By ALFREDO ALVARADO

A nutritious breakfast to start the day and a hot meal at lunch are as vital to learning as new textbooks.

With the devoted work of thousands of Local 372 members, the Board of Education's school food program whips up a mind-boggling 806,935 free breakfasts and lunches daily at more than 1,200 public schools throughout the five boroughs.

School Food and Nutrition Service employees also prepare nutritious meals for alternative schools, senior citizen centers, community centers and parochial schools.

And while many people assume that the public schools are closed during the summer months, some like P.S. 169 in Brooklyn, are often busier.

"We have as many as seven different programs here during the summer," said School Lunch Cook Nestor Gonzalez. "Sometimes we serve more meals on summer days than we do during the regular school year." During the summer of 2001, the program served 80,518 breakfasts and 192,014 lunches citywide every day.

At P.S. 169 in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn, Mr. Gonzalez and nine other school lunch employees serve the students 1,200 free meals per day. That includes an early morning breakfast and three lunch shifts. They also prepare meals for the local Chinese Association and snacks for a nearby YMCA.

The Local 372 members take pride in their work. They know that a nutritious breakfast to start the day and a hot meal at lunch are as vital to learning as new textbooks.

Our job is kids
"The meals we serve are an important part of the whole educational process," said Local 372 president Veronica Montgomery Costa. "Hungry kids can't learn. They can't pay attention to the lessons."

She said Mr. Gonzalez and the other cafeteria workers at P.S. 169 "provide a tremendous example of the valuable support services our 25,000 members provide throughout the school system."

Recent studies prove that students who participate in school lunch programs perform better academically.

Local 372 and the Food Research Action Center in Washington sponsored the first research studies that demonstrated that children who eat balanced meals in school get higher grades, perform better on tests and even have better attendance records.

Scientists at Harvard University, Tufts University and the American Dietetic Association have verified the results of the research.

The union also works closely with the Board of Education to educate parents and students about the importance of good nutrition in general and school meals in particular. To encourage more participation in the breakfast program, for example, Local 372, the Board of Education and the American Dairy Association brought basketball star Chris Gatling to I.S. 52 to encourage children to eat right.

Mr. Gonzalez says he can tell when the children are hungry, "And after they eat, you can see the expressions on their faces change."

If the smiling faces he sees everyday at P.S. 169 are any indication, the union members in the school feeding program are not only generating better attendance and better grades, but even producing happier children.

"The greatest part of this job is serving these kids," said Mr. Gonzalez, whose attitude embodies Local 372's slogan, "Our Job Is Kids."