Benjamin Logan Schools is joining other districts around the country in celebrating National School Breakfast Week.
Benjamin Logan Middle School fifth-grader Lauren Snyder was recently interviewed by Sonja Frederick, district director of nutrition. Lauren stated that the reason why she eats breakfast every day at school is because sometimes she doesn’t have time to eat at home.
“By eating breakfast everyday it makes me feel good, I am not hungry throughout the day,” she said.
The school breakfast project was first pushed by Kentucky Congressman Carl Perkins, who was worried about children going to school on an empty stomach. He proposed serving free breakfast to school-going children from low-income families. It took months, but in 1966, Congress launched a two-year pilot project known as the “School Breakfast Program.”
The permanent adoption of the program happened in 1975 following incredible popularity across the country. National School Breakfast Week was officially adopted in 1989 to raise awareness about the success of the program and the steps that still need to be taken.
According to the USDA website, prior to the pandemic in 2019, more than 90,000 schools/institutions served school breakfasts to 14.77 million students each day.
Studies show that children who eat breakfast are known to have: better grades and test scores, more energy, increased memory and improved attendance and behavior.