March 3, 2008  

LANSING – School districts throughout Michigan will celebrate National School Breakfast Week from March 3-7, 2008 .   

This year’s theme for National School Breakfast Week, entitled Fuel Your Imagination, presents an excellent opportunity to emphasize research outcomes that students who eat breakfast are more alert, have improved memory and problem solving skills, and perform better on standardized tests.

The National School Breakfast Program has served schools for more than 40 years through advanced practices and nutrition education.  The National School Breakfast Program is dedicated to the health and well-being of America ’s children.   

Within the federally funded National School Breakfast Program, 9.3 million children are provided a nutritious breakfast each school day and over 80,000 schools and institutions serve school breakfast every day.  In 2007, more than 227,000 school breakfasts were served daily to students at more than 2,100 sites in Michigan . 

“Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day for kids as it provides the necessary fuel to start a day of learning and achievement,” said State Board of Education President Kathleen A. Straus.  “It is important for all Michigan communities to understand that education and proper child nutrition go hand-in-hand.”

National School Breakfast Week serves as a fitting time to recognize all of the dedicated and hardworking people who make the School Breakfast Program a reality in their community schools and urge all Michigan citizens to become aware of the solid foundation for learning provided by a nutritious School Breakfast.