As a student at SRS, my nutrition plays a direct role in my academic performance and my ability to participate in after-school activities. Since Ms. Shwachman started in the 2025-2026 school year, we have noticed a decline in food quality and quantity. 

Did you know that an 18-year-old male burns between 2,400 and 3,200+ calories per day? Compare that to an 8-year-old who uses a little more than half, between 1200 and 1800 per day. To compensate for these differences in dietary needs, instead of scaling the size of the meal to reflect this difference, we get added carbs, and not much. For example, on May 7th, at SRS, we got an extra piece of garlic bread, even though some of us need more than double the food the kids at Woodland need.  Despite our written complaints in surveys and verbal complaints to her directly, we have not seen any change. Leading us to think our opinions are not being valued.

It's important to remember who the school staff works for, its US. Every school employee comes to school to provide us with an education. And despite that, our feedback on the food being made for us is not taken into consideration!  After hearing every one of my friends complaining about the fish on the menu this entire year, nothing has changed. Everyone knows, including our cafeteria staff, that nobody likes the fish, yet it's still on the menu, and we are still getting it on our trays.   The real decision makers over the menu should be the cafeteria employees who are loved by everyone because they respect us and listen to our feedback on the food. After all, why should a stranger to us be making decisions on what we eat? 

As students at SRS who care about our nutrition, we are calling on Greta Shwachman to refine the system, which is the fuel to our academic performance, physical activity, and health. We hope that through this petition, she recognizes how serious we are about this matter.