Contact: Johanna Elsemore at 202.478.6554 or jelsemore@strength.org
Washington, DC – At the Wichita Public Schools annual nutrition services end of year recognition event on Friday, the national anti-hunger campaign No Kid Hungry presented the district with its 2019 Breakfast Hero award. Present at the event were 425 nutrition services staff from Wichita Public Schools as well as special guests including Lieutenant Governor Lynn Rogers; State Agriculture Representative Mel Thompson; Wichita Board of Education members Sheril Logan and Ben Blankley; Wichita Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Alicia Thompson; Kansas State Department of Education Child Nutrition & Wellness staff Cheryl Johnson and Jill Ladd; and No Kid Hungry’s President & Chief Executive Officer Tom Nelson.
Wichita Public Schools was one of five national winners of the award, which recognizes champions from school districts across the country who have gone above and beyond to ensure their students start each day with a healthy breakfast. This school year, Wichita Public Schools started innovative breakfast delivery models at 18 schools across the district, resulting in 1,300 additional students eating breakfast each day.
Research shows that when kids eat breakfast, they are more focused and perform better in school. Breakfast after the bell provides breakfast in a way that is more convenient and accessible to students, resulting in more kids starting the day ready to learn.
Left to Right: State Agriculture Representative Mel Thompson, Cheryl Johnson, Director of Child Nutrition & Wellness, Kansas Department of Education; Kelley McDonough, School Breakfast Program Manager, No Kid Hungry; Tom Nelson, President & CEO, No Kid Hungry; David Paul, Nutrition Services Director, Wichita Public Schools; and Jill Ladd, Grant & Project Specialist, Child Nutrition & Wellness, Kansas Department of Education.
Lt. Governor Lynn Rogers makes remarks at Friday’s celebration event recognizing Wichita Public Schools as one of five national winners of No Kid Hungry’s Breakfast Hero award. On the right: State Agriculture Representative Mel Thompson.
No Kid Hungry presented the Wichita Public Schools team with the 2019 School Breakfast Hero Contest award. The award recognized the following individuals who have been instrumental in implementing breakfast after the bell: Food Service Director David Paul; Secondary School Supervisor Jeff Falkner; and cafeteria managers Travis Folds (East High School), Leesa Morgan (South High School), Kay Scott (West High School), and Amy Stewart (North High School).
Read more about these champions from Wichita Public Schools and all five 2019 No Kid Hungry Breakfast Hero Contest winners on No Kid Hungry’s blog.
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But 1 in 6 kids will face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger through effective programs that provide kids with the food they need. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization working to end hunger and poverty. Join us at NoKidHungry.org