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All elementary students’ birthdays celebrated this week
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
All William Holmes McGuffey Elementary School students celebrated their birthdays Monday.
The city school district’s food services department brought cupcakes and ice cream to mark birthdays of all district elementary students this week.
Students at McGuffey and Williamson kicked off the week.
“I know a lot of kids don’t get much for their birthdays with cake and ice cream,” said Sue Paris, the district’s food services director.
Paris and her secretary, Diane Morrell, worked in the kitchen, allowing Carol Rockwell, Lisa Smallwood and Tina Yurkovich, who work in the McGuffey cafeteria, to pass out the ice-cream cups and individually wrapped cupcakes to students during lunch.
“They know the kids,” Paris said.
Each of the women wore “Happy Birthday” aprons to continue the theme.
The sweet treats complied with healthy-food requirements implemented recently for schools.
“The cupcakes are made from whole grain flour, and the ice cream is low-fat and low sugar,” Paris said.
The kids didn’t notice the difference.
“It was good,” said first-grader Gabby Stankorb, 6.
She ate the cupcake but wanted to save her ice cream for later so she put in her lunch box.
Paris had to explain that ice cream doesn’t keep.
A woman in the school office agreed to keep Gabby’s ice cream in a freezer until the end of the school day.
“We’re celebrating everyone’s birthday,” said Alyssa Centafanti, 7, a first-grader.
The birthday celebrations continue at Harding Elementary today, at Paul C. Bunn and Martin Luther King elementaries Wednesday and at Taft on Thursday.
Being a birthday-dessert purist, DeWayne Thompson, 8, who’s in second grade at McGuffey, spooned his ice cream onto his cupcake to enjoy the treats together.
Sisters Cimirria Whitfield, 8, a second-grader, and Cinieya Whitfield, 11, a fifth-grader, and second-grade twins Gracie and Elizabeth Stankorb, 8, dug into the desserts. They gave positive reviews.
The food-service department gets gifts from vendors when orders reach a certain amount. Some times those are items for the kitchen, but Paris also asks for prizes to give the students.
Each student got a lunch ticket and was told to write his or her name on the back. All the tickets are put into a bucket and two names will be drawn.
“They’ll win the gift of tickets for a movie,” Paris said. “The cards are for $10 so they can get the movie and popcorn.”