Breakfast with the Governor
Posted by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley on Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Our ability to make our children winners in this changing new economy is only as strong as what we do to help our most vulnerable kids.
Last week, I hosted a breakfast for area school educators, principals, superintendents, food service providers, parents and other school leaders to encourage them to explore all available methods to provide our children with a healthy school breakfast.
Good nutrition is the foundation for a child’s success, whether that is academic performance and test scores, behavior, health, or school attendance and participation. And giving our children a healthy breakfast is an important part of our fight against childhood hunger. That is why we are working with Maryland schools to give our children more ways to access breakfast – like offering “grab-n-go” breakfast boxes, delivering breakfast to the classroom, or serving breakfast after first period. In fact, the schools with the highest breakfast participation rates nationwide are those that have changed the way they provide breakfast.
These new breakfast options are just one of the tools we’re using to fight hunger in Maryland. Together, with our partners at Share Our Strength and the Partnership to End Childhood Hunger, we expanded our Summer Meals Program faster than all but one other state, in a time when participation was shrinking nationwide. Maryland was also selected as one of 13 states to pilot the Afterschool Meals Program – and thanks to its success, the initiative has been expanded to all 50 states. We’re now serving more than 5,000 children every day who may not otherwise have access to a nutritious dinner.
We are also offering technical assistance and grants to help schools adopt breakfast options. In fact, we announced the First Class Breakfast Initiative to provide resources to 21 schools which include up to $7,500 in grants for each school to implement an alternative breakfast model. We are also inviting all Maryland schools to participate in the “Breakfast Challenge Grant” in partnership with Walmart to award $8,000 in prize grants to the three schools that increase participation in their school breakfast program the most in the coming year.
At the event I had the chance to meet Sharon Ward, the Principal of Elmwood Elementary who doubled breakfast participation at her school last year after introducing “grab and go” and breakfast in the classroom . I am excited about the First Class Breakfast Initiative because of the many forms of assistance it will provide to principals who want to follow Sharon Ward and bring “alternative breakfast” options to their own schools: research, step-by-step strategies, navigator staff, and start-up grants are now available thanks to our partner organizations and project funders .
Still, there are thousands of our children that continue to go hungry in our State. And when a child goes hungry anywhere in Maryland, it impacts all of us. Together, we can work to end childhood hunger in Maryland and ensure that our children have the healthy start they deserve.
April 5, 2011 | 1 comment(s) | Tags: hunger, maryland, No Kid Hungry, school breakfast, state partnerships
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1 reader comment so far.
Thanks goodness we have a leader who not only values a good education for all but values what it will take to get there. I applaud Governor O'Malley for all he is doing to ensure that no child goes hungry in Maryland. In addition, he inspires other national leaders to do the same! Thank you for standing behind your word and doing what it takes to end child hunger.
Posted by Debbie Shore on April 8, 2011
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