Chisum Middle School Flips for Breakfast

It was a great day when Mr. Aaron Bridges, principal of Chisum Middle School, asked us to relaunch Second Chance Breakfast. What is Second Chance Breakfast, you might ask. Students are offered breakfast in the cafeteria first thing in the morning. There are a variety of reasons they may skip breakfast. They have athletics before school, they kept hitting the snooze on their alarm and barely made it before the bell, they just aren’t hungry first thing in the morning. My mother could tell you all about the second reason. I can still hear her voice as she called up the stairs, “Penny, if you don’t get out of bed right now…” Prior to the pandemic, Middle and High School students were offered a second chance to get breakfast. A cart was pushed into the hall and they could pick up breakfast on their way from 1st period to 2nd period. They were allowed to eat in the room. Covid put a stop to that. But now we’re getting back to normal. Being a marketer and entrepreneur at heart, I seized the opportunity for an activity to get the Middle School excited about the relaunch. What could be more fun than an egg-flipping contest? Thus, the I Flip for Breakfast contest was born. During the relaunch week, every student who got breakfast received an entry form. They filled out the entry form and dropped it into a giant, plastic egg. Names were to be drawn at the end of the week and competitors chosen. There were some interesting discoveries as we opened the giant egg to select contestants. First, one student had 17 entries. We knew he got a free breakfast first thing in the morning. He paid for a second breakfast so he could increase his chances. It seems he also got entries from his friends as the two breakfasts a day only added up to 10 entries. His father told us he’d been practicing at home. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t the only one. We also discovered that of the 300+ breakfasts we served that week, only 14 students entered the contest. While a little disappointing, it meant all who entered could compete. Each day several students competed during lunch. Why lunch? Because there’s more time and they’re more awake. Each contestant flipped a silicone egg in a small skillet. The person with the most complete flips in a two-minute time period was the winner for that day. If you dropped the egg, you were out. Adults counted the number of flips, recording them on clickers. The winner from each day competed in a final Flip-off. Participants included Logan Bacorn, Hayes Chalaire, Jack Cooley, Addison Dunigan, Ky Fortner, Gracie Gayton, Hunter Holland, Austin Jones, Mason LaRue, Jarrett Leverett, Skylar McCurley Pruitt, Alie Megason, Kayden Ralson and Braysen Snell. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Contestants received a card for a free snack item and an “I Flipped for Breakfast” button to wear. The grand prize winners received personalized skinny tumblers. Breakfast participation sky-rocketed that week. New grab and go items, like cereal bars, Pop Tarts® and yogurt were added to breakfast. Participation tripled and has stayed that way. I believe it was a winning situation for all. Speaking of winning, congratulations to our grand prize winners Ky Fortner at first lunch and Skylar McCurley Pruitt at second lunch. You’re flippin’ awesome!