stlmomsworld.com - Kay Quinn

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Getting Students To School, Feeding Them, Among Challenges For New School Year

The high price of gas is has school districts and administrators across the country worried about how to pay for the fuel school buses will need to bring students to classes in the fall.
Now, add the rising cost of food to the concerns faced by school districts as students enjoy their summer break.
The national school lunch program has long put healthy meals on cafeteria tables for children during the school year.
But today, the president-elect of the School Nutrition Association told members of the House Education and Labor Committee, meeting in Washington, that the organization is struggling to make ends meet.
"We simply don't have the funds to continue on with this," said Katie Wilson.
Free and reduced-price lunches are provided for more than half of our country's 60 million public school children.
Because the government subsidizes those meals, schools have to follow guidelines for healthy eating by providing lots of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains.
The government reimburses schools $2.57 for each meal, but the costs can run well over $3 a meal.
It's a reminder that, as food prices increase, our schools will feel the pinch too. Not just in the cost of getting student to class, but in making sure they're fed while they're there.

¶ 3:16 PM

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Name: Kay Quinn

Location: St. Louis, MO

ABOUT ME

Health and medical issues make up one of the most exciting beats in the newsroom. Few other areas of news touch each and every one of us so closely and so often.

Whether you're a senior worried about paying for prescription drugs, a parent concerned about the health of a child or waging your own fight against cancer or heart disease, you can usually find health news that applies to you in my daily reports.

I always tell St. Louisans they are so fortunate when it comes to health care. Our city is home to two research hospitals.

Doctors and scientists at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis University School of Medicine are involved in some of the most critical research underway in medicine today.

Work is bring done right at this moment, right in our area, that could lead to a vaccine for bird flu or better ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease.

I enjoy staying on top of those stories, as well as bringing you health and medical news you can use.

Along with the latest medical breakthroughs, you'll frequently find information on low-cost exercise programs right around the corner from where you live, or details on where to get this year's flu shot.

Many viewers want to know whether I have a medical background. I don't, but my mother was a nurse and I know her health background made a big impression on me as a child.

It's the lifelong curiosity and interest I have in health issues that serves me well in my work as health reporter.

Staying on top of what you need to know to stay fit and healthy is a job I love.