By Kate Miller, Record Managing Editor
Last year, Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison was a Lunch Buddy in the Wright City School District, and he loved every minute of it.The Lunch Buddy program continues this year and more adults from the community, from any occupation or education level, are welcome to volunteer.“If people can spare one hour in their day, once or twice a month, and they have something positive to share, it is the absolute best time you can give,” Harrison said.The Lunch Buddy program is a mentor program between community members and students in kindergarten to Eighth grade. The relationship introduced students to people with various life experiences and careers.Last year, during the program’s first year, 13 people participated, said Wright City Superintendent Dr. David Buck. He said the program had such a positive impact on all the participants that he wants to see more people join. The more people who join, all the more students who can be paired off with a lunch buddy.
“I know how mind-sets of what is possible can leak into a child’s schema and, in some cases, they self-limit their possibilities of their future,” Buck said. “With this program, they make a relationship with someone they maybe would not have bumped into, and start seeing beyond the possibilities (they had known before).”Buck said school counselors and teachers work together to select students who would benefit from the program and pair them with a Lunch Buddy volunteer. Each Lunch Buddy commits to at least one lunch a month during the school year. The school pays for lunch. Lunch Buddies work with the same student all year.A background check is required. Volunteers may pay for that or the school district will pay, funded, in part, to a $300 donation from First State Community Bank in Wright City. The bank made the donation specifically for costs related to the Lunch Buddy program.Buck said volunteers don’t need to come to lunch with an agenda.
“It’s just having lunch with and seeing someone successful with the idea that the child will create a growth mind-set of what is possible in life beyond school,” he said. Harrison said for so little time, it makes a big impact. He said at a minimum it helps students learn to converse and be social. He learned, too that he could be a positive influence on his Lunch Buddy, a boy who didn’t see his many gifts. Harrison said he was at an age when a little extra attention and positive reinforcement made a difference. “It’s amazing what someone taking a little bit of time to ask about their grades can do,” Harrison said.Their conversation included strategies for better grades.“I’m there for a small window. It was me complimenting and encouraging him and he upped his game and got better grades,” Harrison said.Harrison also saw leadership qualities in the young man.“He made good decisions and people listened to him. I told him that was a skill. He just never looked at that way,” Harrison said.Harrison’s experience was so positive, Warren County sheriff’s deputies want to volunteer this year. For Buck, Harrison’s comments reflect what the Lunch Buddy program is all about; conversation, expanding the possibilities and learning.Buck said, “There’s something to be said about holding a conversation as you break bread.”For more information about the program, call the Wright City administration office at 636-745-7200.First State Community Bank donated $300 to the Wright City School District to help fund the Lunch Buddy program. Pictured from left are Brook Ramey from First State Community Bank, David Buck, superintendent of the Wright City School District, and Brad Shuster, president of First State Community Bank Wright City. Record photo/ Jana Todd.
