Anson school provides award-winning breakfast

By ANDREW POTTER, TIMES-REPUBLICAN
Providing its students a jumpstart in the morning just won Anson Elementary School a $5,000 award.

Anson won the prize from the Midwest Dairy Council Breakfast Awards Program as a result of its success in serving 85 percent of its students breakfast.

Anson provides breakfast in the classroom rather than in a cafeteria to start the school day.

Ann Feilmann, director of food service with the school district, said this is the second year Anson has had the breakfast program which has gotten positive feedback from the teachers and students.

“You need that fuel for your brain to work,” Feilmann said. “Students are ready to go and focus on the task at hand and don’t have that disturbance later in the morning when kids get hungry and ready for lunch.”

The breakfast which is free to students usually entails cereal or breakfast sandwiches or yogurt and cheese.

“They really like yogurt and string cheese, we try to have that once a week and always with milk and juice,” Feilmann said.

Hoglan Elementary School started a similar program and Feilmann said they are looking to expand to one more elementary school. Currently the other schools in the district offer breakfast before the school day starts in the morning and not in the classroom at the start of the day like Hoglan and Anson.

Anson Principal Bea Niblock said in a news release by the district the prize money will be used to increase software and book collections in classrooms and the media center with items that focus on nutrition, physical activity and living a healthy lifestyle.

Feilmann said the money will work in conjunction with the actual breakfast to help teach students about the importance of the first meal of the day.

“It enables us to expand some educational opportunities to go along with this,” she said.

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Contact Andrew Potter at 641-753-6611 or apotter@timesrepublican.com