This story was originally published Oct. 28, 2016 in Prospective, 25 (2), and can be viewed HERE.

                t the bottom of the staircase and steps away from the library, students with dollar bills in their hands crowd around one of                  five vending machines that appeared just days before. Inside are a number of approved healthy snacks, an alternative to                      going hungry while waiting for lunch to begin.
 

The process for implementing the vending machines started in late October of the 2015-2016 school year when Lisa Stogsdill took over as Food Service Director. At this time, ESL teacher Vicki Hale had her students working on persuasive essays. The nine students decided to write about the necessity of vending machines, and later gave a presentation to Stogsdill, former Principal Jay Pickering, Director of Human Resources and Legal Affairs Jeremy Lasiter and Superintendent Tom Kimbrell.     
 

“When we [researched] the vending machines, our paragraphs were so good that the teacher told us we were going to get the principal and the superintendent,” senior William Barrientos said. “They all came here and they were impressed with the research we did.”
 

Stogsdill was already working on alternative meal plans, but the students’ interest and essays motivated Kimbrell to move the process along.
 

“The [presentation] jumpstarted us to say, ‘You know, this is something we need to go ahead and try to do,’” Kimbrell said. “It made us begin that process and start looking at what our options [were], and how quickly we [could] do this.”
 

Every day, 3,000 students divide into four lunches in two cafeterias. Lunch often is not enough to supplement students’ hunger throughout the seven-and-a-half hour school day, especially for students who are not hungry until after the cafeteria has closed. This was an important issue for sophomore Jesse Galicia, one of the students who presented his ideas.
 

“You can come late and not catch breakfast between class,” Galicia said. “[But now] you have time to go to the vending machine, because the cafeteria isn’t always open.”
 

Despite the benefits, it took a number of departments to approve the idea and allow vending machines on campus. Stogsdill had to write a proposal and submit the student essays to the Department of Education. The idea then went to the Department of Agriculture for national approval. The USDA agreed to the vending machines in May. Stogsdill has been tracking the efforts from the beginning.
 

“I had a stack about this big,” Stogsdill said, separating her index finger and thumb two inches apart.
 

The hours the vending machines could be open was widely discussed before the idea made it to a national level.
 

 “The essays written by the ESL students were a determining factor in [the Department of Education’s] decision to allow us to have [the vending machines] turned on all day,” Stogsdill said. “We are the only school in the whole state who has vending machines that are on all day; nobody else can do it.”
 

The machines can only have options that pass a “smart snack calculator” test. There are limits on calories and fats, and grain items must be 50 percent whole-grain. This is important for one of the presentees, sophomore Jacinto Alvarado. 
 

“There’s some healthier options in the vending machine, like what we presented.” Alvarado said. “We could put healthy options and help the student’s health and the school [can] gain a little bit of money.”
 

The school did not have to pay for the vending machines. Healthy Choice Vending installs their machines and stocks them. The Food Service Department will receive 15 percent of the revenue, though the possibility of revenue was not a deciding factor in getting the machines.
 

“It’s not about making money, it’s about providing options,” Kimbrell said.
 

The vending machines are the first step toward providing better meal options for students.
 

“I hate that there’s not a good place for our students to go get a meal,” Kimbrell said. “My hope is that we can build a new cafeteria, and we can start building in about a year from now.”
 

In order to break ground on a new cafeteria, voters must agree to the upcoming millage on March 14, 2017. If not, it could take up to 10 years for the district to save enough money.
 

“All the plans are in place, we just have to have our share of the money to match the state’s share of the money,” Kimbrell said. “We can’t wait that long.”
 

Vending machines are a small step toward more meal options for students, but for junior Damariz Silva, that small step is an incredible achievement.
 

“If you work hard, you’re [going to] get that thing,” Silva said. “We were successful. We see the vending machines [and] everything is getting sold out.”