Maryland First Class Breakfast Initiative
At a breakfast held on March 28, 2012, Governor O’Malley announced an expansion of the First Class Breakfast Initiative. Forty principals from across the state attended the event, along with representatives from the Partnership to End Childhood Hunger in Maryland, corporate partners, and community organizations. The First Class Breakfast Initiative was created in 2011 to support alternative breakfast models such as grab n’ go and breakfast in the classroom. This initiative is imperative in a state such as Maryland, where less than half of students participating in the National School Lunch Program participate in the School Breakfast Program, as the new report from Maryland Hunger Solutions noted.
“Hunger is connected to so many things,” said O’Malley, addressing the crowd on the need to prioritize school breakfast. “You that have served on the front lines in the classroom have seen the effect of hunger and the effect on what kids are able to do in the classroom.”
Speaking at the event, MDHS Director Cathy Demeroto highlighted many of the new findings from a new report (pdf) which finds that the number of low-income children participating in the School Breakfast Program increased more than eight percent in the 2010-2011 school year. Chief among them was the fact that jurisdictions with widespread use of alternative delivery models (such as serving breakfast in the classroom) had the most success in increasing participation in school breakfast in Maryland. That includes counties with schools that participate in Maryland Meals for Achievement (a state-funded program), First Class Breakfast Initiative, and the Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom project. All three programs support breakfast in the classroom programs and were critical to the state’s increase in school breakfast participation, she noted.
O’Malley’s enthusiasm for school breakfast was reflective of the group as a whole: principals from Prince George’s County used the event to begin brainstorming sessions to increase their school’s participation.
Follow this link to information on 2011 First Class Breakfast events.
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Governor O'Malley addresses event participants. |
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MDHS Director Cathy Demeroto release 2012 Maryland School Breakfast Report. |
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Bill Kreuter, Food Service Field Operations Manager, Charles County. |
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Prince George's County principals hold a strategy and brainstorming session immediately following the event. |
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