Second- and third-graders at Desert Winds Elementary School don't start the school day until they do one thing: have breakfast at their desks.
Desert Winds serves a free breakfast to any student who wants it as part of a Breakfast in the Classroom program.
The program started its fourth year last week.
Roadrunner Elementary School is the only other school in the Marana Unified School District to offer the free breakfast program.
Roadrunner is now in the fifth year of its breakfast program.
Other Marana elementary schools in the district offer breakfast each day as part of a regular breakfast program but unless a student qualifies for free- or reduced-price meals, parents have to pay 90 cents.
District officials would like to offer free breakfast in more of their schools as participation in the district's free- and reduced- meals program has decreased in recent years.
People are also reading…
Currently, only 29 percent of students in the Marana Unified School District qualify for free- or reduced-price meals, Marana district spokeswoman Tamara Crawley said.
Five years ago, around 65 percent of students qualified.
"It is our goal to increase awareness and encourage participation in the program," Crawley said.
Some of the decrease can be attributed to Marana's growth, but district officials believe more of students could probably qualify for free- or reduced-price meals, Crawley said.
Families qualify for free- or reduced-price meals based on their income.
For instance, a household of four qualifies if its yearly income is less than $39,220.
Programs such as Breakfast in the Classroom guarantee students at Desert Winds and Roadrunner have at least one free meal a day.
Students at Desert Winds — where 66 percent of students qualify for free- or reduced- price meals — have their choice between a hot item, such as French toast sticks or a breakfast pizza, or a cold item, usually cereal. Breakfast also includes a carton of milk and occasionally something extra, such as string cheese.
Students can opt not to eat breakfast at school if they would rather eat at home.
"Breakfast is good," second-grader Courtney Anderson said in class last Thursday. "It's yummy and it's free."
Second- and third-graders have breakfast at their desks and the younger students have breakfast in the cafeteria.
Desert Winds, which is in the Pictures Rocks area, is a kindergarten- through third-grade school.
Desert Winds and Roadrunner schools operate the approximately $28,000 program with cash subsidies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and donations from private donors.
Marana Governing Board member Dan Post has made it a project to raise money for the breakfast program.
He helped secure a $10,000 donation from Cortaro Water Users Association and $5,000 donations from Trico Electric Cooperative and Freedom RV.
Private citizens also have donated money.
"It's a neat program," Post said. "There are kids in our community that come to school hungry and that's a shame. We are not trying to distinguish which ones can afford it (breakfast) and which ones can't. We give it to all of them."
And eating a good breakfast has its benefits.
"Since the implementation of this program we've seen a decrease in tardies and a decrease in the visits to the health office," Crawley said.
Students also stay on task longer if they start the day with breakfast.
"Teachers have developed a morning routine that includes breakfast," Desert Winds principal Denise Linsalata said. "Teachers have told me students are more focused in the morning, especially with our third-grade lunch time being 12:40 and 12:45. It's a long morning until lunch."
Students say they pay attention more when they have full bellies.
"It keeps me focused in the class," second-grader Max Fouts said. "I don't have to beg to eat."
Chloe Royer, 8, likes the convenience of having breakfast in the class.
"We don't have to walk all the way to the cafeteria to have breakfast," she said. "Breakfast makes you not hungry until lunch and it's a good way to start the day."
Free- and reduced-price meals
Applications for free- and reduced meals can be found on the Marana Unified School District's Web site at www.maranausd.org.
Applications also are available at any Marana school.
