The Project Healthy Schools’ wellness team at Portland Middle School introduced “Second Chance Breakfast”: an alternative service model to allow more students the opportunity to eat breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast helps students be more prepared to learn. Students picked up grab-and-go items from the cafeteria, or a mobile food cart, to bring back and eat in their classroom. The result was a 700% increase in their breakfast participation at the first run-through. Following this success, over 200 students continued to be served breakfast either through Before School Breakfast or Second Chance Breakfast. Food Service Director, Steve Pell saw astonishing results, stating, “Doubling the student breakfast counts would have been great, but an increase in participation by 4 or 5 times has exceeded our expectations. Our Food Service staff has been excited to see the large student turnouts for the Second Chance Breakfast.”

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