Breakfast on the ballot

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Students at Parkview Elementary School took an active role last week in setting next year’s breakfast menu. And they did it with a little help from a special guest.

On May 18 a chef from General Mills visited Parkview to work with cafeteria workers on four new breakfast items. Students had a chance to vote on their favorite, with the winner to be added to next year’s breakfast menu full time.

The contenders were oatmeal with dried cherries and fresh apples, an egg bake, mini French toast sticks and muffins on a stick.

Parkview won the chance to try out new menu items by winning a districtwide competition to boost the number of students eating breakfast at school.

Mary Overgaard, who is in charge of the kitchen at Parkview, said kids seemed to enjoy the opportunity to try some new things.

“There was a lot of food for them to eat, but it was fun to try something new and different,” Overgaard said. “Then they went over and voted on each item. They voted if they liked it or didn’t like it.

Perhaps fitting for a state where fair food has become a culinary art form all its own, the winner was muffins on a stick. The muffins came in two flavors, orange-cranberry and apple-cinnamon.

“They were cute,” Overgaard said. “We put little frosting smiley faces on them. They were tasty, too.”

The special breakfast drew a bigger crowd than the cafeteria sees most mornings at Parkview. There were 297 students for breakfast that day, well above the average of 176.

Tags: elementary schools, news, education, rosemount