Ironwood Schools kicks off National Breakfast Week

By RICHARD JENKINS

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Ironwood - Ironwood kicked off the start of National School Breakfast Week Monday, continuing the district's practice of ensuring every student has access to a free breakfast.

National School Breakfast Week was launched in 1989, according to Food Service Director Mary Hampston Kusz, to, "Raise awareness of the availability of school breakfasts."

This year's theme is to "Take the School Breakfast Challenge," Hampston Kusz said. In keeping with the theme, students have punch cards and those who eat breakfast all five days will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

The breakfasts are one way the district tries to help students succeed.

"There's a really good link ... (between) eating breakfast and academic success," Hampston Kusz said. "You eat breakfast, fuel your body and then you're more apt to do better in school."

Participating in the event is keeping with the district's long practice of offering the option of free breakfast to every student - which began before Hampston Kusz joined the district six years ago.

Four-year-olds through fifth grade eat in their classrooms, she said, while grades six through 12 eat in the lunch room.

While reaction to the breakfasts has largely been positive across the board, Hampston Kusz said feeding the younger kids in their classrooms makes things a little easier.

"Because we feed them in their classrooms, a lot of kids just eat the breakfast," she said. "Plus the teachers will keep a little whole-grain snack for snack time; so if a kid doesn't have a snack for that day, they (then) have one."

In addition to being popular, Hampston Kusz said she has seen the breakfasts produce positive benefits beyond academic success. One example she gave was the school's sixth graders need to wait in the cafeteria before school rather than in the halls, and because of the breakfast program, a number of them have begun volunteering to help with distributing breakfasts and other tasks that need to be done.

"It is such a good program for students that don't have the time in the morning at home, that don't have the resources, whatever," she said. "It kind of starts their day off right."

This week's menu will feature some new items - including fresh raspberries in smoothies; a ham, egg and cheese muffin, and pancakes - as well as student favorites such as the popular biscuits and gravy.

The district serves breakfast between 7:15 and 9:30 a.m.