to jump nearly 20 percent when students return in August. The county school board approved the increase this week after officials said they need to charge more because of the rising cost of food and supplies. Without the increase, staff members said, the school system stood to lose 46 cents on every lunch. Lunch at county elementary schools would increase to $2.90 from $2.50. At middle and high schools, lunch prices would go to $3 from $2.60.

Anne Arundel County students who eat breakfast at school may soon have to do without whole-grain cinnamon rolls. In Carroll County, school cafeterias are stretching their vegetable supply by making more soups. And in Montgomery County schools, tomatoes are being replaced in lunch salads by less-pricey carrots. The global food shortage and the resulting spike in the cost of milk, grains and fresh fruits and vegetables are squeezing school lunchroom budgets in Maryland and across the nation.

Students will pay more for their school lunches this year in Harford County schools. School officials say rising prices, primarily in milk and cheese, are to blame. The price of an elementary school lunch will be $1.70 and secondary school lunch will be $1.80, starting this fall. The cost of lunches are increasing by 20 cents, marking the first price rise since August 1998, officials said. Reduced-price lunches will remain at 40 cents. Community college trustees to meet The board of trustees of Harford Community College will meet in open session at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Chesapeake Center Board Room.

Dan Swartz was a man on a mission as he flipped open the silver cooler, retrieved a small carton of strawberry milk and headed down the cafeteria lunch line for the main course: pepperoni pizza and french fries. He was the first to get his food during "C" lunch at Howard High School in Columbia, and by the time the cashier had dropped the change into Swartz's outstretched hand, the 17-year-old already was making his way toward a group of friends. The entire process took less than a minute.

For the first time in four years, the cost of a school lunch in Carroll County is being increased. The need to raise the price, set to take effect this fall, can be traced to rising fuel and food costs, according to school officials. "The price of everything is going up," said Superintendent Charles I. Ecker. "It costs us more not only for the item, but for the transportation to get it there." School officials unanimously approved a 15-cent increase at a board meeting last week, bringing the price of lunch to $1.75 at the elementary school level and $1.90 in middle and high schools.

After making their way through the school lunch line, Katie Pickett and Erin Dean squeezed their trays between friends at a crowded table so they could eat their lunches - soft tacos, corn, cookies and milk. Jennifer Glock was already chowing down on her taco, while other students around her in Westminster High School's cafeteria munched on Fruit Roll-Ups, ice cream sandwiches and fudge Popsicles. "If it's there, then I eat it. I really don't care what they have," said Glock, a 15-year-old sophomore from Westminster.

I've never met a school lunch I liked. Anything consumed at a school, at midday, is hardly my idea of a lunch. I was reminded of this earlier this week, on a cheery visit to my old friend Eleanor Beers, the mother of Bill, a Loyola High School classmate of mine. She is an accomplished cook and entertainer. Bill and I ate lunch together for four years. His lunch bag, prepared by Eleanor, was a four-course treat: sandwich, homemade cake, home-packed bag of potato chips and a piece of fruit.

You may recall the name of your second-grade teacher, the year you learned to multiply or that nasty scrape from falling off the monkey bars. But chances are, your memories of the school cafeteria are even more acute. Sticky buns baking in the oven, the gossip and pranks, the cafeteria ladies themselves: Together, they've left an indelible impression on former students who decades later can describe the fear or thrill of buying a school lunch for the first time and rhapsodize over the peanut-butter fudge served for dessert.

More than 15 percent of American children are overweight, and that percentage is growing, according to the National Institutes of Health. One way parents can improve the health of their children is to offer nutritious, kid-pleasing options for meals and snacks, including school lunches. Oldways Preservation Trust, a think tank that promotes healthful eating, has a new printable school lunch planner on its Web site, www.oldwayspt .org, to help parents pack more creative, better-tasting nutritious lunches.

College's classes will resume May 27 for 1st summer term Anne Arundel Community College will be closed from 4:30 p.m. Friday until classes resume May 27, when the first summer term credit session begins. The college will offer more than 300 credit classes this summer, in six-, eight-, and 11-week sessions and weekend college. Registration is open until the day before classes start each session. Six-week sessions meet May 27 to July 3 and July 8 to Aug. 14. Eight-week sessions run May 27 to July 18 and June 16 to Aug. 8. The 11-week session runs May 27 to Aug. 8, and weekend college meets May 27 to July 13. The college will be closed Saturday through May 26 for Memorial Day and July 4-July 6. Students can register at the Sales and Service Training Center at Arundel Mills, 7000 Arundel Mills Circle.