Making Good Things Happen For Kids By: Kim Carter San Angelo ISD Child Nutrition Director Good morning etc. Needing a way to increase meal participation? – Today I am going to share with you our district journey and few strategies that helped us make good things happen for our elementary students. Discussion of our elementary breakfast in the classroom program Began in January 2010 Completed 7 years of offering this program

Demographics 2015-2016 Student population 14,319 Free & Reduced 8,764 – 60% of enrollment Employees 175 Budget 7.6 million Schools 24 Participation Breakfast 6,596 Lunch 8,435 Overall 15,031 Review of our demographics. The breakfast participation seven years ago was under 2800 meals per day for all 24 school locations. It was determined that barriers needed to be eliminated that were preventing our students from having access to the most important meal of the day – Breakfast. What did we change: Removed the price barrier for reduced and full price students Changed where elementary breakfast meals would be served. From cafeteria to classrooms. Created a campus partnership involving principals, teachers, students, custodians, and food service.

Results of Making Good Things Happen Stats to share: 27% of our elementary students ate a school breakfast when it was served in the cafeteria. Now 73% of our elementary students eat a school breakfast that is served in the classroom. Daily increase of over 3400 more elementary students are eating school breakfast per day Annual increase of approximately 600,000 breakfast meals.

Best Practices Gain support from the Top Create partnerships and buy-in of all stakeholders Plan and anticipate the needs Keep the menu simple and kid friendly Be flexible and solution minded Listen and seek feedback Train everyone Never give up on what you believe in Discuss different examples of the best practices listed above. Communication and Training – Review importance of peer to peer; pilots Student Helpers – Assist with deliver of meals; life lessons Simple menus – find their favorites and repeat to keep participation levels. Add a rotation of flavors to keep interest and variety, but not change the nutritional. Solution minded – Crumble biscuits vs. a slider roll Solution minded – Shelf stable juice vs frozen juice – resolved storage issues. Surveys and School Breakfast Week promotions – feedback and introduction of new breakfast items. On-line surveys and individual vote cards Positive attitudes

To Accomplish Great Things “TAKE HOME MOMENT” To Accomplish Great Things We must not only Act, But also Dream, Not only Plan, But also BELIEVE! Anatole France Making this transition to breakfast in the classroom was not easy and would of not been possible with out the dedication and partnerships of many individuals. Partnerships and open communication are two key factors that helped us accomplish the results shared today. Was all the extra work and effort worth the results we are seeing? Most definitely! When kids stop asking what time is lunch and we removed the barriers for our most needy students to supply them the nutrition they need to learn and be successful…..it was definitely worth it. I think the above quote sums up what it took to make good things happen for kids at SAISD. Action – Dream (Vision) – Plan – Believe!