Breakfast after the bell
Breakfast after the bell
Every day, Hazel Park High School student Jordan Aliff comes to school at 5 a.m. to attend student council meetings before a full day of classes. It takes a lot of energy, and it's nearly impossible for him to concentrate on learning when he's hungry.
Access to breakfast can impact attendance, test scores and even graduation rates. Students who eat breakfast attend 1.5 more days of school per year and score 17.5 percent higher on standardized math tests. Fewer absences and higher grades drive high school graduation rates up 20-25 percent.
Research indicates that kids are more likely to eat breakfast at school when it's easy to access. That's why we work with schools to change the way they serve meals by trying things like serving breakfast in the classroom, using mobile food carts, or offering breakfast after classes have begun.
"Having free, accessible breakfast for all students creates equity and encourages students to eat," says United Way Healthy Kids Manager Bryan VanDorn. "If we continue to educate schools and parents, we can have a positive impact on the whole state."
United Way for Southeastern Michigan is working to implement the alternative breakfast model in more than 100 Michigan schools.
Some schools are already seeing success. Since 2017, United Way has worked with Hazel Park High School to drive breakfast participation from 105 students per day to 354 by creating a mobile food breakfast program. The program was so successful that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners and Oakland Schools partnered with United Way to expand the program to expand the program county-wide.
As a result, Oakland County schools will serve free breakfast to more than 3,500 schools and receive an estimated total of $1.2 million in federal meal reimbursements.
With donor support, we can bring this program to more schools and ensure that Michigan students start their school day energized and ready to learn.
"We need to take care of all of students' needs, and that includes nutritional needs," says Hazel Park High School Principal Matthew Dailey. "We believe this is saving lives."
