Posted on 12/13/2005 6:59:51 PM PST by goodnesswins
BREAKFAST IS SERVED FOR STUDENTS
Only a fraction of middle-schoolers in Auburn take part
Only about 10 percent of the students in the Auburn School District's four middle schools take advantage of the breakfast available at the schools each morning.
Nutrition supervisor Eric Boutin said the district wants to find out why and increase participation in the breakfast club.
If they aren't eating at home, he said, it is probable that they aren't eating at all in the morning.
And that's not good.
Well-documented link
The link between nurition and doing well in school is well-documented, he said.
At Olympic Middle School, for example, 311 students qualify for free or reduced meals, including breakfast. But the school serves only 56 free breakfasts each morning on average out of a total 86 each day. The school has a population of 750.
Armed with a $3,000 grant from the Washington Dairy Council, Boutin said they plan to explore why more aren't eating breakfast and put together a marketing plan to interest students.
He doesn't think the problem is the food. Each morning students have a choice of 20 to 30 items to munch on.
Rolling breakfast cart
One option, Boutin said might be to bring breakfast to the students with a rolling breakfast cart.
Boutin said the cart could be stationed where the students get off the bus and a breakfast sack with lunch, juice, fruit and an entree handed to them if they want it.
All that would be needed is a handheld computer to jot down who gets a breakfast. Bouitinn said all students are on the computer.
Parents of those students who are not on free and reduced lunch can set up an account to deduct school meals. Breakfast is cheap at only $1, he added.
A grab-and-go breakfast, however, would mean bringing extra people on board to handle it, but Boutin said the increased numbers of students will increase funding for the program.
Other ideas
School policies on eating in classrooms also may have to be revisited, he added.
One suggestion to attract more students it to simply play the kind of music students like in the school lunchroom during breakfast.
Local celebrities such as the principal or a police officer also might be invited to have breakfast with students now and then, he added.
(This story first appeared in the King County Journal)
There's a brilliant statement. If they aren't eating at home, they aren't eating at school (since 90% don't), and they go nowhere else in between, where else could they eat?
I find it amusing when educrats talk about kids needing hot breakfast and hot lunch. I've packed a sack lunch since I was in college, and eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast. My son has done the same all through school. Neither of us is going hungry, trust me.
Another question -- if someone signs up for free breakfast & lunch are their food stamps reduced? After all, there is less of a need for food.
"food stamps reduced?" GOOD QUESTION! Probable answer: I doubt it!
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