News From Terre Haute, Indiana

Opinion

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.
comments powered by Disqus
August 19, 2012

FLASHPOINT: School breakfast a program that works for young students

By Bill Stanczykiewicz Indiana Youth Institute

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana trails the nation in the percentage of eligible students who participate in the federal school breakfast program, but one of the state’s largest corporations is demonstrating how to close the hunger gap in order to close the academic achievement gap.

A good breakfast at home is vital to a great start at school. When poverty prevents parents from serving breakfast, low-income students can enroll in the federally-funded school breakfast program.

As Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Tony Bennett, wrote to school superintendents, “The Indiana Department of Education supports school breakfast programs. Research shows that eating breakfast has a tremendous positive effect on learning, test scores, and health.”

According to the Food Research Action Center (FRAC), the number of Hoosier students eating breakfast at school is increasing. During the 2011-12 school year, more than 2,000 schools served breakfast to more than 260,000 students, a 58 percent increase since 2005. The federal government pays for the meals, and funding to Hoosier schools increased to $58.6 million in 2010, up 73 percent in five years.

However, while 47 percent of Indiana students participate in the federal school lunch program, only 26 percent eat breakfast at school. That disparity ranks Indiana 28th in the nation for the percentage of eligible students who are enrolled in both hunger relief programs.

These data inspired Glenn Moehling to take action. Moehling is senior director of corporate responsibility at Elanco, the animal health division of Eli Lilly. Moehling recruited his colleague, Ken Savin, who is a trained “black belt” in the process improvement method, Six Sigma.

Savin examined the data, studied the trends and visited schools to talk with educators and watch how breakfast is served. His conclusion: many schools are still catching up to Indiana’s 57 percent increase in child poverty over the last decade.

“Areas that a decade ago did not have large numbers of eligible students now have a serious problem,” Savin explained. “Schools in those areas might not be familiar with how to run the breakfast program on a larger scale, and families who previously were not poor but who now are in poverty might not be willing to step up and admit they need the program.

“You look at school districts that never had high poverty rates and now they are poorer and poorer. It’s really devastating.”

Savin discovered that the best way to help these schools is to provide information from teachers, administrators and food service workers in districts that have effectively grown their school breakfast programs. He responded by helping to produce a short video of these school employees offering information and encouragement to their peers.

Start-up and expansion costs also can become an obstacle. Schools where more students are now eligible for school breakfast often need more refrigeration space as well as carts to transport breakfast to classrooms, where students can eat while teachers teach.

According to Moehling, the total cost often is in the range of $3,000-$4,000. Elanco, General Mills and the National Dairy Council have provided grants, and Moehling encourages other donors to help close the gap. “This is a one-time expense to feed kids breakfast for a long time,” Moehling said. “That should be an easy sell when raising money for something that has such a significant impact.”

While schools ramp up, they can recruit more eligible students to sign up. The U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages schools to increase student participation by inviting their parents to a breakfast at school. Additional publicity can be created by inviting local government officials, business leaders and other dignitaries to a school breakfast. School cafeterias can raise awareness by serving breakfast foods during a lunch period, and schools can host “taste tests” of breakfast items to sweeten interest among eligible students.

FRAC, meanwhile, encourages community organizations to inform schools about students who are in foster care, in Head Start or who are homeless, since these students automatically qualify for school breakfast.

School breakfast helps more low-income students be present and participating. They are more focused on class work instead of hunger, boosting their chances for academic success. In order for no child to be left behind, we need to ensure that no child is left without breakfast.



Bill Stanczykiewicz is President & CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute.  He can be reached at iyi@iyi.org.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Opinion
Latest News
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
TribStar.com Poll
AP Video
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died Boy Scouts Mom Supports Gay Inclusiveness Raw: Heckler Interrupts Obama on Guantanamo Boy Scouts Approve Plan to Accept Gay Boys Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits Obama Offers Drone Strike Defense Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death Obama Renews Call to Close Gitmo Chain-Reaction School Bus Crash Injures About 50 Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy Raw: 80-Year-Old Climbs Mount Everest First Person: Mom Discusses Famous Tornado Photo A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
NDN Video
AK-47-wielding thug may be the most bumbling crook ever Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage Trout's cycle a boost for Angels Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado Kim Kardashian Flaunts Pregnant Bikini Body in Greece NBA star pledges $1M to help tornado recovery Shakira's Shocking Talent Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air GRAPHIC: Blood-Soaked Machete Killer Caught on Tape Elin Nordegren Furious With Lindsey Vonn For Parading Kids in Public Camera Captures Climber As He Loses Grip And Falls Helen Mirren Meets with Dying Boy in Queen Elizabeth's Place Crowd Chants '¡Si, Se Puede!' After Passage of Immigration Bill DWTS Crowns a Winner Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff Demi Moore a Rocks Bikini at Harry Morton's Family House Anthony Weiner: I'm running for New York City mayor Kate Middleton's Dress Flies Up VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal The Hangover Baby All Grown Up
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
  • -

     

    March 12, 2010

activity
Real Estate News