Brandon High School’s Community School is in its fourth year of supporting its students and their families by providing food and clothing.
“We are entering year three as a community school,” said Lauren Leto, Brandon High School’s Community School resource teacher. “At the end of year two, we formed a partnership with Feeding Tampa Bay, and our pantry sponsor is BayCare. We receive biweekly deliveries to support our students and families.”
Community schools are a model that really reinforces taking care of the whole child. All the work of a community school is rooted in four pillars: integrated student support, enriched learning experiences, family and community engagement and collaborative leadership.
“The goal of being a community school is to find out what students, families and teachers need to feel best supported and then utilize community partnerships to bridge the gap and create a positive impact,” Leto said. “We really want to emphasis that all of our partnerships are reciprocal and we want to work to strengthen the Brandon community together.”
The community school recently received two refrigerators and a freezer through its partnership with Feeding Tampa Bay.
“The new equipment came because Feeding Tampa Bay received a grant,” Leto said. “Feeding Tampa Bay received a large grant to expand services at current and new pantries, which is why we were able to receive an increase in perishables.”
The community school is now a part of the healthy pantry network.
“We will receive more healthy and nutritious foods but also have site-based nutrition programs to empower our students and families with the knowledge and skills to utilize healthy foods effectively,” Leto said. “There will be a course in November and one more in spring semester for this year. We receive meals from the Feeding Tampa Bay production kitchen that are healthy, frozen and ready-to-eat meals for neighbors who are self-identified with chronic health conditions, like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.”
The food pantry program falls under integrated student support. Students can’t learn if they are hungry. Students can’t learn if they are worried whether there will be food on their tables each night.
“Our students come and shop the pantry for themselves and their families on Fridays,” Leto said. “On an average Friday, we will see 60-70 shoppers. With the new program, we will be able to receive more products, which is fantastic because our numbers have been increasing.”
Leto and her staff hope more families will feel comfortable coming to the community school for help.
“I want our parents and families to feel comfortable coming to us for resources.” Leto said. “I hope more kids will continue to advocate for each other. I really want our community to know that we are here to listen and solve problems with them.”
If you would like to learn more about Brandon High School’s Community School, you can contact Leto at lauren.leto@hcps.net.
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