OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Ponce had not been on the job long when he had a chance encounter with a third-grader at Edwards Elementary School in northeast Oklahoma City.
The boy was standing in line waiting to eat lunch, and Ponce, director of child nutrition services for Oklahoma City Public Schools, was standing behind him.
It was spaghetti day at Edwards, one of 52 district schools that now serve free meals to students, regardless of family income. A new federal provision eliminates the need for students attending those schools to apply for free- and reduced-price lunches.
Ponce, hired in June to manage food service operations for a district with 44,000 students and 10,000 employees, was on a fact-finding mission.
“He looked at me and asked me if I was new,” Ponce recalled Friday.
“How old are you?” the boy continued.
“I’m old enough to be your grandpa.”
To which the youngster replied: “I already have a grandpa, but you can be my second grandpa.”
The two shared lunch. Ponce learned his new friend approved of the spaghetti.
“We want to attract them with better food, get them away from institutional food,” he said. “Obviously, if they like what’s on the menu, the more they’re going to eat.”
The district, which spends from $26 million to $28 million annually on child nutrition, has initiated a series of changes to upgrade the department.