Maryland Meals for Achievement now provides free breakfast to all students at Watkins Mill High School, offering a wide variety of healthy foods and helping students start the day with a nutritious meal.

Maryland Meals for Achievement is a research-based pilot program that provides an in-classroom breakfast to students, improving student achievement, attendance, and productivity by providing healthy breakfasts that includes whole grains, protein, and fruit or fruit juice.

“When I got a call…I couldn’t turn it down,” principal Carol Goddard said. “I had [the program] at Gaithersburg Middle School…[so] I knew how easy it would be to implement.” Students no longer have to worry about eating breakfast at home or paying for breakfast at school.

Breakfast will be served between 7:30 and 7:45 in students’ first period classes.“I have seen certain students who usually were very late to first period no longer be as late because they are coming for the breakfast,” English teacher Sonya Shpilyuk said.  

Students must take a main food item and a serving of fruit. Any unwanted food will go the shared table, which makes any food that a student takes but doesn’t want available to other students. “I like the fact that there’s variety and…that there’s fruit,” Shpilyuk added.

“I think it’s fabulous,” hospitality management teacher Lisa Gilbert said. Gilbert’s classes use the leftover breakfast items from the shared tables, making a wide range of dishes from strawberry smoothies to french toast strata and chocolate ice cream.

In the upcoming health fair on March 23, Gilbert’s classes will have dishes available so that “students can taste from the food that’s left over.” This helps to show students how to repurpose leftovers, rather than letting food go to waste.  

“I really like [the breakfast],” junior Daniel Surichaqui said. It makes it more convenient for people to get breakfast, having it served in first period rather than the cafeteria. “You can go to your first period… and just sit down [and] eat your breakfast in class,” Surichaqui added.

“I love the breakfast,” Shpilyuk said. “I think it’s a great thing for the students I think that students who are hungry get to eat.”

“I hope that the kids get something out of it,” Goddard added.