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More than 12,000 students at 12 local Guilford County Schools in North Carolina will benefit from a nutritious morning meal thanks to the expansion of the Breakfast in the Classroom program (BIC). Funded by the NEA Health Information Network (NEA HIN) and the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom, students will now have the opportunity to participate in the free breakfast program, allowing them to reap the nutritional and academic benefits associated with a morning meal.
As a local partner in this initiative, the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) and the Guilford County Association of Educators (GCAE) are strong supporters of the BIC program. Vice President of NCAE Mark Jewell knows the impact that not having a good breakfast has on student learning. “Studies show that students who eat breakfast do better on tests and are healthier,” said Jewell, during a Guilford County BIC event at Sedgefield Elementary School.
Elizabeth “Liz” Foster, President of GCAE has been a strong advocate of the program since the beginning and was vital in garnering the support of her district to take on this initiative. As a former Teacher, Liz knows firsthand that hungry students cannot learn and saw the program as a win-win for students, their families, GCAE members and the community.
As President of GCAE, part of Liz’s strategic plan has to been to heighten the visibility of the association and strengthen community involvement. Since the BIC program started this year, GCAE has been front and center as a leader in the community on this issue. GCAE has been featured in numerous news articles as advocates for the program and Liz has been able to reach out to more community members and foster deeper relationships with families and community partners, such as Second Harvest Food Bank, to combat the issue of childhood hunger.
The BIC program has also had a positive impact on GCAE membership. Liz stated that through BIC “we have been able to show to teachers and school staff that their membership dollars are going directly back into their community.” Liz has heard from numerous people that they did not realize that GCAE or NEA was involved in “these kinds of programs” and that BIC has not only had a positive impact on students in Guilford County but has shown members that their dues are positively impacting the issue of hunger.
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| From Left to Right: Liz Foster, President of GCAE; Mark Jewell, Vice-President of NCAE; Mark Stewart, Walmart Market Manager; Angela Brown, Cafeteria Manager and the wonderful Sedgefield Elementary breakfast helpers! |
Additionally, through the BIC program Liz has been able to support families and community members around the issue of food allergies. Liz stated that “through working with NEA HIN and getting to know the many resources and services they offer I have been able to help more members and families in the community on the issue of food allergies among children.” From talking with a local Parent Learning Community, Liz realized the growing concern about food allergies and was able to disseminate NEA HIN’s Food Allergy Guide to English speaking families, Spanish speaking families and day care providers about this issue. Liz says, “The Partnership between NEA HIN and GCAE has been invaluable.”
Recently, Liz was featured as a co-presenter on NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign Department Webinar, “Unleashing the Power of Family-School-Community Engagement to Support Student Academic Achievement”. Liz spoke about her involvement with the BIC Program as an example of a family, school and community partnership. Liz and GCAE understand the importance of community and stakeholder support when tackling an issues like hunger. In order to to ensure that every student starts the day ready to learn Liz states, “we all need to work together.”
Let us know if you have been involved in a family-school-community initiative that addresses the issue of hunger. You can either leave your comment below or post a question to our Facebook or Twitter page. We would love to hear from you!