District Administration - April 2008 - (Page 40)

CORPORATIONS & SCHOOL POLICIES Big Macs for Big Grades An example of a report card sleeve that was used in Seminole County (Fla.) Public Schools promoting McDonald’s Happy Meals. BY CHRISTOPHER HANN A controversial program rewards high student achievement with fast food. W HEN CATHY GRIFFITH, a fourth-grader at Red Bug Elementary School in Seminole County (Fla.) Public Schools, made the honor roll last November, she also read a message on her report card sleeve that she was eligible for a prize for her good grades—a Happy Meal at McDonald’s. Bearing an image of Ronald McDonald, the sleeve explains a food-reward program provided in Seminole County to local schools by the fast-food chain. Students in grades 2-5 who receive all As and Bs can receive Happy Meals as rewards. The program was started by a regional McDonald’s oﬃce in Florida, which paid to have its name on thousands of report card sleeves. To Cathy’s mother, Susan Pagán, the idea of the school district’s rewarding high-scoring students with food of dubious nutritional value didn’t sit right. The district claims she was the only parent to have such a problem with it. “I’m not a zealot, not a vegan or vegetarian,” Pagán says. “It’s just that we eat healthy, and I try not to visit those places at all with my kids. To associate her doing well in school with a Happy Meal, basically a fast- food product, to me seemed outrageous.” Pagán sent e-mails to the school board, Superintendent Bill Vogel, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and the local newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel, which published a story that spawned a slew of others. CNN’s Prime News, U.S. News and World Report, the Chicago Tribune and even the London Times and a Dublin radio station picked up the story and called Pagán for comments. Meanwhile, district spokeswoman Regina Klaers had stated that the school district was committed to its partnership with McDonald’s for the rewards program, known as “Made the Grade.” Two weeks later McDonald’s had requested that the district reprint 28,000 report card sleeves “sans McDonald’s branding or references to our Made the Grade program.” The Campaign for a CommercialFree Childhood declared victory. The ﬂaming brouhaha, begun by a single e-mail, was extinguished. Well … not exactly. Two Hot-Button Topics The situation had become an international sensation because it struck at the intersecDistrict Administration 40 April 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2008

District Administration - April 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology
Facilities & Construction
Curriculum
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Profit and Loss in School-Business Partnerships
The Broad Way
Big Macs for Big Grades
Hometown Success
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Speaking Out
Crisis Response
New Products
Problem/Solution
Computer Literature
Research Center
Calendar of Events
Products Showcase
Understanding the Times

District Administration - April 2008