Schools chief serves up lunch to grandparents

By Mary Smith

MINERAL RIDGE — For the second year in a row, Weathersfield schools Superintendent Michael Hanshaw has donned his apron at Seaborn Elementary School and dished out lunch to hundreds of grandparents and pupils for the school’s two-week long observance of Grandparents Day.

Lunches are held for about 150 to 200 grandparents a day for the 363 pupils in kindergarten through fourth grade this year, school principal Cindy Mulgrew said.

The luncheons started last week on Tuesday and Thursday for kindergarten and first grade and continued this week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for grades second, third and fourth.

The actual Grandparents Day observance was Sept. 7.

The grandparents and children eat in the gymnasium of the school instead of the all-purpose room and cafeteria, with tables set up especially for the luncheons and decorated with mums.

Mulgrew said the luncheons have grown in just their second year, and the event brings smiles all around, to both children and grandparents.

In fact, children without grandparents are most likely to be adopted by other grandparents and some pupils invite four to six grandparents to the luncheon.

The board of education Wednesday commended Mulgrew for the success of the event. Students are sent home with a memo about the upcoming luncheons and contact grandparents to come to school for the event.

Mulgrew added that pictures are taken of all pupils with their grandparents, and the photos will be posted at the school.

Debbie Donkers is cafeteria supervisor, and teachers act as the social committee for the event.

Marilyn Besoiu, Trumbull County Technical Center school board representative, told the board that the TCTC had been given a $15,000 donation by Grainger Foundation for labs and industrial, electrical and mechanical programs. Grainger is a distributor of facilities maintenance supplies.

The board received two letters read by board president Cheryl Basista, commending the superintendent and high school principal and criticizing a call for the removal of the superintendent and high school principal made by a parent at the August board meeting. The parent cited incidents involving her children and criticizing use of what she called see-through cross country uniforms. Hanshaw declined to comment on those allegations.