By Woodrow Polston
Members of the community were invited to a Pancake Breakfast at Van-Far Elementary last week. Sponsored by Cordelio Power and the Van-Far PTO, the students and faculty worked in various roles to serve the visitors in a timely and orderly fashion. The menu included pancakes, sausage and beverages. Van-Far Elementary School Principal Brian Hummel said that this was the first breakfast they have held in a few years because of COVD-19.
“We haven’t held one of these since 2019, due to the pandemic in 2020,” said Hummel. “We are trying to reintroduce it today. The ‘Breakfast With Buddies’ started at 7 a.m. for students guests, which included family members and friends. After 7:45, it was open to anyone in the community including local businesses. Staff from our food service company is on-site to assist faculty with food preparation,” he added.
The streamlined experience began at the entrance of the school, as teachers opened the doors to visitors. Once inside the school, guests were directed by faculty to the food line in the cafeteria where the girls’ basketball team was serving the pancakes and sausage. Elementary students were buzzing about in the gymnasium helping to take care of drinks and doing trash collection. Students and faculty also gave tours of the school to guests after the breakfast. Preschool Teacher Shelly Buie said that there was a good crowd for the early-morning meal.
“There were about 250 guests not including the students,” said Buie. “We are really glad to be able to do this for the community again. It is also a good opportunity for people to come and tour the school and see what the kids are doing for the year. This is the first year that our Student Tribal Council has headed up our business invitations. There are many local businesses that support the school, and we are happy to show our appreciation for that,” she added.
After the breakfast was over, Hummel posted photos of the event on social media and stated that the event was well received.
“Our Breakfast with Buddies event was a successful one! We are thankful to those who were able to attend this morning and enjoy breakfast with the kids. It was a busy morning with lots of laughter and fun. Also, thank you to the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams and cheerleaders for helping with the event. We also appreciate the support of our local farmers, businesses, and community members who were able to join us,” he added.