It’s National School Breakfast Week and both Iola USD 257 and Humboldt USD 258 are tempting students’ tastebuds in recognition of the most important meal of the day.
This year’s theme is,“take the school breakfast challenge.” Students who do not typically eat breakfast at school are encouraged to participate.
USD 257 is observing the week with a special menu that includes strawberry pancakes and introduces egg and ham casserole. Some lucky students will also find tickets affixed to their trays, good for an Easter egg full of goodies.
“There are a lot of kids not eating breakfast,” said Kathy Koehn, director of USD 257’s nutritional services, despite the fact that approximately 65 percent of district students are entitled to either free or reduced meals. The district served 14,753 lunches last month compared to 9,275 breakfasts. To encourage participation, students who eat breakfast receive a bingo card on which they mark off a number every time they eat. Prizes are given to students who complete their cards. Recently, the school added fruit smoothies to its menu.
Marsha Frederick, USD 258 Food Service Director, said she routinely offers most of the menu items suggested by the KSDE for the special week.
“We have cereal every day. We have yogurt in our after-school program, waffles, and fresh fruit,” she said.
This week Frederick said she is going off the beaten track and offering students a tasty breakfast item with a healthy twist.
“Chocolate-covered doughnuts,” she said.
To make them healthy, the doughnuts are multi-grain, according to Frederick. Multi-grain Pop Tarts in cinnamon or strawberry are also routinely offered. Although Frederick said she believes students do not like entrees like multi-grain waffles and pancakes as much as they like flour-based food items, the guidelines set forth by the KSDE are clear. Every day the menu must include items that for elementary students include 350-500 calories and not more than 540 mg of sodium. For middle school students it is 400-550 calories and not more than 600 mg of sodium and for high school students, 400-550 calories and not more than 640 mg of sodium. It can be a challenge, she said, to serve breakfasts that not only comply, but also include food items the students like to eat.
“We were having cocktail smokies for breakfast and they like them, but those are high in sodium,” she said. For the same reason, bacon is also a rarity.
Still, Frederick said she believes it is important to provide young bodies with a breakfast that includes protein and so she often includes sausage on the menu.
“I like to give them protein for breakfast so their blood sugar levels don’t fall off about 10 a.m., because it has been proven that happens if you give them sugary products,” she said.
Frederick creates the monthly menus for all the schools in Humboldt. The kitchen workers feed breakfast to 150-200 students a day. Breakfast is from 7:30 a.m.until 8 a.m. The cost of a breakfast is $1.70 or $.30 or free for those who are eligible. Approximately half of the children in the school district qualify for free or reduced meals.
“Parents are busy, they are working,” Frederick said. “A lot of kids that are on free and reduced end up (even) if their parents do cook for them at home, eating double for that reason. They get a little bit at home and then they are rushed out that door. They can go to school and have a free breakfast.”
High school students, she said, typically eat less than the younger students.
“They can go to a convenience store and pick up something before they come to school because they drive,” Franklin said.
