With the dreaded finals and SOL week looming, FCHS students started looking more tired than ever. The signs of a student struggling to juggle homework, life, and studying are all too obvious: dark rings under the eyes, “bum” clothing, and bad hair days. That is why the FCHS Culinary Arts teacher, Delores Carr, found a solution: SOL snack packs, consisting of a juice box, peanuts and a banana, which were prepared by Carr’s Culinary Arts classes and passed out to classes prior to SOLs.

Carr explained her reasoning. “Students have purchased tea from us over the last year and a half. If we could make sure every student was offered something to eat before taking their SOL, it would be the most productive way to give back,” she said. “The plan is for students to receive an energy pack the day of their SOL once they enter the building. The first day we have 354 testing,” said Carr prior to exams. Altogether, the Culinary Arts classes prepared approximately 1,481 snack packs to help Flucos do their best during exams.

There was just one blip in the plan: some concerned parents emailed Carr criticizing the inclusion of peanuts in the snack packs since some students have peanut allergies. “I think it’s a good idea since a lot of people don’t think (or able to) get a healthy breakfast. Peanuts are good protein too. But I understand the parents’ concern about their kids being near peanuts that could potentially harm them,” said junior Lindsay McFarlane.

While it is true that some people are allergic to peanuts, there are plenty of students with allergies to other items (including wheat, dairy products, and bananas), so it would be nearly impossible to make snack packs that were 100% allergy free. “It’s really hard to pick a food that some kids aren’t allergic to. I think the kids with peanut allergies could get someone to help them out a little, like get their friend to take the peanuts out of the bag and throw them away or something,” said sophomore Colby Deforge.

Also, peanuts and peanut butter have significant benefits. “Few foods are so packed with protein as the peanut and peanut butter. They contain 10% of the recommended daily intake or RDI of protein,” said Carr. She noted that according to the American Peanut Council, “protein is required for the brain to manufacture chemicals called neurotransmitters, which brain cells use to communicate with one another.”

Whether they ate the peanut items or not, nearly 1,500 students benefited from the snack packs last week, as the packs gave them a little boost (and for those students who didn’t eat breakfast those days, a huge boost) before exams. A focused student full of energy has the potential to accomplish anything. Even during those daunting finals.