As the sun rises on the high school’s parking lot, the bacon starts to sizzle for the “Back Row Breakfast” feast.
On most Wednesday mornings, a group of about 12 students park their trucks and fire up their Blackstone flat top grills to cook up some of their favorite breakfast dishes right in the school’s parking lot.
Sophomore Parker Devore said the get-together is something special.
“Everyone thinks it’s really cool. Nobody’s really done it before,” he said. “The teachers think it’s awesome. They always ask about it, and students think it’s cool, too.”
Senior Aidan McDonald said the Back Row Breakfast started his sophomore year when he and some friends had to be at school an hour early for 0 hour.
“From there we were like, ‘Oh, well, maybe we should start making breakfast before that,’” McDonald said. “And it’s just been going ever since.”
McDonald said he is up around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesdays to get food packed up to take to school. The group meets at about 6:15 a.m. to start cooking and cooks until about 7:50 a.m.
For their feast, the group usually brings whatever they have on hand. McDonald said pancakes are often a favorite meal because they are easy to make, but the group also makes eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, and biscuits and gravy.
McDonald said the group has piled money together to buy equipment over the years.
“We all put a lump sum in, and we bought just one grill. Then, we got a bigger grill over time. Now, we’re up to two grills,” he said.
While they cook and eat, the group hangs out and talks about school, work and other things going on in their lives as they watch their classmates fill in the parking lot.
Some classmates join the breakfast, or at least nab a piece of bacon, before they head to class, but teachers are the more frequent visitors.
Devore said it’s fun to eat breakfast with some of his favorite teachers.
“It’s cool to me for teachers to come out. They think it’s cool,” Devore said. “It’s something different. It’s fun to hang out with them all.”
Science teacher Ben Moeckel joins the crew for breakfast every time they get together. Moeckel often brings food and his Blackstone grill as well since he enjoys cooking.
Moeckel said he loves getting to know the kids in a different setting.
“You get to see the kids kind of outside of the classroom and kind of get to know their personalities a little bit better,” Moeckel said. “So we’ve kind of expanded and started inviting more teachers to it. It’s just a good experience to build a relationship that’s not based upon just sitting in the classroom.”
When the crew misses a breakfast, they will hear about it from their teachers.
“They’ll always mention it and be like, ‘Oh, when’s the next one?’” McDonald said. “They always love coming out.”
The only times the Back Row Breakfast doesn’t happen is on early release days or when the weather is bad.
If the weather prevents them from cooking, the group will either travel to De Soto for a McDonald’s breakfast or to Lawrence for breakfast at IHOP.
No matter where they have their breakfast though, the most important thing for the crew is just being together.
“My favorite part is just hanging out with friends doing something different,” Devore said. “It’s just a fun time.”
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected].
If you appreciate our coverage, please donate. Our newspaper depends on your donations to provide coverage of Eudora and continue providing local news.
To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj
