Seamless Summer recognized in September BOE meeting
Uncategorized September 18, 2022
EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – Fighting childhood hunger, the Seamless Summer program is a Nutrition Department program of the Board of Education looking to extend the school lunch program through June and July. This month, the Board of Education recognize the programs completion of its 2022 operations.
Patricia Partin, Director of School Nutrition, spoke in the September work session for the board, reporting this year saw 25,253 total meals served to just students during June and July. With 8,505 breakfasts in June and 4,221 breakfasts in July and 8,263 lunches in June and 4,264 lunches in July, the program has risen again to this summer as the program also opened a new site. Partin said that July’s numbers are smaller as they only served two weeks in July.
Serving through the Bobcat Cafe mobile site stationed on Dalton Street, Gilmer High School, Tower Road, Ellijay’s 1st United Methodist Church, the Boys & Girls Club, Mulberry Apartments, Gilmer Health Department, and the new location at Sunlight Baptist Church, these 25,000 meals joined volunteers and staff reaching out to students even when out of school. Partin said the eight locations served all new groups of students this year as they were able to work with there partners and move the Bobcat into a permanent location.
Additionally, staff and volunteers made week long STEM camps for the students as well.
Those volunteers were represented and recognized in the work session with thank you certificates from the school system. Partin said, “With countless hours of servant hearts, you could see all the happy, very satisfying, and sweet faces in the pictures.”
Working alongside these locations and their volunteers is what makes Seamless Summer possible. Partin went on to say, “It was truly a blessing to be part of the community, and what an amazing community we have.”
School Nutrition changes coming this summer
News May 22, 2022
EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer Schools will be seeing a major federal program end this summer for the Nutrition Department as many changes are beginning to show in the department. Not all will be in the federal space though as Seamless Summer will be kicking off on June 6 and lasting until July 22.
In addition to the news of the school nutrition department not getting a bid renewal from US Foods, current indications from the Federal Government have the school system preparing to also not continue the COVID outbreak response that allowed free lunches for all. Instead, it was stated this week that Gilmer Schools will likely return to the standard National School Lunch Program and Provision 2 for Breakfast.
This means that those applying for free and reduced lunches will need to refill those forms out for next year. The school system encouraged all parents to fill out those forms during the free meals for all as the state was still keeping track of them. Continuing in the same efforts, the Nutrition Department is returning to the same message as last year, encouraging all parents to fill out the free/reduced lunch forms. This year, they will be processed and return to normal operation of the program unless something changes over the summer.
Locations, times, and more information for the Gilmer Schools’ Seamless Summer program.
Schools are also preparing for the summer itself as a new location has been added to the Seamless Summer Program. With eight total locations this year, Seamless Summer sites include Gilmer High School, Tower Road, the Boys and Girls Club, the Gilmer County Health Department, Ellijay’s First United Methodist Church, Mulberry Apartments, Sunlight Baptist Church, and the Bobcat Café Mobile Site will run on Dalton Street. All sites will run lunch around noon with the specific site’s times listed in the photo to the right.
In addition to the Seamless Summer, the school system is adding a Summer STEM Camp Monday June 27 through Thursday June 30, 2022, at Ellijay Elementary School. The Stem Camp will also be running at each Seamless Summer Programs at different times throughout the program, but the June 27 Ellijay Elementary School location is open to all students between Kindergarten and 5th Grade. It will also operate longer as it goes daily from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The school nutrition department could be seeing more changes in operations as they continue handling challenges with food distributors, but nothing was said about canceling the summer programs due to food. Instead, Director Partin encouraged students to visit the locations and said that these locations were strategically located, including the additional location, to maximize access for students in the county.
Gilmer Schools prepares for Seamless Summer return
News May 19, 2021
EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer Schools Nutrition Coordinator Daphnie Hice has hit the ground running in filling in for the Director position as she updates and continues many of the programs started and made successful by the school system’s nutrition department and under the previous guidance of Linda Waters, programs like Seamless Summer feeding.
This week, Hice informed the Board of Education about the school systems return to normal operations with its Seamless Summer program. The program has been ongoing over summer months for several years. However, last year saw a much different program due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Hice spoke this week of the programs return to static locations and a new addition as the program continues to grow.
That new addition is the Bobcat Café “On the Prowl.” Hice stated that the bus will be at the Lakeside Village mobile home park.
Hice noted that in the outbreak last year, the school system delivered 9,680 breakfasts and 10,730 lunches in June and July of 2020. This year, the return to static locations include 7 sites including the Gilmer Health Department, Tower Road, the First United Methodist Church, Boys and Girls Club, and Mulberry Street Apartments.
Lottie Mitchell said that the Bobcat Café is a repurposed school bus that will become multipurpose as it operates in the school year as the PAWS for Learning bus. A mobile learning lab for preschoolers, the PAWS for Learning bus will aid students with literacy supplies from the L4GA grant. Mitchell also noted that the bus will partner with Gilmer High School and its Early Childhood Education program. Students in that program during 2021-2022 can participate in the program to interact with community preschoolers not enrolled in a preschool.
As with previous years, Seamless Summer will return to static locations this year.
During the summer, the Bobcat Café “on the Prowl” will see the interior of the bus shift as staff will swap out magnetic signs on the bus and redecorate the interior to better suit the Seamless Summer program. It will also be to fund the mobile program providing a summer package for enrichment on Tuesdays and Thursday for two hours before lunch. Mitchell said that some sites have volunteers that already host enrichment programs, so they are looking to do this program before them so that the activities will end with lunch and the site volunteers.
Continuing the summer program, Hice said that the Gilmer High School location of Seamless Summer will serve both breakfast and lunch, but the other locations will have breakfast pre-packaged in the lunches for the following morning.
Feeding thousands of meals every year, Seamless Summer has become a very large part of the Gilmer School System’s summer schedule. Having plans in place aided in the system’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak last year as plans for delivering work and education packets for grade levels without tablets was able to merge with plans to shift the Seamless Summer program from static sites to deliveries on the buses.
Now, the cooperation is continuing as separate areas or departments of the school system are continuing cooperation to enhance and upgrade programs like Seamless Summer where possible.
Seamless Summer officially begins in Gilmer
News May 28, 2020
GILMER COUNTY, Ga. – Bringing and official end to the Seamless Feeding Program with Memorial Day, Gilmer Schools have officially transferred this week into their Seamless Summer Program.
But this is more than just a name change on what the schools have already done, the Seamless Summer has many differences as the school system transitions into the normal summer cycle. The first and biggest difference will be delivery. Adapting to the needs of the county, the school system has run bus routes normally through the county during school to deliver work packets, food, and a second meal each day during the school year. Now, according to Gilmer Schools, the big purple bus (seen above) will be visiting site the way previous summer programs have held.
“The big purple bus will depart Mountain View Elementary to begin delivering meals… at approximately 11:00 A.M. Monday-Thursday each week this summer,” said the system’s social media post. The locations include:
-Gilmer County Health Department
-Boys and Girls Club
-Mulberry Street Apartments
-Ellijay 1st United Methodist Church
-Tower Road
-Carolyn Drive
Additionally, One change from Seamless Summer’s normal operation has lifted restrictions for on site consumption, meals do not have to be consumed onsite. This is also allowing Thursdays will be different as Lunch and Breakfast for the next day will be served. This means children will receive double meals to save for Friday. As per their usual program, any child 18 and under may receive meals.
This week saw Memorial Day as a holiday, but through Tuesday and Wednesday, Nutrition Director Linda Waters said the department has delivered 270 breakfasts and lunches to their sites and are now preparing for next week to bring on the Boys and Girls Club listed in their locations. Today, they are looking at double to cover Friday, meaning a delivery of 540 meals for lunch time.
The Nutrition Department goes through their numbers daily as they look to respond and adjust on a weekly basis to the county’s needs. For example, adjusting to incorporate the Boys and Girls Club next week, or adding in athletics summer programs beginning in early June when the add another 20 breakfasts for athletes and then 60 lunches as small groups practice with coaches throughout the day.
Waters said, “We will make it work.” She said she has had a great staff and has proven that as they adjusted to the needs during the COVID-19 outbreak and quarantines and they will adjust and adapt again to the developing needs.
In fact, the only thing holding the program back at this moment, said Waters, is a rising need for volunteers. Some sites are still very undermanned. But more than that, Waters said that right now, restrictions and regulations are setting boundaries for now, but what the program can grow into is all dependent upon the community. Normally, the Seamless Summer Program has daily events, reading with the children, playing, and other activities. Whether the program can return to that by summer’s end depends a little on state guidelines, but more on community volunteers who step up to lead and help with those activities. To reach that goal later, they still need those to answer the call now to receive and handout food at the current locations.
While the Nutrition Department is already preparing and planning for school in the fall and waiting to hear from State and County Boards of Education on how to proceed, they are continuing to juggle in the Seamless Summer Program and working towards making it a success in the eyes of the community.
Seamless feeding set to transition to Seamless Summer in May
News April 29, 2020
EAST ELLIJAY, Ga. – Superintendent Dr. Shanna Downs took a few moments to correct some confusion among the community this week addressing the Seamless Feeding program.
The current bus routes and Seamless Feeding Program will continue through May 22, originally scheduled as the last day of school, according to Downs.
She went on to say, “After May 22, normally, post-planning, we do not do meals. However, given to the current situation, I’ve asked Ms. Waters to just immediately transition into the Summer Feeding Program.”
Also due to the current situation, this year’s summer program will be drastically different. Maintaining the social distancing orders, there will not be the same level of engagement possible as usual. Dr. Downs said that this year, volunteers will not be staying for hours as they have normally done activities like reading, coloring, or playing games among others.
This year, the program will only have four sites with the food coming from the Mountain View cafeteria. Those deliveries will occur very similar to how the feeding program is going now, bringing the meals and passing them out while maintaining distancing orders. They will then leave the sites shortly after. Downs said that while the program may have lasted from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. most days, these sites will likely be closer to 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
These sites will include Tower Road, Mulberry Street, the Gilmer Health Department, and Ellijay First United Methodist Church.
The school system is still concerned with finding volunteers to help and trying to fill gaps with some administrative staff where possible.
The program will see a gap on Memorial Day, but will continue on May 26 as normal.