Accomack County Schools achieve No Kid Hungry recognition

This week, individuals from across Virginia received national recognition when they were honored in No Kid Hungry’s 2020 School Breakfast Hall of Fame. Inductees were nominated by members of their local community for going above and beyond to start and expand Breakfast After the Bell, a program that increases access to school breakfast by making it part of the school day. Virginians honored with the national No Kid Hungry recognition included Chris Holland, Superintendent; Brandyn Burkholder, School Nutrition Director; and the Accomack County School Board and Accomack County Public Schools.

“This year’s inductees are true advocates for students and understand the importance that breakfast has on a child’s ability to succeed in the classroom,” said Claire Mansfield, the director of No Kid Hungry Virginia.

Breakfast is an energy source for kids, but one in seven children in Virginia lives with hunger and may start the school day on an empty stomach. No Kid Hungry Virginia and its partners focus on Breakfast After the Bell as a critical way to end childhood hunger in the Commonwealth.

Nearly 1,300 Virginia schools have Breakfast After the Bell programs. A new study by the University of California Santa Barbara on behalf of No Kid Hungry shows that when schools implement Breakfast After the Bell they can potentially see chronic absenteeism rates drop, on average, by six percentage points. Additional research also indicates that eating breakfast at school helps children improve classroom performance and promotes healthy habits.