" If you look you, are the "ONLY" one in this whole commentary that is putting your name. Do you want the attention so badly or do you Want to be in the click? As for the click gig, you are the one that posted that comment, and I relpied.The food program has been in existance longer than you have been in the click, and it is apparent that your kids are whining about the food at the school. It is an easy fix. Send them to school with a soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and chips,(or whatever you think is nutritional for them) and let the rest of the kids eat their hot lunch that they enjoy.Sounds like you are the nit picker, and whining.All the meals served have nutritional value, and are in effect state wide,why should this one school have to change the menu just because some parents have spoiled kids. Get realistic, and accept it. "

" You actually consider the school lunches a "terrible injustice?" You have got to be kidding! Now, two teachers aren't meeting the expectations of some of the students? Is that their job, to meet the expectations of the students? Sorry, I thought the job of teachers was to teach, not appease students. I'm sure 7th & 8th graders are aware of what expectations and criteria to have when it comes to teaching. NOT.

What a great precedent has been set, and adults are encouraging it. Unbelievable. If these 7th & 8th graders decide to attend college, let them boycott their instructors there. Then, when they are laughed right out of school, they can blame others for where they "went wrong" and how unprepared they are for REAL life. Again... you have got to be kidding!!
"

" At first glance, I thought that this business of children boycotting school lunches showed a great deal of disrespect and immaturity on the part of the kids involved. I was embarrased for the Westby School District.

But after thinking this through, I believe that my initial reaction was wrong. Boycotts can be a very powerful tools to correct terrible injustices like the situation in the lunch program and should be used, when necessary, to force needed change.

I have heard that two teachers at Westby High School have been not been meeting the expectations of many of the students. With an organized boycott of the classes taught by these teachers, I believe that enough pressure could be applied to make meaningful change in this area also. "

" I have to wonder why people are submitting there comments on this issue and not summiting their names. Is there something or someone you don't want them to know? Come on and fess up and leave your names so we all know who is submitting. I did. As to the writer who commented, that this nameless person has been in the click for 40 years, that's just peachy, how about commenting on the rest of comment I wrote. Lets see some "real" names people or are you ashamed. Thank You "

" I find it ironic how adamant people get about their right to criticize a few menu choices, but think those of us who find this whole issue petty and ridiculous; shouldn't be able to speak out as they do. We think our right to say that this behavior is spoiled and entitled and wasteful is every bit as important as their right to be able to say that they/their children don't like school lunches. Don't forget that all taxpayers are helping to subsidize the cost of these lunches, parents aren't paying the total cost. Even with that, students can bring their lunches from home if they wish, they are not forced to purchase these school lunches.

Some of these children (and adults) seem to have grasped the concept that they can speak out on issues; but not the concept that other people have the same rights. It's funny that some of them get extremely angry because we don't agree with them, and speak out as they do. They keep loudly proclaiming their rights. These rights aren't JUST for them. We have the same rights and we disagree on this issue. "

" It is apparent you arent in the click. Would you starve in the desert if there was something to eat that you didnt like? P.S. Ive been in the click for the past 40 years. How about you? "

" I was shocked at the numerous spelling and grammar errors that were made by a student in this forum. I will be the first to admit that as adults our own grammar and spelling skills may suffer as a result of being out of the educational system for a number of years. This student, who is currently in school and was so adamant about his right to complain about what he is served at lunch, is seriously lacking in the grammar and spelling skills that even a much younger child should have. He is going to need those skills in four short years. It seems apparent that time and energy is not being spent on what it should be spent on. "

" It is obvious that apparently some of those who keep using the word respect think it's only a one-way street. Is the arrogance in some of the postings by these children (and some adults alike) not apparent? To paraphrase some of what was said... "Sure it might be hurting a lot of other people, but we're getting what we want. We're getting attention, we're getting our way."

In one generation we've gone from the very oppressive, self-esteeming-killing mind set of "Children should be seen and not heard" to the alarming mind set of "This is all about me, who cares about anyone else?" I realize some of this is immaturity, but some of it is an engrained mind set that will only increase as the child gets older.

How long has it been since you're tried to have a conversation with other adults (in a non-work environment) and not had countless interruptions by children? I'm not talking about scraped knees or smaller children who need their parents. I'm talking about pre-adults who interject something every 30 seconds. It does not seem to be to enter the conversation, which can be very entertaining and at times, enlightening, but has the sole purpose of being disruptive, and making that "child" the center of attention. I, for one, will never get used to a child telling his parents to shut up, no more than I like that particular phrase used on children. Last time I was in a public restroom, two teens, maybe 13 or 14 years of age, walked right to the front of the line. When they were told that there was a line, they responded that they were "children" and their mom told them they never had to wait. There are very few adults that would protest a small child going to the front of the line. We have too good of memories of a small child waiting until the last possible minute, then saying, "I have to go NOW." These "children", however; were almost adults, and I have to wonder what else they think they can just do because they want to.

It is an increasing epidemic that some children (and some adults alike), think that THEY are the only important people on earth. Along with telling children they need to stand up for what they believe in (and hopefully that is more than their particular like or dislike of school food) they need to being taught that they aren't the only people on earth and that ALL people are important, not just them. As such, they need to be cordial and respectful. Respect is indeed, a two-way street. "

" Congrats to all of you who had the kids booing the children who were eating lunch. I hope that makes you feel so proud of your children, Yes so proud! How pitiful you are. I feel sorry for your children, they are going to grow up just like you. What a shame. "

" This is America! I know there is rules and I respect that. I want to treat this in a calm and ordily manner. I relize some of the food is okay and some of it just sucks! It's not the cooks fault either. I just think that this boycotting thing is just fine. Sure, it may be hurting the school and employees,but us kids are just standing up for what we believe in. We have been trying to get people's attension for a long time. And we finally got attention from the boycotting. So people who say it should be stopped and boycotting isn't getting us anywhere, apparently it has. We have your attention. Plus isn't it the adults and people who watch out for us who tell to stand up for what is right!!!!!! "

" The only thing that bothed me about the school lunches least year was the fact that for one was the fact that there was never enough food they would always run out of food so if you came even just a little late by the time you got through the line there wasn't really any food left so you were stuck either eating what was left or not eating at all and secondly the fact they started portioning out the amount of each thing a student could have. I know that this is probably because of the fact that they is a weight problem in todays society but they were even limiting the amount of fruit you could take. They would only let you put a scoop of sauce on your noodles when the scoop was maybe 3 Tbs. "

" I attended the meeting on Monday night and thought there were several excellent comments made. I thought it was unfortunate that the person who runs the lunch program had another engagement and could not make it to the meeting to answer some well thoughout questions. I student and substitute taught at Westby in early 2005 and I have to admit I enjoyed the food at that time. I did hear grumblings from students about there not being enough of certain kinds of food at times and did find that to be true myself. At that time many of the teachers ate the school lunch, but from what I understand today that there are fewer and fewer teachers who eat at school. As several people commented at the meeting, shouldn't that tell us a lot about the school lunch program? If a teacher can eat a convenient good tasting lunch for $3 don't you think they would do it? I told my son that if he was going to voice his opinions at this meeting that they should be well thought out and fact based. We also talked about the importance of being respectful and I suggested before stating any complaints to compliment the cooks, etc. for all their hard work. Unfortunately when he did get up to speak he was too nervous and forgot, but I do make sure that he remembers that these people work extremely hard and need to be treated with respect. I am proud of him and the other students for taking a stand about something they believe in. I do hope they can be respectful and go about the process in the correct matter. Using the Student Council was suggested at the meeting and I believe that is the types of things they are elected to do. Hopefully it will get more students to want to become a part of Student Council. One last note from the meeting. Offering fewer choices (less than eight), perhaps two or three, and increasing the quality of that food would go along way to avoiding waste and giving our children the nutrition they need. The lady from De Soto who suggested working as a co-op with other schools to provide our children with locally grown, healthy food may have the best idea I've heard. We should teach our children to fight for what they believe in, while guiding them to understand the proper way to do it. As Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." "

" I am very dusturbed on what comments were said from people about eating what's in front of you or go hungry. Give me a break. Westby has always been a clicky community and you have to belong to that click if you want to be accepted in their community. Wake up you nit picking people. Take control of your school district and quit crying about it. Lets try cutting some sport programs. God forbid we mess with sports. What was spent for a new track? I think nutrition is more important then asphalt to make a track better. Why don't we cancel the football season, that will free up some money. Oh boy, don't do that. Come on, wake up. Thank You "

" It is clear that you take your job as a parent very seriously. We would all be better off as a society if all parents did that. In response to your comment concerning my comments about "cause and effect," no, I am not stating those comments because of personal experience of raising a child who grew up ungrateful and spoiled. Since we don't live in a vacuum; however, I was referring to being subject to living on a daily basis with children who did. This can be everything from driving on the roads with people with road rage who risk other people's lives because they are irritated that someone is going the speed limit and slowing them down by a few seconds to making us and our families much more vulnerable to being victims of violent crime, by those who think they can just take what they want. There is a huge difference between these entitled adults and children who grow up to be considerate, appreciative and content. The latter being a joy and contributing to the betterment of our society, and the former are a danger to all of us, individually and to society in it's entirety.

I thought by the content of my comments it would be clear that I was not commenting about WHO made the complaints (and if you believe most of what you hear about this, it was adults who put most of the children up to it anyway.) I was referring to WHAT they were complaining about, not who was complaining. I stand by what I said. It still seems very spoiled and "entitled" to protest these meals. Again, why not have ONE choice of a meal and if the children/parents don't like that particular choice, the child brings his lunch. If the lunch content could be published ahead of time, the parents could commit to the meal or not, giving the planners an idea on how many to plan on, resulting in much less waste on all levels.

This would be a much different story if it was about "injustice" or a question of ethics. Those are the real things that children need to stand up for (and be encouraged to stand up for) not because they don't like menu choices.

"

" The fact that I'm concerned with is that when a sample menu was passed around listing the nutritional value of the food, it stated that our kids are served approximately 30 grams of fat in one sitting. "

" Having graduated from Westby like i did growing up, when a meal was served we ate it. This concept applied at home, and at school. It was eat what is served or go hungry. My son who is going to Westby elementary says the food is ok, and he has never complained about what the food choice was for the day. He is well mannered, and appreciates what ever is served.If kids choose to go away hungry, maybe they will eat what is in front of them the next time "

" I bet if we tried it we would like it. I use to like the stiff mashed potatoes and gravy, and would take the picky eaters potatoes also as they wouldnt eat it. The goulash was to die for and i use to look forward to that day, but other kids thought it was bad. I was raised to appreciate what was available, and not ask for anything that wasnt. "

" I raised my son to appreciate what he has, and what is available. Sometimes my son will ask for a sack lunch because he doesnt want to eat the school food, and sometimes he wants to eat the food.If the kids dont like the food, then bring their own lunch.Dont slam a program that has been in existance before they started going to school and try to change it to accomandate their likes. Not all kids feel the same. "

" When i went to school in westby back in the 70's-80's there was the same dilema. School food "sucked". Looking back now, the food was actually pretty good.I believe the same thing is still happening now, that was happening when i went to school, you get use to the same food,and get tired of the same menus every week. I think if there were some variety of the types of food served, the kids would stop complaining. If the kids are complaining then let them pick their sack lunch for what they want to eat instead of slamming the lunch program, for the kids that actually do like the food. "

" We had a great opportunity in Coon Valley and Chaseburg by having some wonderful cooks that made homemade meals. This was wonderful growing up. We had as much as we wanted and the food was very good. In 8th grade we attended freshman orientation, and we took a tour to see how things operated at the Westby High School. They served spaghetti that day. I turned to one of the students and said, "You actually eat this stuff?" It did not taste good, and I remember it to this day. Eating at the HS for 4 years-many of us ate the salad bar. At that time it was pretty good.

What we see now is a shame? But, who to blame for this poor quality? I was even shocked to see plastic tableware was being used and then thrown away. One problem is that we expect to cut and cut and cut and then expect it all to work out. We settle for less in the end.

The problem is that so many don't want to spend the money or the time to make something that actually is homemade and tastes good. This is not a difficult task.

One solution is that you start out with one item. You ask for some volunteers that would be willing to make something homemade now and again. Soup would be a good start. See what the reaction is. Varied breads would be another idea. If this garners no offers, have a cook spend a few hours extra a week and make something that someone will remember as being good to eat. If there is no money in the budget-find some. If not in school funds-some angel investor.

Bump the cost up some if it has to be done. Where can you go and feed your kid for $2

I contiually am shocked at all the pre-packaged junk that is heated up and served. Fried this and fried that. As our kids gets fatter, we wonder what are we doing to their bodies?

A long-standing study found that schools that served fresh/homemade meals (less packaged and fried) scored higher overall compared to schools that served fatty-fried foods and had vending machines with pop and candy bars. In addition, the students were not allowed to go to local stores to stock up on Mountain Dew and Snickers.

I would rather pay a little more and have some good/great food at school. Think about this the next time that you go out with the family. Calculate the total cost of taking the family out and divide it by the number of people that were out. Then, report these results back here and tell what the cost of the meal was per person. "

" I am in agreement to many things you have stated Contra. but with the limitation of space entering thoughts, concerns, and responses here limits ALL points to be made, I EDUCATE my children on recycling products, saving water, respecting others, making wise decisions, having values, to stand up for what they believe in and being nice; along with so much more, ALL my responsibility as a parent in a harsh world I feel I did not have to grow up in or create. I'm a firm believer of parents being held accountable for educating their children, not neccessarily in subjects found at school. It's the same idea that I should be the one who tells my children the facts of life, not a school. I am teaching them life skills. By no means am I making the president to blame for Westby's Lunch program, just that when it comes to the meeting I attended Monday night, a lot of the blame seemed to fall on the State of Wisconsin which in result most likely falls from yet another source of blame. (Perhaps you attended the meeting to know??) As for the funds that support the meals, just another thing the school blamed the parents for Monday night as the school lost money because the students did not eat there last week- hence money out of accounts that parents send in for meals. I am proud of the unity and statement the students made even though my children are not participating in the lunch program, I do not support the lunch program and have not for the past few years as I have been providing nutritional foods for my childrens cold lunch pretty much since I moved to Westby so therefore I do take responsibility for what they eat and I am the shopper of the food choices, not my children. In your second paragraph, you add cause and effect, is this from your own personal experience because it is no where to be the life I have with my family nor something I foresee my children turning out to be, disciple, love, support, limitations, and respect is in this household along with consequence, which many households possibly are missing. The Westby lunch program offers 8 different choices each day to our students and when this was stated Monday night, the shock on parents faces was enough to have many parents comment, "What is wrong with one or two choices, why 8?" If the student is hungry they will eat, if not they can go without. This is how I grew up and how I teach my children. You value what you have no matter how little, and the students attending the meeting agreed that 8 was too much, go to one or two but provide quality food and prevent so much waste, all things the students have concerns about. At least when I was in school the meal I received through the lunch line had value and didn't come from over seas, in a plastic bag, or in a throw-away fruit cup with matching throw away spoon/fork like Westby has. The only thing I can come up with as my fault is sending my kids to a school that did not listen to students when the concerns WERE small. Freedom of speech applies to all Americans last I checked, no one in this was looking for entitlement but a chance to be heard. Don't dismiss the voice because it comes from someone small. "

" Because of some people there always seems to be trouble brewing in Westby, (probably) all small towns. When my children went to Westby (the last one graduated in 2003) my children ate the school lunches most of the time and when they did not like what the school was having they took a lunch. Or went with out. Those are fine choices. As for all of the choices kids get at school today, maybe that is part of the problem? Why not go back to having three choices: 1.eat the one thing the school is making,2. Bring your own or 3. Go without. That solution would solve many problems. The school might be able to have enough food that the student wants if there is only one thing to choose from. "

" Hats off to the cooks is right!!! They deserve more respect than anyone has ever given them. And hats NOT off....to the students. Im not going to sit and say that everyone is going to be satisfied every day about the food they eat, whether it be in school or somewhere else, I am going to say that those of us who support the hard working people behind the scenes, find it schocking that middle schoolers are able to bring this issue up with as much disrespect as it has been brought up. I personally know many of the food service employees and have eaten lunch for many years at the school, and it might not be a Friday night at Ciattis, but it is more than enough of a nutritional, healthy meal, that many do not complain about. I would like to appoligize to the people that take the unruely criticism day in and day out, and don't have the pull that teachers do, or that the principal does, to stop some of the kids and or parents from acting inappropriately, becuase they are lower on the " food chain" if you will. Thank you to all of the food service and the custodial staff, and those of us that are not spoiled, are behind you "

" Yes I do believe that eating a home cooked meal by your parents may be higher on some peeoples list, it's easy to make a meal for 2 or 3 kids that you are familiar with. I would like to see any one of you guys that are complaining about that quality of food, to try and cook a meal for 3 hundred kids, meeting nutritional requirements that are needed to distribtute to the kids. More over, some of you parents that sit and say" my kid says this, my kid says that", should take 15 minutes, one day of the week to go to the school as that taxpayers we all are, and try the food for yourself, and think to yourself, If I had to make this for hundreds of kids a day, am I going to satisfy everyone??? Being very familiar with the cafeteria and many of its employees, it makes me sick to my stomache to see how some of you so called role models, tarnish the reputations of the cafeteria workers. So let's manipulate the children into boycotting the lunch program, which resulted in the loss of a lot of food and money, and convince your children to be the same selfish people that you've came to be. Read this, get upset that I am calling you selfish, I don't really care, this is not a problem with the school lunches, or anything like that. I just wish that you could stand in the shoes of the food service employees or the janitors or custodians or anything like that, and try and get respect from the children. It's not easy and the adults orgranization, yeah i said that adults organzation of this boycott, has made it that much more difficult for the kids to respect the people that deserve it most. So thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!! "

" If you take full responsibility for the education your child gets as well as for what they eat like you say you do, WHY aren't you doing just that? Then, you attempt to make it a political issue by saying it's the president's responsibility to run the school like you think it needs to be run. Put it on every one else from the school system clear on up to the President of the U.S. Give us a break. Of course, most parents aren't going to admit that their children are spoiled, it might reflect on their parenting skills. Personally, I think there are a lot more important issues than your child not liking his/her food choices. Remember when children weren't given ANY food choices? There was ONE meal prepared, with NO choices. You had the choice of eating that one meal or bringing your lunch (IF you were lucky). You also say the parents are the main source of funds for the meals. Do you not realize that it is much more than just what you think the food itself costs? It is the cost of obtaining the food and getting the food to the schools, and also the wages for "administration and record-keeping", as well as the costs of obtaining, preparing, serving and cleaning up after the meals. It is also where the food is served.

I realize more and more families are buying take-out and eating out for their evening meals. For argument's sake, let's say parents fix numerous choices for their child every single evening meal. After going to all that expense and wasting all that time which should be spent on other things, the child refuses to eat it because it's not exactly what they want. Then what? You spend even more money and time to take a child to a restaurant to get one of the few items that they won't refuse to eat? What did you just do? Reinforced spoiled children with a "sense of entitlement" that we all are going to have to put up with. You don't think their behavior is "cute" in the 7th or 8th grade when it affects you? Wait until they're 16, or 17... or adults ...and then society has to put up with them. We are beginning to see more and more where there is less and less personal responsibility, idiotic excuses for even criminal violent behavior, an increasing sense of entitlement and more and more people where nothing seems to make them happy or content. Whose fault do you think this is? "

" The meeting went nowhere in a direction that will see any drastic changes soon. This is by no means about spoiled children but too many choices being offered for one meal and many of them bad. Starting with the cost and value of this meal. Hearing about the lack of enough food by the time the last student goes through the line and is charged the same amount as the first is a huge issue for this school; hearing about teachers not listening to the concerns of students when they are rather small concerns before boycotts start-being another. The school lacks in many areas not just this one thing and it starts with respect. Hats off to the hard working cooks who take more guff than anyone cares to admit, and to the janitor who is an everyday super hero, but hats off to kids who have the guts to speak up, unite and be brave enough to stand up even if it means to stand up next to their parent, speak about something they saw, and then be called a liar. I felt the parents were not taken seriously as once again, respect is the main issue here. The parents are the main source of funds for this program and the loss of funds is for good reason. If this group of students had rights to vote, we just might see a decent president in 2009 who can help do something about improving the schools we entrust our children to learn in. I take full responsibility for the education my child gets, as well as for what they eat there. "

" The food at Westby is nothing great, every thing is taken out of a box and heated up, and that salad bar isn't so great. I have family in Cashton and that's all that they would talk about is how bad the food is there too so its not just Westby. What's wrong with the students doing a boycott any way after all this is America. "

" So they are really going to have a meeting to see how to appease the students? Are we becoming so blind to the "Sense of Entitlement" that is rapidly overtaking this country? Of all the criticisms that we've been hearing about this school system, does the "administration" really think this is the way to handle this? These children need to be reminded of what it takes to raise food from planting to harvesting to the table. As harsh as it sounds, some of us can remember when we went hungry and because of this now never take having food for granted. Maybe missing a few meals wouldn't hurt these children who clearly do not appreciate having it. They need to appreciate their parents providing food at home and the government/school (the taxpayers) providing it for them while they're at school.

This was NOT protesting an "injustice" on the children's part. This was a spoiled, selfish act on their part and I think the absolutely wrong thing to do is to reward it and reinforce this behavior. We all will have to live a lifetime of the consequences of raising children to be spoiled, entitled, demanding adults. "

" You couldn't pay me to work in Westby's schools. There's such an air of entitlement and negativity that you can cut it with a knife. What's wrong with the school's hot lunch program? Nothing. The truth is the minds of the children have been poisoned by adults stirring up trouble. Some tried to do it last year with the high schoolers and almost got the job done, but this year they picked on easier children to lead -- the 7th and 8th graders. This whole thing reminds me of the Salem witch trials. An adult whispers and all of the sudden every child in the middle school is convinced there's tacks in their dinner. What's next? Gardening sheers in the peas? I think Westby students should be sent to Brookwood, La Farge, De Soto, Kickapoo, Cashton, Viroqua (Which has the same program coordinator -- no problem there.)... any other school district for lunch. Then they should compare what they have to what's offered in Westby. They'd realize that their pumped-up, anti-establishment rally was just a bunch of shinola shoveled to them by a few choice adults grinding axes. The horrible thing here is that people who are the heart and soul of the district, the employees who serve the school lunch, (just like the janitors and the groundskeepers -- the folks that work their butts off, but nobody even cares about), have been branded as terrible employees. I've eaten school lunch before in several districts. Westby's is the same, with even some extras, like a salad bar that I haven't seen in some other schools. You know, I hope part of Monday's meeting is an accounting for who is making these accusations and maybe a question and answer session on who the students sought advice from regarding the boycott. But I'm guessing that won't happen. No the adults coddling the entitled children will appease them and heap sorrow and heartache on the school staff. This whole thing is playing out like The Crucible. My guess is not a single adult in Westby has the guts to straighten this out. That's OK, they'll be coming after you next. "

" It will be interesting to see how many students and their parents show up for the meeting on Monday.... "

" I think they should have samples of the food for parents to try at the meeting and let them decide. My child attends the elementery and I questioned him on his meals and he stated that the food is sometimes burnt and dry. It is a real shame to think some of these kids may go away from the table hungery and then how productive are they the rest of the day. "

" I work in a restaurant and I know for a fact the schools in this area used to by food from a more quality product company and have slowly switched to cheaper less quality suppliers. "

" I have noticed in the last couple years the complaints from kids at both Westby and Viroqua schools. These schools have the same person setting the menu and ordering the food and it is not the best food. Ask the Schools what Company is supplying their food and I bet it will be the same answer. There are healthy and better suppliers out there that sell affordable food. I do not think our kids should have to eat the cheapest food. I drive around both towns and I know the trucks bringing food to the schools are not the same ones that sell the majority of the restaurants the majority of their food! Schools should not cut at the luch area. For alot of children it is the only or at least the best meal they get in a day. Our children deserve the best food! "

" Although I don't think it's fair to penalize all students for the actions of a few, this situation needs to be stopped. If students aren't happy with the lunches, lets just let them bring sack lunches ALL the time. We have people in our county who can't afford enough food. Maybe these students need to stop being so spoiled and "entitled." They apparently don't know how good they have it. We are already paying a huge amount of property taxes dedicated to the school system. I, for one, would be happy to stop helping to subsidize the lunches, along with other benefits that clearly are not appreciated. After all, the government subsidies that they are talking about, is US. "