DiversityInc - February 2010

DIVERSIT YANDEDUCATION

;IN-CLASS BREAKFAST;

Spelling Bees & Biscuits

Sodexo Aids Learning

BY GAIL ZOPPO

Atlanta Public Schools students, many from low-income households, are easing into their day of learning with nutritious morning meals delivered right to the classroom. How does school breakfast help close the academic gap?

Before the algebra equa- tions and history quizzes begin, students who attend several Atlanta Public Schools (APS) start their day of learning with a nutritious meal that might include low-fat milk and fruit, as well as items such as chicken biscuits, waffles, scrambled eggs or oatmeal.

Thanks to an in-class-breakfast program successfully introduced last March by Sodexo Jackmont at Atlanta’s Slater elementary, the initiative has expanded to five elementary, two middle and two high schools, serving more than 5,000 students. Since introducing in-class breakfast, “we’ve had more than a 200 percent increase in participation,” says APS’s Director of Nutrition Administration Dr. Marilyn Hughes.

Although all students in this district are eligible for the federally reimbursed universal free school breakfast, regardless of income, most weren’t participating. The reasons: They had to arrive a half hour early and eat their meals separately in the cafeteria.

But when Sodexo implemented breakfast in class, in which meal carts are rolled into the rooms or food is distributed at stands in school hallways, participation increased significantly, explains Sodexo’s APS District Manager Hossein Akhtarkhavari, who is responsible for serving about 48,000 students daily. “Many of our students come from homes that live at or below the poverty level, and having a good, healthy breakfast increases their performance,” he says.

As public schools struggle to achieve equal educational opportunities and close the achievement gap, the in-class-breakfast program appears to be helping. In Atlanta, administrators report reduced absenteeism and tardiness and fewer discipline problems.

The in-class-breakfast program
also removes the stigma associated
with federally funded meals.
“Children might be coming to
school without eating breakfast and
still not be participating in the
school breakfast program for a
variety of reasons, including a
perceived stigma associating school
breakfast participation with
poverty,” writes the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
in its study “Evaluation of the
School Breakfast Program Pilot
Project.” All meals follow USDA
nutrition requirements.

Connecting With Communities In 2008, 49. 1 million people lived in food-insecure households, defined as homes that were at times uncertain of having or were unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of family members, reports