Medora High School students from left, Isaiah Tungate, Haylee Sons and Jacqueline Garcia, serve up breakfasts during the third annual Gravy with Grandparents event on Friday morning at the school.
Medora High School student Bobby Baughman serves breakfast to Vicki Dean during the third annual Gravy with Grandparents event on Friday morning at the school.
Medora High School junior Angel Chan-Cux prepares a meal during the third annual Gravy with Grandparents event on Friday morning at the school.
Medora Community Schools Principal Kara Hunt welcomes everyone to the school’s annual Gravy with Grandparents event on Friday morning at the school.
MEDORA — The days when families gathered around the table for a common meal at least once a day may have almost disappeared.
But for a short time Friday morning the idea lived on in the cafeteria at school that houses Medora Junior-Senior High School and Medora Stem Academy.
Gravy with Grandparents was conducted for the third year in a row. Students and their grandparents gathered in the school’s cafeteria for a meal of biscuits and gravy, bacon, eggs, pears, orange juice, milk and coffee.
Kara Hunt, principal of the Medora Junior-Senior High School, said the idea for Gravy with Grandparents came about because historically the school had a program for elementary students and their grandparents. The elementary program, Goodies with Grands, involves the grandparents going into the classroom with their grandchildren and doing activities.
“We’ve pretty much always done something for grandparents at the elementary school,” she said,
“I thought it would be good to do something for the students in junior and senior high,” she said. “I just think grandparents play an important and pivotal role in the lives of our students.”
Hunt said she thinks involving the student council members and other high school students in serving the meals is important.
“Kids are so much on phones now, it’s nice to get them where they will start talking,” she said.
Senior Haylee Sons said she personally loves participating in serving the meals.
“I love getting to know each of the grandparents and learning their stories,” she said. “I did it last year in FFA too.
Sons said she also helped serve breakfast during a similar event held on Veterans Day.
English teacher Rebecca Lanier, who also is sponsor of the student council, said she had to enlist help from the school’s FFA chapter because the council only has about seven members with the departure of the 2024 graduates.
Lanier said she never has any trouble finding volunteers.
“They always want to help out,” she said.
“I think we’re really lucky to have something like this for the community,” junior Bobby Baughman said. “You get the change to get close to the grandparents. Today people really don’t sit around the table and eat together.”
“I love coming here and getting to have breakfast with them,” Lynn Baughman said while eating her breakfast with her husband, Larry Baughman, and their granddaughter, Josie Bowers, who is a freshman at the school.
”The kids are very polite,” Baughman said.
Teresa Kieser, the grandmother of sophomore Noah Christopher, said she really enjoyed it and planned to attend it in the future.
“As long as I am able,” she said.