Breakfast Program

Baltimore County is the only school system in Maryland that does not participate in the National School Breakfast Program, but new Superintendent Stuart Berger says he's studying the possibility of joining the fold."

State officials announced several partnerships and federal initiatives yesterday aimed at ending childhood hunger in Maryland in the next five years, programs that would serve more than 150,000 children living below the poverty line. Gov. Martin O'Malley, state school officials and representatives from Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit organization, said at a news conference that they were looking to enroll 65,000 students in the School Lunch and School Breakfast Program and increase participation in the federal food stamp program by 15 percent.

A local research team, taking advantage of what was long considered a glaring omission in Baltimore County schools, is studying whether students at schools with breakfast programs perform better than their counterparts at schools without them."

For me, it was the last straw. As a physician, I've worried for years about how common obesity and diet-related diseases are becoming among our nation's young people. But I was absolutely floored by the American Academy of Pediatrics' recent recommendation that children as young as 8 should be prescribed cholesterol-lowering medication when lifestyle changes don't seem to help. Second-graders on Lipitor? That recommendation has raised concerns about the effects these powerful drugs might have on developing young bodies.

In the midst of composing his wish list for Baltimore schools, superintendent Walter G. Amprey has to figure out how to absorb a projected $2 million in budget cuts passed down from the state -- cuts that he said could reach all levels of the system, including the classroom.The loss could "wipe out" the school system's free and reduced-price breakfast program -- now serving 11,300 disadvantaged children daily -- and force cuts in its lunch program for poor students, the superintendent said.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland finished 13th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia that were ranked for their level of participation in the federal School Breakfast Program, according to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), which is helping to promote the breakfast program.Some 69.6 percent of Maryland schools that offer lunch also offer breakfast, compared with the national average of 48.8 percent, said the report released yesterday."Maryland is doing pretty well . . . but at about 70 percent [participation]

State officials announced several partnerships and federal initiatives yesterday aimed at ending childhood hunger in Maryland in the next five years, programs that would serve more than 150,000 children living below the poverty line. Gov. Martin O'Malley, state school officials and representatives from Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit organization, said at a news conference that they were looking to enroll 65,000 students in the School Lunch and School Breakfast Program and increase participation in the federal food stamp program by 15 percent.

Baltimore County's school system, the only one in Maryland that doesn't offer a free or reduced-price breakfast to every needy student, is not complying with a state law by providing families with nutrition counseling instead, the attorney general has concluded.State law requires a breakfast program at every school that has enough students from low- and moderate-income families to qualify for federal aid under the Chapter I program. The county has 45 such schools.The law does not specifically state that a free breakfast must be served, although every other school system does so. School systems can offer an alternative program if it is approved by the Department of Education.

Bob Dubel is trying to foster strong families in Baltimore County. The county schools superintendent believes breakfast is a time when kids and moms and dads can gather around the table and share quality time. And he has shaped a unique program to make that happen. But the problem is twofold: The county is pursing its family-fostering breakfast policy in lieu of offering free- and reduced-price breakfasts to its poor children. And, more important, no one knows if it's working -- least of all the attorney general, who has questioned the legality of Baltimore County's program.

NO GOOD parent would willingly send a child to bed with an empty stomach. But start the school day without breakfast?It happens more than many of us would like to think. In some homes, especially in parts of Baltimore, the chief culprit is poverty. But in many others, the rat race is to blame.Shirley S. Kane, a food services and nutrition specialist for Baltimore City Public Schools, admits that even she sometimes skips breakfast, though nutrition is her job. Imagine how often that happens to families less aware of its importance, or less able to provide the food.

With the strains of the anthems of the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force filling the room, hundreds of students and faculty members at Winters Mill High rose to their feet and offered a steady stream of grateful applause to the nearly 300 war veterans who had gathered for a day of remembrance. Among them stood men and women who had served in conflicts stretching back to World War II. There was 92-year-old Henry Singer, who served in the Navy from 1934 to 1945. Standing beside him was his friend, fellow Navy man Charles Swiderman, 85, who clutched a framed painting of the USS Santee, the carrier on which he served from 1942 to 1945.

ALWAYS MINDFUL of providing innovative ways to improve the learning environment and well-being of their pupils, the staff of Park Elementary School has introduced two programs to address physical and psychological needs.With the "Breakfast Buddies" program, the school ensures that the children can have a nutritious meal and not miss any classroom activity. Students go to the cafeteria and get a bag of breakfast items -- but they eat in the classroom.Pupils who had been having breakfast in the cafeteria were not missing instruction time, but were missing out on the "morning work" of exercises, drills and warm-up activities designed to get them ready for the day.Assistant Principal Carolyn Keenan is pleased with the number of students taking part in the program.

NO GOOD parent would willingly send a child to bed with an empty stomach. But start the school day without breakfast?It happens more than many of us would like to think. In some homes, especially in parts of Baltimore, the chief culprit is poverty. But in many others, the rat race is to blame.Shirley S. Kane, a food services and nutrition specialist for Baltimore City Public Schools, admits that even she sometimes skips breakfast, though nutrition is her job. Imagine how often that happens to families less aware of its importance, or less able to provide the food.

In a county dotted with dairy farms and a huge egg-laying operation, it should be no surprise that yet another Carroll school has won the statewide Breakfast Quest contest.Mechanicsville Elementary School in Gamber celebrated its award yesterday with a visit from state and local officials, and an appearance by "That Milk Thing," the blue fur-suited mascot of the dairy industry.It is the second county school to win in the past four years. Manchester Elementary won the designation in 1994.The award is for creative ways students and teachers find to educate children and families about the importance of a nutritious breakfast.

WASHINGTON -- The fax machine in The Sun's Washington bureau made its familiar whine, then produced a unique, unsigned missive:"Please stop lying about school lunches," the fax-sender wrote by hand. "Thank you."In the hysteria that has passed for debate on the Republican proposal to trim the school lunch program, this note, sent by a follower of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, was a mild salvo.At least this critic said please and thank you.The usual rhetoric in this debate has been unduly harsh even by the nasty partisan standards of modern Washington.

Boston. -- In the beginning there was ketchup. The year was 1981, the Reagan Revolution had just begun, and the policy chefs cooked up a Nouvelle Right Cuisine for the kids. The newcomers to power decided that if they could play around in the country's kitchen they could save a bundle on the school-lunch program.Among their recipes for social change was one that set out to reclassify ketchup and pickles as vegetables. Carrots, beans or ketchup. Eat your peas and pickles.The idea of ketchup belonging to a basic food group caused a national upset stomach.

Breakfast is on in Baltimore County schools.Starting next month, the county joins the rest of the state in serving bagels, cereal, fruit, milk and other healthy day-starters to its students.By the end of next school year, all 148 county schools will be serving breakfast, officials said.For years, Baltimore County stood alone in not serving breakfast, even though studies showed that children who eat breakfast are healthier and perform better academically than those who do not.Former superintendent of schools Dr. Robert Y. Dubel, who opposed the formal program because the county taught nutrition and also fed some children informally, was apparently the last hurdle to implementing the breakfast program.

The state's chief executive favors cereal with a banana sliced on top.But any healthy breakfast will do, he told Manchester Elementary School students Friday.Gov. William Donald Schaefer didn't tell them much that was new to them; the students were enthusiastic enough about the first meal of the day to have won a statewide contest. The competition, sponsored by the State Department of Education's nutrition unit, was for increasing participation in the breakfast program.The number of students eating school breakfasts at Manchester Elementary increased 94 percent in six months.

The state's chief executive favors cereal with a banana sliced on top.But any healthy breakfast will do, he told Manchester Elementary School students Friday.Gov. William Donald Schaefer didn't tell them much that was new to them; the students were enthusiastic enough about the first meal of the day to have won a statewide contest. The competition, sponsored by the State Department of Education's nutrition unit, was for increasing participation in the breakfast program.The number of students eating school breakfasts at Manchester Elementary increased 94 percent in six months.

A local research team, taking advantage of what was long considered a glaring omission in Baltimore County schools, is studying whether students at schools with breakfast programs perform better than their counterparts at schools without them."