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Ian Haney

Mrs. Gardner

Promiscuous Meatball Dipers

1 May 2023

Awareness Grows Engagement in Principal's Pantry

Dear BHS Administration,

This senior year has been one to remember. Everyday the majority of students

get to wake up, make breakfast, shower, and come to school refreshed and ready for

the day. However not every student at Brighton is fortunate enough to have those

luxuries all the time. In fact some of those students come hungry to school every day.

Thankfully the Principal's Pantry assists these families and others. In an interview, Maria

Bytendorp mentioned that “it serves the community too. If there's someone in need we

certainly don’t turn them away if they need some items. I remember this summer that

there was someone in need that was within the Brighton community. She didn’t have a

student here but she had a need and we were able to fill that need” (Bytendorp,Maria).

This is important because the pantry doesn’t only give to those enrolled in Brighton, but

it gives to the community as well.

However, it's just as important to support families in need over breaks. This is

because when the pantry is running low, so are the families that rely on the pantry.

When asked about tough seasons for the pantry Maria Bytendorp stated, “The start of

summer, I felt like we needed to get re-supplied. I tried to go through things that were

expired. We didn’t get as many donations as in the fall when everybody’s thinking about

it and they donate. Summer was a little bit sparse.``(Bytendorp,Maria).

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In order to solve this problem, we first need to figure out what each family needs.

This could be done by creating a Google form and sending it in emails to every parent/

guardian, inviting anyone in need to submit a form. The Google form can include a list of

questions about what food, clothes, and other necessities are needed by a family. Once

donations are collected, and we have everything needed, each family will recive their

specific proucts.

The pantry allows kids and families to go to work or school with everything they

need to succeed. It’s a fantastic program; however, awareness of the program could be

lower than what the needs actually are. A staggering 63% rated the awareness of the

program very low. Although the pantry tries to keep its users discrete, it may be too

discrete. In an interview with Brady Somonsen when asked about the awareness of the

program he stated, “I mean I'm not very aware of it so not very good.” (Simonsen,

Brady). There could be many kids at BHS that are struggling financially and could

benefit from the pantry, yet they have never heard of it. I think an email along with hall

flyers, both with a link to apply for the program would help more students ask for what

they may need. The Prinicpal's Pantry should be continually promoted in emails and

campaigns throughout the year, both for sign-ups and for donations. If awareness is

maintained throughout the year, then the pantry should be easy to sustain. Along with

this It could easily be promoted during morning announcements, or bengal news.

The goal of this project is to spread awareness of the principal's pantry, get more

donations, and support families within our BHS community.

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Work cited:

Maria, Bytendorp, and Simonsen, Brady. Personal interview. 26 & 27 April 2023.

Ian Haney. Principas pantry questionnaire. A survey about the principals pantry

program at Brighton High school. Cottonwood Heights, UT, Brighton High School, April

2023. Unpublished survey.