High school launches rotating lunch themes to boost sales

As South Hagerstown High School students stood in line waiting for their lunch food last week, they could have chosen their standard options. Or, as 10th-grader Jacob Ancell did, they could have gotten in the new concept line.

It was brunch week at the time, and eggs, french toast, and bacon were available as part of the school lunches.

"I've been taking advantage of this pretty much everyday, and it's pretty good," Jacob, 15, said. "We get to pick what we want on our tray, and most of the time we have pretty good options."

Brunch week is one of four concepts that Washington County Public Schools will have for lunches in its high schools this year on a rotating basis. Throughout that week, students can get food related to that concept.

WCPS Food and Nutrition Supervisor Jeff Proulx said the new concept line is about creating more opportunities for students and finding a way to get more students to want to buy lunch.

"The new concept line is about creating more of a restaurant experience for our students," he said. "We're featuring one type of item for an entire week on one line in our high schools."

In addition to brunch week, there is Mexican-themed food, Italian-themed food, and even a baked potato bar.

Proulx said the concept lines create an atmosphere students would find at their favorite restaurants, such as Chipotle. He added that this is also a way to educate them about different foods.

"Clearly there's an opportunity to broaden the horizons and spread a little bit of diversity," he said. "Brunch week is sort of pretty standard American fare, but when we work with our Mexican foods, our Italian foods, the ideas behind an Asian line, potentially lettuce wraps and things of that nature, it's an opportunity to broaden the horizons of all of our students."