CN: March 13, 2019

Page 1

March 13, 2019

Breakfast in the classroom

Around Town

By Sal Martinez. Pg. 2

Special Section

Summer Camp Guide. P.7

Features (FLIP)

Students at Barack Obama Elementary School in the Normandy Schools Collaborative participate in the Breakfast in the Classroom program.

Photos by Kate Edmonson

New initiative increases participation in free breakfast program and increases nutrition and performance for qualifying students at Normandy schools By Charlotte Beard A school district continues to make strides on one of its foundational pillars – collaboration. On March 5, Normandy Schools Collaborative introduced its fourth Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) program at Barack Obama Elementary School. The six-month roll-out of the program was previously launched at Normandy’s other elementary schools – Lucas Crossing Elementary Complex, Jefferson Elementary School and Washington Elementary School. Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom worked together to make the initiative possible, including provision of a $107,000 grant to ensure free breakfast for Normandy’s students. The collaboration involves Operation Food Search, the Food Research & Action

Center (FRAC), the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation, NEA Healthy Futures and the School Nutrition Foundation. Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom is funded by the Walmart Foundation which makes it possible for them to provide technical assistance and support to school districts in the implementation of BIC. Brian Wieher, Director of Child and Family Nutrition for Operation Food Search shared that the change in how breakfast is provided enables more students to partake in the first meal of the day. “While breakfast is offered free at Normandy, not all students were partaking in breakfast,” stated Wieher. “Though it’s offered for

free only about half of the students in this school were eating breakfast. The other half just chose not to – it wasn’t cool to eat in the cafeteria or for whatever reason – they weren’t going. They weren’t getting the benefits of the nutrition. When we do this, we see increased attendance, decrease in tardiness, decrease in poor behavioral issues. We see a decrease in going to see the school nurse because they don’t feel good because they’re hungry. A lot of the kids in this school come from food insecure families; many of them do not have dinner. This is their first meal since lunch yesterday.” Research conducted by Operation Food See ‘BREAKFAST’ page 2

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