Originally published in TEACH Magazine, March/April 2017 Issue
By Martha Beach
A Grade 2 student shows up to school with dried cereal for lunch. She seems a bit lethargic, though she gobbles the cereal up. She is otherwise happy and doing well academically and socially. But she only brings dried cereal for lunch every single day. What should a teacher do in this situation?
This is what Camelia Marks faced in her Grade 2 French-immersion class in a lower-income neighbourhood in Toronto. “I didn’t know what the situation was,” Marks says. So she called the student’s dad, told him what she had noticed, and expressed concern.
Martha Beach lives and works in Toronto as a freelance fact-checker, editor, and writer for a wide variety of publications. When she’s not working, you’ll find Martha on her yoga mat or hanging out with her daughter and husband.
