Kentucky Department of Education

Have a safe and happy new year!

Kentucky School Breakfast Scorecard 8^th in nation

The School Breakfast Scorecard 2007, produced by the national Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), shows that Kentucky ranks in the top 10 among states in the percentage of schools that offer breakfast to students.

The scorecard was released on Dec. 11, and shows that Kentucky ranks eighth in the percentage of schools that offer breakfast and fifth in the percentage of low-income students participating in School Lunch Program who also eat breakfast.

Unlike most other states, Kentucky does not mandate participation in or provide incentives for the School Breakfast Program. Paul McElwain, director of the Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of Nutrition and Health Services, said that the state’s public school districts have a deep understanding of the value of school meals.

“Our districts and schools continue to do the right thing, for the right reason,” said McElwain. “Without incentives or mandates, Kentucky’s public school districts have recognized the connection of good nutrition to student learning.”

Fewer than 10 public schools in the state don’t offer the School Breakfast Program, primarily because of a lack of participation.

The FRAC report provides several key findings about the School Breakfast Program nationwide:

• In 2006-07, 8.1 million low-income children participated in the program on an average day nationwide, an increase of 391,000 children, or five percent, compared to the prior school year. In the last three school years, daily participation in school breakfast by low-income children has increased by 1 million, or 14.2 percent. (More than 227,000 children in Kentucky’s public schools participate in the School Breakfast Program.)
• Nationally, comparing free and reduced-price school breakfast participation to free and reduced-price lunch participation, 45.3 children ate breakfast for every 100 children who ate lunch in school year 2006-07. (Kentucky’s figure was 56.3 percent.)
• New Mexico, at 61.1 percent, became first state to exceed the ratio of 60 low-income children eating breakfast for every 100 eating lunch. The other best ranked states on this measure were South Carolina (59.2 percent), West Virginia (57 percent), Oklahoma (56.9 percent) and Kentucky (56.3 percent). (South Carolina and West Virginia have state laws requiring all public schools to offer the breakfast program. The New Mexico state legislature appropriates money for breakfast reimbursement over and above the federal reimbursement. Only Kentucky and Oklahoma do not have state statutory mandates or state financial inducements.)
• The majority of states have implemented promotion activities to encourage school districts to adopt alternative breakfast service models to help increase participation. Several states also have worked to improve the nutritional quality of the meals being served at breakfast.

FRAC also made several recommendations for school breakfast expansion:

• Every school should participate in the School Breakfast Program.
• States should mandate the provision of breakfast at schools, particularly those with significant numbers of low-income students, and provide state funds to supplement federal funding for the breakfast program.
• Schools should make breakfast a part of the school day by implementing universal breakfast programs (breakfast at no cost to all students), and flexible serving methods such as breakfast in the classroom.
• USDA should make supplemental federal funding available to school districts for the implementation of strategies to increase participation in the School Breakfast Program.
• Local outreach and social marketing by schools, advocates, state agencies, school nutrition organizations and USDA are vital to ensuring that all eligible children who wish to are enrolled and participate in school breakfast.
• Schools should improve the nutritional quality of school breakfast in order to attract student participation and provide the best nutrition to students.

The Food Research and Action Center is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States. FRAC works with hundreds of national, state and local nonprofit organizations, public agencies and corporations to address hunger and its root cause, poverty.

KET College Courses begin spring schedule Jan. 21

Registration is in progress as many participating Kentucky colleges and universities for 2008’s spring session of KET College Courses. The courses begin airing Monday, Jan. 21, and will be available through video-streaming and DVD rental in addition to regular broadcast delivery.

KET’s college credit courses allow students to study at home, even though distance and time might separate them from higher education institutions. Course assignments can be completed at each student’s pace since the televised programs are available for recording, renting or online viewing. Campus instructors facilitate these fully accredited college courses, which may require a few on-campus sessions, and students can communicate with their instructors through e-mail, phone or fax. Upon successful completion of each course, students earn three hours of college credit.

The following colleges and universities are offering credit for some or all KET College Courses this fall: Ashland Community and Technical College, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Eastern Kentucky University, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, Jefferson Community College, Kentucky State University, Madisonville Community College, Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Western Kentucky University.

The lineup for the 2008 spring semester includes these undergraduate-level courses.

·        Concepts in Marketing – new course

·        Discovering Psychology – Updated Edition

·        Exploring Society – Introduction to Society

·        Exploring the World of Music – Music Appreciation and World Music

·        Faces of Culture – Studies in Cultural Anthropology

·        Framework for Democracy – Introduction to American Government

·        Human Geography – People, Places and Change

·        Journey to Health – Mind, Body and Spirit

·        Literary Visions – Reading, Writing and Literature

·        Our Families, Ourselves – new course

·        The Power of Place – Geography for the 21^st Century

·        Taking the Lead – The Management Revolution

·        The Unfinished Nation II – Reconstruction to the Information Age (from 1865)

·        The Western Tradition II – Western Civilization, History

To receive a College Course schedule guide, which includes course and registration information, call KET at (800) 432-0970 or click here.

Byrd Scholarships available for high school seniors

Kentucky high school seniors may apply for a Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship. The scholarships, worth up to $1,500 a year for four years of college, are administered by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA).

Seniors may apply through Zip Access at www.kheaa.com. To apply, sign in to Zip Access with your user ID and password. Those who have not used Zip Access before should register to create a user ID and password. 

The application deadline is Jan. 31, 2008. After the application period ends, counselors have until Feb. 15 to certify the applicants each school wishes to submit for consideration. The number of applicants that may be submitted depends on the school's total enrollment. High schools with an enrollment of:

·        1,500 or more may nominate five applicants

·        1,000 to 1,499 may nominate four applicants

·        500 to 999 may nominate three applicants

·        fewer than 500 may nominate two applicants

For more information about Byrd Scholarships, call Beth Lane at (800) 928-8926, ext. 6-7229. To learn how to plan and prepare for higher education and to access the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, go to www.GoHigherKY.org. For more information about Kentucky scholarships and grants, click here; write KHEAA, P.O. Box 798, Frankfort, KY 40602-0798; or call (800) 928-8926, extension 6-7381. For information about low-cost student loans, click here; write The Student Loan People, P.O. Box 24328, Louisville, KY 40224-0328; or call (888) 678-4625.

Spend time together indoors

Your children will be heading back to school soon so why not make the most of the time you have left with them during the winter break. If it’s too cold for you outside, try these indoor, fun-filled activities provided by The Parent Institute.

·        Have a family “Read-In.” Gather your family in a cozy room. Everyone brings a favorite book or magazine and soaks up some quality reading time. After 30 minutes or so, each family member reads part of his book or magazine aloud to the others.

·        Make a family tree. Spend an evening introducing your child to some of the people who shaped your family. Include information about grandparents and any other ancestors you know about. Photos and other memorabilia can make the experience more fun. If you and your family really enjoy this, consider pursuing it further with help from a Web site such as www.ancestry.com/.

·        Rattle some pots and pans but plan to make more than noise. Cook dinner together, making each family member responsible for one part of the meal. Besides being fun and delicious, cooking reinforces important math skills, such as fractions and measurement.

·        Fire up the popcorn. A family movie night is almost always a hit with everyone. Make it more meaningful later by talking about what you saw. Which characters made good choices? Which made bad ones?

·        Play charades. If you have a video camera, turn your game into a home movie.

·        Dance to music. Put on some upbeat music or turn on the radio and get everyone in the family up to dance. Do the hokey pokey or teach your children the electric slide. You’ll get great exercise out of it, too.

·        Encourage each family member to unveil his or her hidden artist. Get out the paper, crayons, paint, markers or any other supplies you have. Make your own creations or tape several pieces of paper together and make one large picture that each family member contributes to.

·        Roll some dice – the ones that come with board games. Family game nights foster togetherness, cooperation, taking turns, reading skills, math skills and reasoning skills. Everyone wins.

·        Tell your life story. Children almost always love to hear stories about when their parents were young, but instead of preaching to your children, pick a story about a time when you did something funny or silly, maybe even thoughtless. Show your child you once felt the same things he or she feels now.

·        Go on a hunt for odds and ends around the house. A family scavenger hunt takes a few minutes of preparation, but can be done easily using things you have on hand. No need to hide objects – just give family members a list of things in certain categories. Example: find something purple, something made of wool, something shaped like a triangle, something that is part of a set.

·        Organize family photos. Gather up all – or some – of your unfiled family photos and organize them into albums. As you do this, you’ll likely be reminded of some wonderful family times. It’s also a great way for children to practice sorting and classifying as they search for pictures with common themes.

Keep students reading over the holidays

The Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District suggests the following tips for parents and caregivers to help keep students reading during the winter break. The easy-to-follow suggestions are fun for both adults and children.

·        Make time for reading. The holidays are a great time for traditional Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa stories.

·        Let your children read the recipes while you make post-holiday treats.

·        Make up silly rhymes and word games.

·        Let the children read holiday cards to you.

·        Create a special place for holiday books and magazines.

·        Encourage handwritten thank-you notes.

·        Remind children of all the things that reading makes possible.

·        Visit the library at least once during the school break.

The National Education Association (NEA) has prepared booklists that offer books that appeal to a wide variety of children’s interests and to every reading level. To access the lists, click here.