SEATTLE Students at White Center Heights Elementary School were given a challenge in March: “Skip Rope, Not Breakfast.” They were asked to increase the number of free school breakfasts eaten at the school to at least 6,000 in the month, and if they were successful, every child in the school would get a jump rope. They met that challenge, and this afternoon, in a special school assembly, the children will receive their reward.
The jump ropes will be distributed at 3 p.m. at White Center Heights Elementary, 10015 Sixth Ave. SW, Seattle. Reporters are welcome to attend.
The “Skip Rope, Not Breakfast” promotion was the result of a partnership between the school, Washington State University Extension’s Food$ense Program, the King County Food and Fitness Initiative, Children’s Alliance, Highline School District, Hope Heart Foundation, and the White Center Community Development Association. It involved parents and teachers, who were provided vouchers, funded by the Children’s Alliance, to eat breakfast with their students in the lunchroom. Classrooms were surveyed about their breakfast eating habits and more than 100 families were telephoned to gather input and provide information about the school breakfast program.
“Eating breakfast is tied to academic success,” said Maggie Grate, registered dietitian and WSU Extension coordinator. “Students who eat breakfast have an easier time focusing, concentrating, solving problems and learning. It is easier for them to behave in the classroom, and they have higher test scores. Students who eat breakfast miss less school and are tardy less often.”