No Kid Hungry Campaign Names 15 Pennsylvania School Breakfast Heroes
Fueling students with school breakfast takes real heroes. This year’s inspiring lineup of champions includes educators, administrators, school nutrition staff and even a student from school districts across the commonwealth. These heroes were nominated by members of their own community for going above and beyond to make school breakfast possible for all students.
The 15 heroes are clear examples of how school leaders can play a critical role in creating a school breakfast program that reaches all students. Unfortunately, across the Commonwealth, there are more 100,000 students who, though eligible for a free or reduced-price school breakfast, are not currently participating in the program.
This National School Breakfast Week, No Kid Hungry Pennsylvania celebrates these 15 heroes and the leaders who are taking action to ensure students can start the school day ready to succeed. Please join us in celebrating these individual accomplishments and the larger fight to make sure no kid goes hungry.
Learn all about our 2020 Pennsylvania School Breakfast Heroes below:
- Betty Allis, Titusville Area School District: Betty Allis has worked tirelessly to ensure all of the students at Main Street Elementary School can participate in the breakfast program, says Principal Nancy Wright. Every school day, she and the nutrition team provide healthy meals and deliver to all three floors of their building so that students can enjoy breakfast in their classrooms. For Ms. Allis and the school nutrition team, breakfast is more than a meal; it’s an opportunity to create and sustain a positive educational environment. That’s why Ms. Allis decorates the lunch line, provides alternatives for students with special nutritional requirements, and participates in the school-wide discipline plan, ensuring that meal time both fosters school spirit and holds young scholars accountable.
- Daniel Consuegra, Apollo-Ridge School District: As principal of Apollo-Ridge High School, Mr. Consuegra has been a central supporter of the school breakfast program. Last spring, Kelli O’Rourke, the district’s food service director approached Mr. Consuegra about implementing a Second Chance program at the high school. The principal cleared his schedule for the day to participate in a seminar with the food service department to understand how non-traditional breakfast programs could better serve his students. Importantly, he was the only administrator to participate! Starting this year, Mr. Consuegra built time into the school day to make a Second Chance Breakfast program possible and helped communicate the vision to his school’s staff. Ms. O’Rourke says, “without his support I truly don’t think [the breakfast program] would be so successful!”
- Odamis Fernandez-Sheinbaum, Independence Charter School: As assistant principal at Independence Charter School, Mr. Fernandez-Sheinbaum is a true champion of the school breakfast program. He comes to school early and goes to the cafeteria to grab a prepared cart full of breakfast meals and takes it to the 3rd floor to provide a Grab ‘n Go program to the 6th and 8th grade students. His commitment and positivity ensures that students who don’t go to the cafeteria still have access to a school breakfast each day.
- Precious Gillaird, Scranton School District: Ms. Gillaird has made increasing breakfast participation her priority at Scranton School District. She has brought creativity and drive to the project, inspiring others to work alongside her in these efforts. Ms. Gillaird has applied for and received several grants to support the expansion of the program; worked to ensure all students in the district receive a breakfast and lunch at no cost through the Community Eligibility Program; and gotten the word out to the community about the availability and importance of school breakfast. She has developed interactive promotions to create interest and excitement in the program, and even brought in community leaders outside the school. All of Ms. Gillaird’s work has had a real impact: under her leadership, program participation has increased by 30 percentage points!
- Linda Glotz, Keystone Central School District: Linda Glotz is the first person students see as they enter Central Mountain Middle School’s auditorium. She’s there because she volunteered to be the cashier for the breakfast cart when it began last year as an effort to ensure more students have access to breakfast. Every day Ms. Glotz greets students as they enter the building and ensures that they select a healthy Grab ‘n Go breakfast on their way to homeroom. It’s her drive, enthusiasm, courteousness and teamwork that has made this pilot a success, so much so that Central Mountain Middle School has outgrown the breakfast cart and will be opening a larger, permanent Grab ‘n Go area outside the auditorium this March. Increased participation means more students are ready to start the day right. And who volunteered to run the new permanent station? Linda Glotz, of course!
- David Harris, Mechanicsburg Area School District: As principal of Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School, Mr. Harris worked with the school nutrition team, teachers, and staff to adjust the time and breakfast model at school, ensuring more students had time to access a breakfast each day. Karin Marlin, the district’s food service director, applauds David Harris for recognizing the need for additional methods of serving school breakfast to students. By extending the breakfast service in the morning and adding two minutes after the 1st period so that students can grab a breakfast, Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School has increased their participation rates significantly.
- Marianne Havrilla, Hazleton Area School District: Ms. Havrilla is described by her colleagues as always going “above and beyond” to support the students of Hazleton Elementary and Middle School. As the cafeteria manager, Ms. Havrilla makes the café inviting with her upbeat and friendly spirit and with the little touches she makes to the environment. She goes out of her way to make the food appealing to all students, regardless of how familiar they happen to be with foods served in the program. The cafeteria is “colorful, flavorful, and fun,” said one fan. Ms. Havrilla prioritizes variety to ensure students try new foods and stay excited about eating breakfast in the cafeteria. Thank you Ms. Havrilla for bringing your spirit, excitement, and creativity to the school breakfast program!
- Douglas Henry, Greater Johnstown School District: Principal Douglas Henry has been a leader in building Johnstown Elementary School’s breakfast program. Every morning he is in the cafeteria to offer a fresh hello at the breakfast lines and provide assistance to anyone who needs it. He’ll even take the microphone and lead the students in a cheer or play music to create a positive atmosphere to start the day. Principal Henry has identified opportunities to improve the program, establishing quarterly meetings with the students and the food service director to discuss logistics and review initiatives or different food options. He isn’t afraid to make changes if they will benefit his students. He rerouted the buses’ drop-off location so that students pass through the cafeteria on the way to homeroom. And when he heard some kindergarten students were fearful about being in line with older students, he made a separate breakfast line for them.
- Jamestown Cafeteria Staff , Jamestown Area School District: The entire team at Jamestown Area School District has gone above and beyond this year to ensure students have access to a healthy school breakfast at the start of the day. This was the first year that Jamestown Elementary school leveraged the Community Eligibility Program which means all students can access a free breakfast and lunch. The school also implemented a breakfast in the classroom model to ensure that every student, no matter how they began their day or came to school, wouldn’t start the day hungry. The school nutrition team makes the breakfast each morning and either delivers the meals to the classrooms or distributes them in the halls. For primary students, breakfast is available at their desks when they enter the classroom each day. This work would not be possible without the leadership of Principal Kristin Hope, and the teachers who have worked to implement the new program in their classrooms, often integrating the program in their lessons. It takes a village! And the teamwork has paid off: on average upwards of 80 more students per day receive breakfast than did last school year.
- David Ludwig, Norristown Area School District: David Ludwig has only been with Norristown Area School District a short time, but since he came on board as the Food Service Director, he has been passionate about improving participation in the school breakfast program. His goal is simple – ensure that EVERY student in the district is eating school breakfast in their buildings EVERY day! Mr. Ludwig and the school nutrition team have already gotten straight to work. This school year they have worked to establish breakfast in the classroom in several buildings in the district. Superintendent Christopher Dormer says, “Mr. Ludwig’s greatest strength is that he is a student-focused leader.” Just last month he was meeting with the high school’s student council to get a better understanding of how his department can meet their needs. And he genuinely values his students’ thoughts and works to make sure the menus and meals are appealing and exciting for them. The school nutrition team also recognizes that the department plays a critical role in school pride and school spirit and Mr. Ludgwig embraces that challenge in his every day actions. Mr. Ludgwig is only just getting started! We celebrate him and look forward to seeing the program grow as more schools adopt breakfast in the classroom programs next school year!
- Francine Schmid, Sharon City School District: As food service director, Francine Schmid has led the district’s efforts to increase participation in the school breakfast program. Ms. Schmidt worked to engage students, bringing a group together to gain insight into the type of meals they preferred and designed a program that would encourage their participation. Then the team got to work, partnering with each of the six building principals and staff to plan activities such as taste tests, theme days and weeks, prize giveaways, and promotions. She also encourages teaching staff to model behavior by participating in the program as well. In one school, Ms. Schmidt and the building staff built a Cub Club, which encourages every kindergarten student to eat breakfast as a class, while cafeteria staff and teachers teach lessons on table manners, etiquette and cafeteria behavior. In the middle and high school, there are also Grab ‘n Go carts and a coffee bar to accommodate students who have limited time in the morning. What’s more, this school year, four schools in the district are implementing new service models thanks to grants they received from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The result of Ms. Schmidt’s hard work? An increase of more than 50 students eating breakfast this year than last year and student reviews calling their breakfasts “yummy!”
- Darlene Shook, Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship: Here are just a few things that more than 20 colleagues who identified Darlene Shook as their breakfast hero said about her impact on their school: Darlene has been a staple of the school environment since the school began in 2011. Ms. Shook ensures that students and staff are not only fed by the nutritious selection provided by her team but also that they are greeted with smiles and hugs. Ms. Shook knows each child by name and students see her as a mentor and trusted adult. Ms. Shook is creative in her food presentation and is dedicated to ensuring every student has an opportunity to eat breakfast, including starting a Breakfast in the Classroom model for the kindergarten, seventh and eighth grade students. If a bus or student arrives late, Ms. Shook and her team welcomes students into the cafeteria to catch a bite before class. Ms. Shook has a personality that can change a room full of people. One colleague shared, “I’m proud to know her and I look forward to her continued leadership in the future.”
- Dave Slater, Milton Area School District: Principal Slater was instrumental in bringing a Breakfast in the Classroom program to Baugher Elementary School. Food Service Director Sharon Adami says Mr. Slater’s support of this program is “the difference between success and failure.” Now, Mr. Slater is up and around in the building during breakfast, stopping into classrooms to encourage students to eat breakfast. Mr. Slater also created a social education program to support Breakfast in the Classroom, encouraging to not only participate in the program but to sit with students during breakfast and instruct on social skills. The impact has been significant. The program went from reaching less than 40% of the students who qualify for a free or reduced price meal to now serving more than 80% of those students on an average school day. Thank you Principal Slater for your leadership and working to ensure every student at Baugher Elementary has access to a free breakfast each day.
- Kennysha Stanley, School District of Philadelphia: Ms. Stanley, or as she is known to her classmates, Kennysha, is a student champion of school breakfast. As a leader of the Rebel Champs School Breakfast program, a non-profit initiative run for and by students, Kennysha works with her peers, the food service manager and her principal to run taste tests of school food and to promote the breakfast program. Kennysha is a positive role model in her school and community. Jarrett Stein, director of healthy partnerships and social ventures at the University of Pennsylvania’s Netter Center of Community Partnerships, says Kennysha “represents the best of what students can do in their student cafeteria.” Want to be inspired by Kenysha? Check her out in action!
- Alice Stauffer, Coatesville Area School District: Ms. Stauffer, “comes to work every day with a positive attitude and a contagious optimism for our breakfast program,” says Food Service Director Erin Robinson. She puts the students first and makes sure to listen to what they need. After hearing that the hot breakfasts were not remaining sufficiently hot in the breakfast cart that the school was using, she jumped into action. Ms. Stauffer spoke with the assistant principal and together they re-purposed an unused school store area to serve as a breakfast self-serve area and moved in a sandwich warmer to keep hot breakfast hot. The new model has led to increases in participation – from just over 15% at the beginning of the school year to more than 45% this January. With all meals served free of charge, a Grab ‘n Go program that allows students to pick up breakfast and eat in their home room and the infectious optimism of Ms. Stauffer and the school nutrition team – it’s no wonder that the program is a huge success!