Lt. Governor Brown, Baltimore City Council President Rawlings-Blake Join Northwood Elementary Fifth Graders for Breakfast

Brown highlights O'Malley-Brown commitment to end childhood hunger by 2015

 

BALTIMORE, MD (September 8, 2009) – Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown and Baltimore City Council President Stephanie-Rawlings Blake visited students, teachers and faculty today at Northwood Elementary School in Baltimore City to highlight efforts Maryland is taking to end childhood hunger and improve student performance. During his visit, Brown had breakfast with Mrs. Andrea Jackson’s fifth grade students who participate in the Maryland Meals for Achievement Program. Earlier this year, Governor Martin O’Malley set an ambitious goal to end childhood hunger in Maryland no later than 2015.

“We have the best schools in America, not by chance but by choice. We understand that healthy children make the best students, the best students make the best workers, and the best workers make Maryland a strong and vibrant state,” Lt. Governor Brown said. “More than 184,000 children across our state go to bed hungry. Governor O’Malley and I are committed to making that a reality of the past and we have forged partnerships with our schools through programs like Maryland Meals for Achievement to end childhood hunger by 2015.”

“I applaud the O’Malley-Brown administration’s commitment to Baltimore’s public schools and their ambitious efforts to end childhood hunger by 2015,” Baltimore City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said. “When students start their day off with a healthy breakfast, they are more productive and more attentive during the day and better prepared to succeed.”

Governor O’Malley has announced a goal to end childhood hunger in Maryland by 2015 and he established a partnership with Share our Strength and the Governor’s Office for Children. These partners convened a group of organizations, agencies and stakeholders from the national, state and local levels, representing both private and public sectors, to develop and implement a strategy to end childhood hunger in Maryland, including food and nutrition initiatives in Maryland’s schools.

In 1998, Maryland launched the Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA) program in several elementary schools. MMFA provides students, regardless of family income, with breakfast in the classroom each morning. Under State law, any school that participates in the federal School Breakfast Program and has at least 40 percent of enrollment approved for free or reduced-price meals can apply to become an MMFA school. The current budget contains more than $2.8 million for 196 schools to participate and provides more than 56,000 meals each morning.

“School nutrition programs are an integral part of the academic day. They provide the fuel needed for learning, and they may be the only well-balanced, complete meals low-income children receive,” said State Superintendent Dr. Nancy Grasmick in a statement.

Researchers from Harvard University found that MMFA helped improve student performance and attendance while cutting back on tardiness and behavioral problems. Specifically, the study found that MMFA schools realized a five-point increase in students who scored at or above the satisfactory level on standardized tests.

“As a result of the Maryland Meals for Achievement Program, Northwood Elementary School students have demonstrated improved academic achievement, behavior, attendance and well-being. We feel that the Maryland Meals for Achievement Program is an integral part of our student and family support system,” said Northwood Elementary School Principal Erita Adams.

In January, Education Week ranked Maryland’s public schools as the best in America. Since passing the Bridge to Academic Excellence in 2002, test scores across the country are up in every county and in every grade. Northwood Elementary School reports six consecutive years that students have met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) across all demographic categories. In 2005, only 46 percent of Northwood fifth graders scored proficient or better in math and less than 60 percent scored proficient or better in reading. Last year, nearly 85 percent of fifth graders scored proficient or better in math and 88 percent scored proficient or better in reading. Northwood Elementary has produced two Baltimore City Teacher of the Year Honorees in recent years: Mrs. Andrea Jackson in 2005 and Ms. Kristin Covaeskie in 2008.

Since taking office, the O’Malley-Brown Administration has invested record funding in public K-12 education, including $5.5 billion this fiscal year. In addition, the administration has invested over $1 billion in school construction in just three years, $178 million more than the previous administration invested in four full years.

View more photos from this event.

 

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