Manton schools win grant for breakfast program
By Kayla Kiley
MANTON - For Manton schools, winning a $2,500 grant seemed a piece of cake.
That’s because most students were hungry for the win.
The Michigan Department of Education recently awarded Manton Consolidated Schools a silver award and $2,500 for its student participation in the School Breakfast Challenge.
For years, Manton has offered free breakfast to students who receive free and reduced lunch. Last year, Shelley Ritchie, food service director for Manton schools, took the extra step to offer free breakfast to all students.
"It’s important that everyone has the option to have breakfast for free because then everyone is equal, and this way, different categories of kids aren’t singled out," Ritchie said. "Now, they can all have the opportunity to eat breakfast, and kids don’t feel segregated."
Food service employees bring breakfast to kindergarten through eighth grade classrooms, and teachers ensure that students have a quality meal. High school students grab their own breakfast from the cafeteria.
In one year, from May 2008 to May 2009, Ritchie said that Manton went from feeding an average of about 75 kids breakfast to feeding an average of 570 students throughout the district.
Manton schools qualified for the grant because it had to have a minimum of a 50-percent increase in student average daily participation in the breakfast program from May 2008 to May 2009.
"We had an extremely high percentage of increase of students taking breakfast," said school superintendent Mark Parsons, noting that 66 percent of Manton students are on free or reduced lunch. "Because we were supplying, kids were taking."
Parsons said the school is "glad" students are getting breakfast, noting it benefits the students’ overall performance and health.
"Statistically, across the country, a low percentage of students wouldn’t get breakfast if this program wasn’t there," Parsons said. "We know that it’ll make a difference and help provide for the kids.
"I think parents have it tough, and if they’re in poverty, it’s extra tough. This is a great way to make sure kids don’t go hungry," Parsons continued.
Ritchie said she didn’t have to adjust the food budget in order to increase the breakfast program; because the school is feeding more, the state reimburses the school for the food. The food service budget is separate from the school’s general fund.
According to Mike Flanagan, the state superintendent of public instruction, schools may use the grant money toward wellness/coordinated school health teams, future breakfast promotion efforts, physical education efforts, and/or school meal improvement.
At this point, the school is not sure what it will put the grant money toward.
A total of eight districts statewide received either gold or silver awards, $5,000 or $2,500, which will be given at the Michigan Association of School Administrators’ Conference in Traverse City at the end of the month. All districts who met the challenge also will be listed on the Michigan School Breakfast Challenge Honor Roll.
kkiley@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)
