By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
More than 800 people converged on the Yukon High School Gym, 1777 S Yukon Parkway, to start this week with an ever-popular, much-ballyhooed back-to-school celebration.
“The Breakfast” provided a warm welcome to Yukon Public Schools’ staff members as they prepared to kick off the 2023-24 school year. Thursday was the first day of school.
All YPS school employees – not just teachers – were invited to the Aug. 14th appreciation breakfast. Attendees included administrators and support personnel.
This back-to-school breakfast started in 2000 as a way for Yukon community leaders to “welcome back” all school district employees on the eve of another school year.
And yet, 23 years later, many people still mistakenly refer to it as the “teacher breakfast.”
The YPS Community Engagement Office annually recruits businesses and organizations to decorate tables while providing “swag” gifts for the Yukon school district’s staff members.
Attendees feasted on a tasty breakfast from McDonalds.
A large contingent of uniformed Yukon police officers were there Monday morning to greet and protect.
“Excited to welcome back our amazing teachers and staff at Yukon Public Schools!” according to a post on the Yukon Police Department’s social pages. “It was an honor to be part of the welcome back breakfast. Here’s to a fantastic school year ahead!”
Yukon City Council Member Donna Yanda is an annual table sponsor for The Breakfast.
Yanda, a Yukon funeral home director and owner, said she was blessed to be a part of the YPS back-to-school breakfast where she and other community leaders welcomed all school personnel to the 2023-24 school year.
YPS personnel returned to their school sites to prepare for students’ arrival Thursday morning, Aug. 17.
IT WAS PAM’S IDEA
It was Yukon Chamber of Commerce CEO Pam Shelton who brought the idea of a community-sponsored back-to-school breakfast to Yukon.
A former teacher, Shelton was then director of Yukon Community Education – now Community Engagement.
The Breakfast is “still one of my favorite things to do,” Shelton said this week.
“Good luck to all the YPS employees that are educating our children!”
When this breakfast debuted (at what was then Lakeview Middle School), sponsors brought the hot food from the kitchen to serve YPS employees seated at the tables.
In those early years, district personnel would arrive by bus from their schools.
Today, the food and gifts are waiting at the tables for the YPS staff to arrive. As a bonus, door prizes are given out during the event.
With The Breakfast having since moved to YHS, there is now ample parking for all YPS employees and sponsors.
