Press Releases

Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association Awards $11,600 to McGuffey School District

PHILADELPHIA (September 26, 2007) – For its extraordinary efforts to provide students with a nutritious breakfast, McGuffey High School in Claysville today received an Expanding Breakfast Award and corresponding $1,000 grant from Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association.

The McGuffey School District also received a $4,600 grant to purchase new refrigerated milk coolers under the New Look of School Milk program, in addition to a $6,000 grant that was used to purchase three milk vending machines for the high school cafeteria and gymnasium lobby.

The Expanding Breakfast Award program, funded by Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, was launched this year to call attention to the importance of alternative school breakfast options. Offering breakfast outside of the classroom increases participation by providing service for students who arrive late or who prefer to socialize rather than eat. It also helps to remove the potential social stigma that the program is meant for low-income students.

With five breakfast kiosks throughout the school, students can purchase breakfast and eat it in their homerooms. A hot food, like a breakfast pizza or sandwich, is available each morning in addition to lowfat and fat-free milk, fresh fruit, 100 percent fruit juices, cereal bars and an assortment of breakfast pastries. Nearly 25 percent of students participate in the Grab 'N Go breakfast program.

Food service director Cathleen Kenefick will use the grant money to purchase breakfast carts to replace the utility and audio-visual carts the foodservice staff now uses for breakfast service. "The cafeteria employees will be thrilled to get the carts they need to effectively serve breakfast," Kenefick said.

"My employees really make our program successful," Kenefick said. "What we lack in equipment they make up for with creativity and craftiness."

"The benefits children receive from eating a nutritious breakfast are numerous and well-documented," said Betty Brdar, school marketing manager, Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association. "Eating breakfast yields better student test scores, increases concentration and attendance, decreases disciplinary problems and more."

The equipment improvements are part of the New Look of School Milk program, which was started in response to the 2001 School Milk Pilot Test co-sponsored by the National Dairy Council and the American School Foodservice Association. The test found that making key improvements increases milk sales by 18 percent and school meal participation by 5 percent in secondary schools. Students would also consume 37 percent more of the milk they take.

"Not only are students buying milk, they're drinking more of the milk they take," Kenefick said. "We have noticeably less milk waste since switching to the new bottles."

Two milk vending machines are located in the high school cafeteria and another machine is outside the gymnasium. They provide students with around-the-clock access to milk and complement foods served in the lunch line.

Schools across Pennsylvania that offer a non-traditional breakfast program were eligible to enter the contest.

For more information about grant opportunities for your school, visit www.dairyspot.com.