Served by the Bell

Nutrition in the classroom

Students in Putnam County participating in the breakfast in the classroom program.

In 2014, Dr. Rick Surrency was sitting in a meeting with the new food service director for Putnam County School District, Nikki Hawthorne, listening to her proposal to implement an innovative school breakfast program called “breakfast in the classroom.” Surrency was principal of Jenkins Middle School in Palatka at the time, and he worked every day to help students at his school be successful. Hawthorne shared the many benefits of students eating breakfast, from student health to academic performance, and her presentation offered a new way to get more students not to skip the most important meal of the day.

Hawthorne’s figures showed that only about 25% of the students were eating school breakfast. The “breakfast in the classroom” program aimed to increase that number by allowing students to eat breakfast in their classroom with their friends. Middle schoolers wanted to socialize and gather with their friends and weren’t willing to give up that time standing in a cafeteria line. By moving breakfast to the classroom, students could socialize while they got the nutrition they needed.

The meeting was interrupted by an urgent call that a student had passed out in the gymnasium. Surrency left to attend to the student, who upon regaining consciousness told him that they had not eaten since the day before. Surrency went straight back to his meeting and agreed to move forward with the “breakfast in the classroom” program.

In the years that followed, this decision proved to be one that would nurture students in more ways than one. Surrency soon moved into a new position as Superintendent for Putnam County School District, where he had the opportunity to work alongside Hawthorne, advocating to expand this program into almost every school in the district. As a result, school breakfast participation grew to 77-80% and academic performance also improved, along with student health and behavior in the classroom.

“The breakfast in the classroom program removes all stigma,” says Hawthorne. “When every student is served in the classroom, it’s a captive audience where positive peer influence takes hold — everyone is participating. It ensures all students begin their day fueled and ready to succeed.”

Research overwhelmingly shows that when students have a healthy breakfast they perform better on standardized tests, improve their concentration and comprehension and are more successful academically overall. Beyond that, students are healthier and have fewer absences and visits to the school nurse. But above all else, the importance of school breakfast comes down to providing for a basic need – a guaranteed meal for kids who might struggle to get three meals a day at home.

The reality is that one in five children under the age of 18 in Florida live in a household that is food insecure. A recent poll from the organization No Kid Hungry found that affording groceries has become harder for nearly three-quarters of Floridians, which they attributed to the cost of food rising faster than their income. Numbers like that illustrate the importance of making sure students are eating at school and starting their day with a hunger to learn instead of a grumbling belly.

No Kid Hungry, a national campaign through the organization Share Our Strength, works closely with Florida’s teachers, principals, food service directors and superintendents like Dr. Rick Surrency to advocate for increased participation, improved access and innovative ideas. Their support helps schools meet the needs of the over 2.9 million children whose families struggle with food security.

School breakfast initiatives like breakfast in the classroom, breakfast carts and breakfast after the bell – allowing kids that might arrive last to still start their day with a nutritious breakfast – are part of the work that No Kid Hungry advocates for, removing barriers to their health and success. The mission is not simply to make sure that Surrency and his fellow principals in Northeast Florida don’t have to watch a student suffer because they haven’t eaten. The goal is to see students thrive because they know that food is not something they have to worry about once they walk through those doors.