Illinois high school offers peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all day long

DECATUR, Ill. — Students at an Illinois high school are satisfying their hunger throughout the school day with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The counseling department of Eisenhower High School in Decatur has placed jars of peanut butter and jelly, along with bread and sandwich bags, on tables in school hallways, for students to make snacks, the Herald & Review of Decatur reported.

The school already offers breakfast and lunch to students, but the snacks will be supplementary.

Amanda Duckworth, a counselor at the high school, told the newspaper she got the idea from a cousin in Arizona who works as a school counselor. The sandwiches were set up in the guidance office in Arizona because they had plenty of space, she said.

“A relative shared they were in need of peanut butter and jelly,” Duckworth told the Herald and Review. “Their school is 2,000 kids and it’s really popular. We don’t have that much space, so ours is outside the door. Students are always asking for a snack, so we thought we would try it.”

Warnings will be posted for students who have allergies to peanuts, Duckworth said. Those students will be directed to the school office, where they can make jelly sandwiches.

Teachers are hoping to keep the sandwich stations open throughout the rest of the school year, WCIA reported.

So far, the plan is working.

“We don’t normally bring snacks to school so this just helped get through the day,” junior Kerrigan Boyn told WCIA.

Duckworth said the school went through 13 loaves of bread the first day they unveiled the program, the Herald and Review reported.

The school is raising money to help defray the cost of the snacks through casual dress Fridays, where students donate $1 to wear jeans or school-appropriate pajamas, the newspaper reported.

Duckworth said the school is looking for donations of bread, peanut butter and jelly, along with grocery store gift cards, the Herald & Review reported.

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