hungry children can’t learn
DESCRIPTION
Hungry children can’t learn. TOO MANY CHILDREN IN OUR ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOLS COME TO SCHOOL HUNGRY. The results are stunning:. • Attention spans shorten • Energy levels plummet • Productivity wanes • Learning suffers • Lives suffer. The solution?. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Hungry children can’t learn.
TOO MANY CHILDREN IN OUR ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE
SCHOOLS COME TO SCHOOL HUNGRY
The results are stunning:
• Attention spans shorten • Energy levels plummet
• Productivity wanes • Learning suffers • Lives suffer
The solution?
During an annual teachers’ convention in Wisconsin
more than 500 teachers in attendance were surveyed
about their opinions of school breakfast.
Ninety four percent (94%) of teachers surveyed stated that they had
observed students coming to school hungry.
Teachers who were serving breakfast in the classroom added
that they had observed the following since they started
serving breakfast in their classroom:
• improved academic performance • improved health • better behavior
These same teachers indicated that breakfast in the classroom resulted
in little or no loss of instructional time.
Teachers who served breakfast in their
classroom reported that their workload did not change as a result of
having breakfast.
FACT: EATING BREAKFAST AT SCHOOL HELPS CHILDREN LEARN
Studies show that children who eat
breakfast at the start of their school day:
have higher math and reading scores
have sharper memory and show faster speed
on cognitive tests
have broader vocabularies
do better on standardized tests
focus better and
behave better
“Right away I noticed an increase in my students’ attention span. There was also an immediate decrease in the
amount of discipline issues dealt with during the morning hours of school.”
EATING BREAKFAST AT SCHOOL HAS
HEALTH BENEFITS, TOO
Children are less likely to be absent.
“Since we implemented breakfast in the Classroom, our absenteeism rate has dropped by 70%! Having students in
school on a consistent basis contributes to their academic success.”
They’re less likely to see the school nurse
“It is sad the number of children who come to school hungry, some with
hunger from the previous evening.”
less likely to be overweight
“The breakfast we provide allows students to concentrate on learning rather than concentrating on when lunch will be
served.”
They eat more fruit, drink more milk and consume a wider variety of foods
“They literally rush into their classrooms in the morning so they can get their
nourishment.”
IT’S FREE AND
IT WORKS
The Breakfast in the Classroom initiative takes
the traditional school breakfast approach and
improves it with one key ingredient:
the classroom.
Breakfast becomes available to everyone AT NO CHARGE – no
matter what their income level
“When we served breakfast in the cafeteria, we found that students just couldn’t get up in time to get to the cafeteria for breakfast and then go back to the playground to
line up for class. Now when students and teachers walk into
the classroom, breakfast is there.”
It’s served after the opening bell. This makes it easier for all children
to easily participate
Photo provided by the got breakfast? foundation
EASY FORTEACHERS WITH NO
CLASSROOM TIME LOST
Some teachers even reported an improvement
in their workload since adopting breakfast in the
classroom.
Children eat together in the classroom,
usually the homeroom, at the start of the
school day.
Photo by Trent C
ampbell
“It helps begin our day with a sense of community. The students enjoy it
quite a bit and hate it if they miss it if they are late.”
They enjoy nutritionally well-balanced foods like breakfast wraps, yogurt, or fruit served directly in their classroom or
grabbed from a cart in the hallway.
Students then eat breakfast
while the teacher takes attendance,
collects homework or teaches a short
lesson plan.
In about 10 minutes, the meal is over and the
school day continues.
“Our students begin their day with full stomachs, in good moods, ready to
tackle a day’s learning.”
Clean up is easy and the cost to the school is absolutely nothing!
Encourage all students to participate in Breakfast
in the Classroom.
100%
“The students nag their parents about being on time in the morning so that they won’t miss this essential time of
day for our classroom.”
This initiative was developed by the Partners for Breakfast in the
Classroom:Food Research and Action Center
National Association of Elementary School Principals Foundation
National Education Association Health Information Network
School Nutrition Foundation
…in response to their shared passion for childhood nutrition and its potential for improving
educational outcomes and child health.
Breakfast in the Classroom is an initiative funded by the Walmart Foundation