As our Cafeteria Manager, Sue Irby serves hunderds of lunches each day at Tabb Elementary School to nearly 600 hundred students, 30 teachers, 2 preschools and 2 Headstart classes. Most would say that she's got her hands full. But the special thing about Sue Irby is that just wasn't good enough.

According to Aramark, our breakfast counts were down. We were one of the lowest in the county and one of our cafeteria employees would have to leave, if our numbers didn't increase. Mrs. Irby immediately starting thinking of a solution. Not only did she not want to lose an employee, she was concerned about the number of students NOT having breakfast that may be going hungry during the day. All on her own, she researched online looking for a better way to serve breakfast here at Tabb. In years past, students arrived to school, checked in with their teacher and then made their way to  the cafeteria for a quick breakfast before the tardy bell rang. Many students did not arrive in time to have adequate time to eat or just didn't make the effort to go to the cafteria.  Mrs. Irby then found her answer, Breakfast in  the Classroom.

Mrs. Irby first approached me about this program during the spring when most folks are counting the days to summer vacation. She had found a program online, tested in several schools with great success. She contacted her supervisior at Aramark to share her idea and had a plan to find the funding to cover  the needed equipment. Mrs. Irby came to school several times during the summer to discuss the plan with our new principal and make arrangements. Mrs. Irby had covered all her bases, had communicated with parents through letters and at Back to School Day, had teacher support and a plan for action. All that was missing was hungry students!

The first week of school  started with Mrs. Irby's Breakfast in the Classroom off and running. She spent lots of personal time ironing out the details and problems, but the results have been phenomenal. Our breakfast counts are up from 25 students eating to now over 100 students having breakfast each day. The staff was supportive and work cooperatively with Mrs. Irby to make this program a success. Sue Irby is definitely an example of an employee going above and beyond for our students. She is truly deserving the Apple Achievement Award. We are proud to have her at Tabb Elementary.

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