Oceanside teacher's classroom food pantry to outlast her 27-year career

Ava Kershner
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OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — Kathy Easterbrooke has spent nearly three decades making sure her students were not just well-read, but well-fed.

Cans of tuna fish, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, spaghetti, and condiments line the shelves.

Her classroom almost resembling a grocery store.

"Try to keep some of the basics here like, you know, tuna fish and pasta and beans, that kind of stuff," Easterbrooke said.

Easterbrooke began teaching at El Camino High School in 1999, back when things were a bit more analog.

"It was kind of pre-cell phones and all of that kids probably still had pagers," Easterbrooke said. "Part of it has been my growing up, right, because I started here at 29, and now I'm 55," Easterbrooke said.

Over the years, she noticed something beyond typical teenage hunger in her students.

"I thought kids are always hungry at school and I always kind of wrote it off as just they're teenagers of course they're hungry, but no, some people are legitimately food insecure, right?" Easterbrooke said.

That realization led her to start a classroom food pantry in 2017. ABC 10News even featured her as a Classroom Hero at the time.

Senior Richard Higuera said walking into her classroom carries a certain feeling.

"I know it's gonna be a good day," Higuera said.

Fellow senior Salvador De Leon said the pantry reflects something deeper than just food.

"It's very welcoming and, and heartwarming to feel that a teacher has real and genuine involvement in the community and help feeding their community," De Leon said.

The pantry has continued to grow and will move into the school's Wellness Center after Easterbrooke retires.

After nearly three decades in the classroom, Easterbrooke said her students have taught her just as much as she has taught them.

"This job can break your heart and it also can heal your heart, right?" Easterbrooke said. "Students get a bad rap. Most kids are lovely, right? And wanna learn and and are, you know, at school for all the right reasons."

Easterbrooke's next stop after retirement is Mexico City.