Teaching assistant Kristin Barone helps Jenna with self-feeding.

Nutrition specialists and speech-language pathologists at Matheny work together to ensure that meals for students and patients are healthy, nutritious and safe. Once that’s accomplished, some students learn how to be semi-independent during mealtimes.

Ten-year-old student Jenna Poleyeff is one of them. She participates in Matheny’s semi-independent feeding table program everyday at lunchtime. There, with a little help from a teacher or therapist, she can feed herself using an adaptive spoon, and she can hold a cup on her own to drink. In fact, eating has become one of Jenna’s favorite activities.