• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Wellesley High students not going to take possible bake sale ban lying down in a sugar-induced haze

May 12, 2015 by Bob Brown 3 Comments

bake sale petition wellesley highWellesley High students are rising up this week against a proposed ban on bake sales at the school, a prohibition that would not only send Martha Stewart into a rage but that students say will hurt their club fundraising efforts. (UPDATE: The Townsman reports that the town “wants more info before making final vote on the bake sale issue.” )

While there still might be a chance for compromise — perhaps such as goods sold at bake sales must consist of at least 51% kale or avocado and include nutrition labels — the students’ initial move is to circulate a Change.org petition to Keep Bake Sales at Wellesley High.

The petition reads in part:

Bake sales provide critical funds to the high school’s student groups, which already receive little to no funding from the school. More than that, these bake sales provide delicious treats for school members that surely brighten up everyone’s day and make the school an overall more positive place. 

The proposal to ban bake sales is being presented and discussed with little input from the students who will be directly affected by the proposal’s outcome. This is our opportunity to fight back for our bake sales and to refuse to remain silent while these changes occur around us. 

Among the comments on the petition: “I’m signing because banning bake sales is hilariously stupid.”

Organizers had secured more than 250 signatures by Tuesday morning so were  well on their way to hitting their goal of 500 by tonight’s School Committee meeting at 7pm at Town Hall, where if you’re thirsty, you can head to the bottom floor to get a delicious soda or other sugary beverage from the vending machine.

town hall soda machine
Wellesley Town Hall vending machine

There’s a Citizens’ Speak at the start and near the end of the meeting, which will include an update from the School Wellness Advisory Committee (SWAC, which rhymes with SNACK).

A year ago during its annual report, SWAC said that one of its goals for the upcoming school year was “Updating school communities on Federal and State guidelines on Healthy Snacks and bake sales.” (Massachusetts rejected bake sale bans back in 2012, with then Governor Patrick saying “Nobody’s interested in banning bake sales.”) Here’s SWAC’s latest report.

The intentions behind cooking up such a ban are no doubt good — fight the good fight vs. childhood obesity (I seem to think bake sales were eradicated somewhat recently from Wellesley Middle School during at least school hours, but am double-checking that.). While obesity figures in communities including Wellesley that take part in the annual Metrowest Adolescent Health Survey are better than the state average, there’s still work to be done. And after all, Wellesley kids are notoriously under-scheduled by their parents and do spend most of their days lounging around munching on cupcakes and brownies.

But students and their supporters argue that high school students are of the age where they should start getting to make some health choices of their own. Check out tonight’s School Committee meeting, where the flour is sure to fly…

ALSO ON SWELLESLEY: Personalization sweetens new Wellesley home bakery dubbed “.sugar” | Wellesley’s Tutto Italiano getting into bakery business

print

Share

Filed Under: Food, Fundraising, Politics

Comments

  1. Michael Smith says

    May 12, 2015 at 7:41 pm

    Are there still people out there who believe you can legislate human behavior? BTW, the administration at Wellesley appears to be attempting to make a fashion statement – by wearing their @$$es as hats.

    Reply
  2. Karen B. says

    May 12, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    There are less chemicals/preservatives in home-baked goods. Let the teenagers make their own choices on this one.

    Reply
  3. Beth MacKinnon says

    May 12, 2015 at 11:33 am

    Tom Brady’s punishment should be to purchase and subsequently eat every cupcake made for all the Wellesley Public School bakesales for one year and produce a perfect souflee to be auctioned off for charity on the last day of school.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Write Ahead

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Admit Fit, Wellesley
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Events Calendar

« January 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
Tue 26

Rum tasting and history talk

January 26 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Wed 27

Online history lecture: Petticoat Whalers

January 27 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Thu 28

Banking on Our Value panel discussion

January 28 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Most Read Posts

  • "I Care a Lot" movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: More local businesses get state COVID-19 grants; $1M in penalties for car dealership firm; regional chamber touts Feb. 4 open house
  • Pinnacle Residential Properties: the concept of home & roots
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Local restaurants get state grants; get or renew your Business Certificate

Pages

  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Please support our advertisers—they support us
  • Embracing diversity in Wellesley
  • Wellesley, MA Police logs
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Bob Brown on Wellesley seeks designation as Housing Choice Community
  • Ann-Mara Lanza on Wellesley seeks designation as Housing Choice Community
  • Susanne Conover on Wellesley Health Dept. COVID-19 update: Talking vaccines, fielding complaints & working around the clock
  • Kourosh Farboodmanesh on Opinion: Massachusetts needs to introduce renewable energy programs in every town and city
  • devin on Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (4)
  • Animals (377)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (534)
  • Beyond Wellesley (28)
  • Books (343)
  • Business (1,358)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (44)
  • Churches (72)
  • Clubs (207)
  • Construction (280)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,880)
    • Babson College (239)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (47)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (598)
    • Wellesley High School (884)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (38)
  • Entertainment (722)
  • Environment (668)
  • Fashion (133)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (141)
  • Food (327)
  • Fundraising (559)
  • Gardens (136)
  • Government (386)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (737)
    • COVID-19 (134)
  • History (358)
  • Holidays (365)
  • Houses (118)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (814)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (6)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (5)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (96)
  • Music (543)
  • Natick Report (27)
  • Neighbors (244)
  • Obituaries (58)
  • Outdoors (582)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (688)
    • Crime (345)
  • Politics (534)
  • Real estate (287)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (302)
  • Safety (142)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (107)
  • Shopping (121)
  • Sports (898)
  • STEM (104)
  • Technology (154)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (209)
  • Travel (11)
  • Uncategorized (1,205)
  • Volunteering (317)
  • Weather (161)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (258)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login