The new Bananarama

We all know the "I can't hear you, there's a banana in my ear" joke, but have you heard about the bananas that bring a message to kids?

It happens at Kingston Elementary in Virginia Beach, VA, where Stacey Truman is the cafeteria manager. Every morning, she takes a Sharpie and writes some wise words on 60 or so bananas for the kids who will descend on the cafeteria at lunchtime.

“Not all those who wander are lost.” "If you can dream it, you can achieve it." “You get what you give.” “Never give up.”

It's messages like this that make a difference for a youngster, if you ask me. Every day, Ms Truman fills several trays with wisdom-bearing fruit. As the article in the Washington POST said, it's a lunch choice offering both positivity and potassium.

It all started when Ms Truman packed lunches for her own kids, Mackenzie and Kayleigh. She figured that her daughters got a lift out of reading bananagrams, and maybe the Kingston Kids would as well.

“I want them to succeed in life and have an awesome day at school," she said. "Whenever I can put a smile on all of those little faces, I’ve done my job.”

There are 540 students at Kingston, and only about 10 percent of them plop a banana on their tray on any given day, but even those who skip the yellow fruit option see the messages, says principal Sharon Shewbridge.

“She’s helped the kids to make healthier choices,” said Shewbridge. “But it’s more than that. Stacey genuinely cares and wants them to know they are loved. What I especially appreciate is that she does this without being directed or asked.”

Truman says she got the idea of fruit-borne messages in the days when she was working nights as a waitress to bring in extra money for the family.  She didn't always get to see her girls in the morning - her husband gets them up and off to school after Mom leaves for work - so she tried to make up for the time she missed with them by writing messages.

"My girls sacrificed because I only saw them on the weekend, other than when I'd sneak in while they were sleeping to kiss them on the forehead," she said. "When I was getting their lunches ready the night before, I started writing little notes on their bananas to let them know I was thinking of them and wished I could be there."

Ms Truman's parents divorced when she was young, and she knows the importance of supportive encouragement.  "Writing on a banana is such a simple thing, but it has an impact,” she says.

The good people over at Dole Fruit saw pictures of Truman's messages on Twitter, and sent over a banana for each student one day last month. On that day, she got the PTA and some friends to help her fill out each banana: "otherwise, I'd have still been writing when school let out."

One of her favorite expressions is “Shoot for the moon — if you miss, you’ll end up with the stars.”

I think she's up there already! What a great idea!