How Washington State Plans to Increase School Breakfast Participation
Posted by Linda Stone on Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Of the nearly 20 million low-income students in the U.S. who ate free or reduced-price lunch in 2010, only 9.4 million participated in the School Breakfast program, a gap Washington state is attempting to close with “The Fuel Up First with Breakfast Challenge.” This initiative aims to increase participation in school breakfast programs by 50 percent over the next two years
Washington State Superintendent Randy Dorn visited Washington Elementary School recently, marking the statewide kick-off of the challenge. Along with Children’s Alliance Executive Director Paola Maranan, Washington Dairy Council Executive Director Debra French, National No Kid Hungry Campaign Director Jen Jinks, and the outstanding educators and students of Auburn’s Washington Elementary School, they demonstrated the importance of the first meal of the day.
Each morning students pick up food from a cart outside their classroom, then sit down at their desks and eat. Typical school breakfast items include grapes, sliced oranges, milk and granola bars. The students’ teacher, Travis Volk, says this routine prepares students for learning. “We often hear of the importance of school breakfast, but in my classroom the benefits can be seen. During my first year of teaching I had a student who came to school daily with a breakfast of potato chips and soda; consequently, he struggled to stay awake after an hour of class. When children start the day off right, the impact of our instructional time is greater and our students perform better.”
“Educators know that hunger disrupts learning and stifles academic performance,” Children’s Alliance executive director Paola Maranan told 25 local school leaders assembled in a Washington Elementary classroom. “But we know what works when it comes to ensuring that all children have the nutritious meals they need. School breakfast programs get kids the healthy food they need, when they need it most.”
If each school across Washington state met the 50 percent participation goal, we estimate that the state could earn an extra $18 million in funding from federal child nutrition programs. This is a powerful incentive to lowering barriers to healthy, timely meals.
“In a time when schools are asked to do more with less, it’s up to educational leaders to leverage every asset we’ve got,” says Dorn. “Despite the progress made in schools like this one, we can do much more. Funding for school breakfast can help many of our schools and students achieve greatness.”
September 14, 2011 | 2 comment(s) | Tags: breakfast program, no kid hungry, washington, washington state
Comments
2 reader comments so far.
". . . the state could earn an extra $18 million in funding . . . "
Gottcha! So it's really about grabbing your share of $$$ by trumping up hysteria and convincing everyone to sign up for "free food."
An egg costs about .15 cents. A glass of milk .25 . I just got some frozen waffles on sale 10 for $1.50. Yes, parents CAN feed their children. YOU are dis-incentivizing them from this basic tenet of parenthood. Parents can, and HAVE been feeding their children for thousands of years. But suddenly we're too stupid to hand a banana to our own kid without the Govt's help??
Do you have any concern over the citizens who had that $18 million taken from them via taxation in order to give breakfast food to people who can and would be doing in for themselves? You are just trying to boost your govt. program. Govt needs to butt out. You are making things worse.
Posted by Really?? on September 20, 2011
Thank you for your opinion.
Childhood poverty levels are at an all time high, which means more families in America are facing tough economic choices at home and finding it harder to make ends meet. Parents who have lost their job may be forced to decide between buying groceries or paying the electric bill. Federal programs like School Breakfast and SNAP exist to help families when they fall on hard times, but many people don’t know about them. Our public-private partnerships leverage corporate funds to help needy families know about these resources and have better access to them.
Posted by Clay Dunn, Online Community Director on September 22, 2011
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