TJ serves a free breakfast every morning, so students have no excuse for not starting the day off right.
Artwork by Kiera Classen
Does being hungry in the morning make students perform worse in school? Lunch Room Manager Dave Rikert thinks so. “Yeah, I think students who eat breakfast in the morning will do better in school,” said Rikert, who arrives at Thomas Jefferson High School at five in the morning to make the students and staff breakfast.
Many Thomas Jefferson students don’t eat a meal in the morning, but why not come in a little earlier to eat a free breakfast? “We started the program to give kids better nutrition. I worked at GW [George Washington High School] for 15 years. When I came in early, there were kids sleeping on the loading dock, and I thought these kids need to eat,” said Rikert. The free breakfast program started in the middle of the last school year, and has been here ever since.
TJ’s free breakfast program offers a large and varied selection. Every morning, Rikert might feature waffle sticks, bagels, yogurt baskets, sausage and cheese biscuits, juice and milk, fruit bars, or french toast sticks. This ensemble of foods sounds like it can please everyone, but not all of these choices are offered every day. “Some kids like eggs, some don’t. We can’t always please everyone,” said Rikert.
The free breakfast is completely funded by the federal government, as well as the free and reduced lunch program. However, the free/reduced lunch program is based on the household income of a student, while the free breakfast program is free to everyone. “I think that some students who don’t usually get here on time will get here on time for the free breakfast,” said Rikert. With numbers that started at about 43 people the first day, increasing to about 180 people per day, and finally rising to 263 people this year, more people have begun coming in for the breakfast.
It has been said that a good breakfast in the morning can improve a students’ performance in school. Rikert believes this 100%. “In college, I was sometimes going to classes at night. If I didn’t eat dinner, I didn’t even feel like being there,” said Rikert, who says he doesn’t just want the kids to just have breakfast, but he wants them to have a healthy breakfast available. “If kids come in hungry, they might eat unhealthy, like something from the vending machine,” said Rikert.
Free breakfast is a privilege here at TJ. It is available to every student and staff member coming into school hungry. Some people take advantage of the program occasionally, like CCT Teacher Jerry Esparza. “Its great that the school provides it for kids that don’t have the opportunity to eat breakfast at home,” said Esparza. Rikert would like to have more kids eat breakfast in the morning, so “Free breakfast? Why not?”
