National School Breakfast Week
March
5th is the start of National School Breakfast Week. Working in
schools and with students for as long as I have, I have learned that schools
are about much more than just teaching reading, writing and math. Schools have
become a community and an extension of the family.
Unfortunately,
many families today struggle with day-to-day life and one of the things that
seems to go by the wayside is providing a good breakfast for everyone in the
family. When that happens, the school must step in and provide a healthy,
nutritious breakfast for the students.
StarShine
is very fortunate to have a long-term partnership with the Creighton School District
in Phoenix. Creighton provides all of our students with a free breakfast, lunch
and after school snack. In return, Creighton receives all of our National
School Lunch funds. We also supplement lunches and snacks with vegetables from
our school garden.
Statistically, students who start the
day without breakfast lack the fuel needed to keep their bodies strong and their
minds active. Students who do
not eat a nutritious breakfast cannot concentrate in the same way that students
who eat a healthy breakfast do. Data indicates that students who miss breakfast
are more likely to be tardy and have more absences.
And of course, students who have a
high absence rate are more likely to dropout. So it all come back to breakfast.
Below are several great resources and
links about the importance of eating a healthy breakfast and National School
Breakfast Week:
“A study from Philadelphia's Temple University
found that 80% of school children reported eating breakfast regularly. Of those, 59% ate breakfast at home (mostly
consuming breakfast cereal), 31% ate breakfast at school and 18% grabbed
not-so-healthy breakfasts (like snack chips and soda) from a local store.”
Read More: http://www.mrbreakfast.com/glossary_term.asp?glossaryID=152
“In an article for "Healthy Children,"
the magazine of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pediatrician William
Cochran, M.D., says that up to 12 percent of school-aged children skip
breakfast on a regular basis.” Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/491308-statistics-does-breakfast-affect-your-school-performance/#ixzz1o5YrsYW3
If
you enjoyed reading these motivational thoughts about schools, you’ll want to
read:
