Spotted in Mequon, WI: a rich girl with Lululemon leggings, a Free People sweater, a Jeep Wrangler and all the money mommy and daddy can shove into her bank account. This has become a knee-jerk stereotype to label Mequon teenagers. Although wealth does exist in this urban city, not everyone is as heavily endowed as some may think.

As in any community, there is a class system when it comes to money. Typically known to have more people on the higher end of the spectrum, Mequon’s name brings with it a plethora of comments about the amount of money families have here. Izzy Gemignani, sophomore, at Cedarburg High School, describes Mequon kids as, “rich, snobby teenagers whose parents are wealthy lawyers and doctors.”

People in Mequon also are under the same impression. Mackenzie Goebel, junior, stated “When I think about Mequon, my first thought goes to the amount of money people seem to have.” Additionally, Mr. Tony Navarre, math teacher, continued, “I think the stereotypes exist, but I don’t know how true they are.”

Even though there is a noticeable gap between social classes, it is a myth that everyone in Mequon is rich. Not everyone can afford to buy designer clothes and expensive cars. Not everyone can afford to have huge houses and give their children everything they ask for.

Unfortunately, not a lot of people can provide for themselves, especially for basic food and necessities. According to Ms. Rachel Fellenz, director of pupil services, “The Free and Reduced Lunch population is at 10 percent at Homestead. Under this program they get their lunch so that they do not go hungry throughout their school day.”

However, Mequon is not the only city that has embraced the idea of granting free lunches to the underprivileged. In Waunakee, they have a similar system that uses bright orange stubs to indicate if a student gets a lunch.

A former teacher at Waunakee, Mrs. Jill Cook, English teacher, said, “The kids were forced to present these bright orange tickets everyday at lunch in order to get their prepaid and planned lunch. It was humiliating enough to have to get the lunch, but the kids just stuck out with their bright tickets.”

At Homestead, the students who get free lunch are not forced to present a ticket; it is merely inputted in the computer. This guarantees nobody but the lunch ladies will have to know that the student requires a prepaid lunch.

Unfortunately, this anonymity creates a false pretense that no one requires the free lunch system.

Although the numbers may not seem all that shocking, its still true that nearly one in 10 kids get free lunch because his or her parents can’t afford to send them with a lunch or give them money to purchase one from the hot lunch line.

Along with this, Ms. Vicky Boehm, hall monitor, states, “I think it all depends on the parents jobs and education. A lot of parents say to watch parking spots because they worked all summer for it. Then you have the opposite end of the spectrum where they don’t have as much, they aren’t as good but they have to work a lot harder. It all boils down to education.”

In Mequon, the median income for a household in the city is around $97,797 and the median income for a family is around $113,265. Of course, there are families on both ends of the spectrum. Some families have elaborate mansions while others have small one-bedroom homes.