Check out NEA HIN’s ‘School Breakfast Week’ blog series all week long. We will feature two of our partner organizations talking about the importance of breakfast as part of a healthy lifestyle. As always, let us know what you are doing to promote breakfast in your school or community, and have a healthy and happy School Breakfast Week!
We had decided 10 years ago that our students were not getting to school on time, nor were they eating a healthy, nourishing breakfast to sustain them through a rigorous 6 hours of academic instruction.
The cafeteria workers at the end of the day set up breakfast for the next morning before they leave. Upon arriving at work they distribute the breakfasts in the classrooms by 8:15, in big freezer cooler bags with a sign-in sheet daily. Everything a teacher needs is in that box (napkins, spoons, forks, fruit, juice, milk and the daily breakfast entrée.)
Students are brought in from playground at 8:58 and start breakfast immediately. Most teachers even our Kindergarten teachers have a set routine where all children, in an orderly manner, go get their breakfast items and return to their seats. They either mark off their name with a highlighter that they have chosen at least 3 items (for federal reimbursement money) or the teacher calls their name and they say 3 or more.
By 9:05, I start my announcements, which last about 4-5 minutes as the children are eating and listening to the daily happenings. When I am done the teacher is either reading a book aloud to the class, or has a review assignment on their desk, or a buddy question they must talk about until 9:12/9:14-breakfast is complete and sat outside the classroom door. We furnish each class with a strainer for the children to dispense of their cereal and milk in the classroom sink (to alleviate the weight and strength of the garbage bag.) The garbage bag is tied by a student or teacher depending on the student’s grade level and set outside along with the box of left overs and the sign-in sheet. Cafeteria staff comes by around 9:20 and gathers the boxes. Our custodian gathers the trash soon afterward.
If a student comes in late with no excuse after 9:20, we usually don’t feed them, unless they state they haven’t had breakfast and are hungry. Families know now that in order for students to have breakfast,students need to be on campus by 9:05. We have very few exceptions, but we would never turn away a child that is hungry.
My staff feels that the 15 minutes a day over 180 days of the school year, is worth the academic growth we see through the children being nourished and their brains not being worried about hunger! It is a WIN WIN for everyone!
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