More than 1 million meals served

Standing, sitting, squatting in his chair, kindergartener Maseon Velez doesn't stay in one position for long as he eats breakfast in his classroom at the Kindergarten Learning Center.

Holding a maple waffle stick in his left hand and clutching a carton of white milk in his right hand, Velez is part of a growing number of Highlands County students who start their school day with breakfast in school.

Despite declining enrollment, more breakfasts are being served in Highlands County schools. During the 2008-09 school year, the district surpassed the one million mark.

Food and Nutrition Director Martha Brown believes the breakfast in the classroom program, now in seven schools, is responsible for some of the increase in school breakfasts, which are free for all students.

The economy may also have spurred an increase. Districtwide the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch has increased from 62 percent in 2007-08 to 70 percent this school year, she said.

Last school year, about 51 percent of the district's students ate breakfast at school. That percentage has increased to 57 percent this school.

The breakfast in the classroom program started in the district at Avon Elementary School in 2006-07.

Sun 'N Lake and Woodlawn elementary schools soon followed, and then Kindergarten Learning Center, Cracker Trail, Fred Wild and Memorial elementary schools joined the program.

Instead of dining in a noisy and crowded cafeteria, breakfast in the classroom gets students settled in the classroom, who then eat and then move on to their studies.

Kindergarten Learning Center teacher Linda Freeland said all the school's students won't fit in the cafeteria for breakfast so that's a good reason to have breakfast in the classroom.

"It's a great program," she said. "It gets the kids off to a good start in the morning."

The breakfast in the classroom program has a lasting effect on elementary students when they move up to middle school, Brown believes.

"We are seeing more middle schoolers having breakfast," she said. "I think that's a direct relationship to the breakfast in the classroom program. They are more likely to continue that habit and that's a healthy habit."

Also, Hill-Gustat Middle School offers "breakfast on the patio" as an alternative to the traditional cafeteria meal service and this has increased participation at the school, Brown said.

First lady Michele Obama, in her effort to battle the nation's childhood obesity problem, is stressing the importance of school meals.

Obama said recently that the people who prepare meals for schools have more influence over what kids eat than their parents do because, with breakfast and lunch, students consume about half their calories at school.

"We are with Michele Obama and us getting them to eat breakfast is one of the biggest keys to stemming obesity," Brown said. "A lot of the folks who have weight problems are non-breakfast eaters."

School breakfast meets the United States Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines providing one-quarter of the daily recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for eight nutrients.

BY THE NUMBERS

The total number of breakfasts served in schools has steadily increased despite declining enrollment:

• 868,110 in 2006-07.

• 994,984 in 2007-08.

• 1,113,841 in 2008-09.