Audubon Elementary
Owensboro, Kentucky

Audubon Elementary School in Owensboro, Kentucky was facing a dilemma: Participation in the school’s breakfast program was low, leaving many students with empty stomachs when they sat down at their desks in the morning to learn. Lisa Sims, director of School Nutrition, believed that serving breakfast in the classroom rather than the cafeteria would ensure that more kids got the nutrition they needed to start the day off right. However, the school lacked the funding necessary to implement the program.

Thanks to a $3,000 School Breakfast grant from Action for Healthy Kids, made possible by Walmart Foundation, Audubon and four other schools in Daviess County Public Schools were able to make breakfast in the classroom a reality during the 2017-2018 school year.

Sims said that developing a great menu was key to making the program a success. She and the food service staff worked hard to create breakfast items that were mobile, easy to eat and not messy, while still meeting students’ dietary needs–and being enticing to kids. Another key was providing the meals at no charge to all students.

Sims knew that gaining administrator and teacher support could be a hurdle when making any change, but she said everyone quickly got on board when they heard the great feedback from students and saw the positive results: Breakfast participation had increased by a whopping 111% since breakfast in the classroom went into effect.

“Teachers figured out how to work breakfast into their morning schedule and were amazed at how attentive the students were in the morning now,” she said. “Custodians had no complaints either!”

Even the food service staff, who now had to prepare double the amount of food, quickly got into the swing of things.

Thanks to hard work and positive attitude of everyone involved, more kids at Audubon Elementary are now starting their day with a nutritious meal and sitting down to their desks focused and ready to learn. Way to go, team!