A box decorated in red, white and blue ribbon and tissue paper will be the designated place for ballots at Warren Elementary School as students get to chime in on what they like to eat. I like the corndogs, and the chicken wraps are good, said Warren Elementary sixth-grader Tamia Boards, 11. School lunch is good at times.

National School Lunch Week takes one week each year to focus on nutrition in schools, said Gina Howard, food and nutrition director for Warren County Schools. This year s school lunch week is marked by something fun kids vote on their favorite school lunch meal. Pattie Mac and Cheese, Biff Burger, Jessie Wrap, Pippa Potato and Yumi Rice Bowl five different characters representing a meal for each day of the week and kids today get to vote for their favorite school lunch character.

The character with the most votes will represent the district s favorite school lunch meal, Howard said. School lunch week is a week set aside to let people know what we re doing to provide nutritious meals and it gives students fun during the week, while giving us input about their school lunch and what they want on their menus, Howard said. It s not just a local thing, but done on a national level, placing votes online for a national winner .

.. this campaign will go beyond 2008, choosing the favorite school lunch meal.

By letting the students vote, they feel like they are part of the decision making on school meals, said Shelita Bathune, cafeteria manager at Warren Elementary. It s a good idea, she said. It lets us know what they like and don t like.

I know the chicken wrap is big and so is burger day. The national school lunch program, sponsored by the School Nutrition Association, was started in 1946 when the National School Lunch Act was signed. Each year, the program is celebrated during school lunch week.

School lunch is really important, Howard said. They can learn about portion sizes and foods they might enjoy eating. In addition to voting for their favorite meal character, some schools invite people in the community to eat lunch during the week, said Kelly Holt, food service supervisor for Warren County Schools.

It is a special week and a lot of fun, and it lets the community come in and eat because the perception of school lunch has changed, he said. It s great to get the community in and see how healthy school lunch is now. The official voting period started Aug.

1 and will run until the end of the annual event Friday. The winner will be announced Monday. Through the School Nutrition Association, the five candidates were promoted to students and parents, helping them to understand the benefits of eating lunch.

All have healthy choices, Holt said. Like Jesse is a whole wheat wrap ..

. Biff Burger is a whole wheat bun with fresh toppings, and the rice bowl has a lot of good things in there. So there are a lot of good aspects to healthy eating that are fun for the students.

While finding ways to make lunch fun for students, the focus on nutritious eating still remains at the forefront, Howard said. We want kids to be able to learn healthy habits, she said. We want them to take what they learn here and apply it to their everyday life.

Things they learn here they ll have for a lifetime. In the high schools, there are about seven different lines students can choose from, including sandwich, salad, home cooking, pizza, Mexican and chicken ring lines, Howard said. The school system also has limited frying in all our schools, using non-transfat oil to do so.

One school Plano Elementary School has no fryer, and the new middle/high school will not have one either, Howard said. All the food items prepared are baked, she said. Anytime we can bake something, we do that.

Another nutritional path the school system has chosen to take is to serve 1 percent or skim milk. We just want people to know how important nutrition is, and the role school lunch plays in children s lives, Howard said.