Coupeville second graders persuade school to consider french fries

A request for french fries at Coupeville Elementary turned into a taste test, a menu debate and a lesson in how student voice can shape school decisions. Second graders wrote persuasive letters to Principal Erica McColl, and their pitch was strong enough to move from the classroom to the cafeteria.

The letters came out of a recent persuasive-writing unit in multiple second grade classes. In Ms. Kathy Bayne’s class, students wrote about why fries belonged on the menu, including one child who argued they were healthy and another who pointed out that the school had never served them before, so it should. Bayne sent the letters to McColl, turning a writing assignment into something much closer to a real civic argument.

McColl treated the students’ case as more than a joke about cafeteria food. She forwarded the letters to District Food Services Director Laura Luginbill and District Chef Andreas Wurzrainer, who agreed to explore whether fries could fit into the school meal program. That response gave the children a rare look at how a request travels through a school system, from a classroom suggestion to the people who manage menus, cooking and food service decisions.

The conversation did not stop there. The kitchen organized a taste test of four kinds of fries, served with ketchup, and invited the students to help decide which one should win out. The children chose a waffle fry, giving the exercise the feel of an actual vote rather than a classroom gimmick. For the second graders, the decision was playful, but it also showed that school menus are shaped by practical choices, not just student wishes.

McColl said the assignment showed students that their words can have real impact, and she connected it to the school’s broader emphasis on accountable talk, which teaches children to express themselves clearly and constructively. Bayne said the experience helped students see how school meals are planned, including the realities of budgeting and the ways cooking methods can be adjusted to make food healthier.

At Coupeville Elementary, the fry request became something bigger than a cafeteria debate. It became a lesson in persuasion, negotiation and the limits and possibilities of school decision-making, with students seeing firsthand that a well-argued idea can travel all the way from a second grade desk to a district kitchen.