LANSDALE — State Department of Education Deputy Secretary Marcus Delgado on Thursday celebrated with students and school leaders at Oak Park Elementary School, as the school was named a Governor’s Breakfast Champion for its participation in the inaugural Governor’s School Breakfast Challenge.
Oak Park served 31,263 breakfast meals to students in the 2023-24 school year. Through their participation in the Governor’s School Breakfast Challenge, participation increased by 22 percent. More than a third of Oak Park students eat breakfast at school each day, according to the school district and Department of Education.
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“Having access to a healthy breakfast is critically important for children to focus, learn, grow, and engage in school, and having access to a free healthy breakfast is equally important to families across the commonwealth,” said Delgado. “The Governor’s School Breakfast Challenge encouraged schools to take advantage of this opportunity in fun, creative ways — increasing school spirit and, ultimately, feeding more young minds and bellies each morning.”
The Governor’s School Breakfast Challenge is a three-month program to encourage increased participation in the Universal Free Breakfast Program and recognize schools for increasing breakfast participation while implementing sustainable changes that incorporate more nutritious and local foods in their meal offerings.
Participating schools raise awareness about the free breakfast program, boost participation by improving access within school buildings, offer more low-sugar options, and include more locally sourced foods. This year, 37 schools successfully completed the challenge.
The top 10 schools with the greatest increase in participation received a banner to hang in their school, a certificate, and a breakfast recipe book including recipes submitted by schools that completed the challenge.
“With school breakfast being at no cost for all students, it allows us the opportunity to get creative and place a priority on this valuable and important component of the school day,” said Oak Park Principal Jonathan D. Winkle. “We fully understand that in order to learn and grow all students need to first have their basic needs met, and free breakfast allows us to ensure that all students begin their school day with a healthy meal. It is exciting every day to see all students parade into the cafeteria to kick their day off the right way at Oak Park!”
Over the past school year, 91.4 million breakfast meals were served in schools, an increase of nearly 10 million since the 2022-23 school year. More than 7 million of those breakfasts were served to students at-risk for hunger or from low-income families, according to the state Department of Education.
