In October, Governor Tom Wolf’s plan to provide universal free breakfasts went into effect. The 21.5 million state-funded bill will provide free school breakfasts for 1.7 million students across the state. The breakfasts will run until the last day of school, without a promise of it returning the next school year, according to Southern Lehigh High School principal Mr. Joshua Miller.

The school breakfasts are available from 7:15 to 7:30. It typically consists of an entree, which can be anything from cereal to waffles, a choice of fruit juice, and a choice of milk. To get breakfast for free, you must get fruit or juice. What the school serves must follow the federal mandate for what counts as healthy food. Therefore, the schools  can’t just serve sugary, unhealthy food. It also needs to be quick. 

“When we were working with food services, we wanted things that we could easily manage, get ready in a short time period because it’s early in the morning,” Mr. Miller said.

The school breakfast program’s main goal is to ensure kids get breakfast, the most important meal of the day, in the morning. Some people wake up too late, are too busy to get breakfast, or forget to eat it, and it’s beneficial for a school environment for students who have eaten breakfast. It boosts brain power and energy and is proven to improve academic performance. And as long as students keep arriving on time and cleaning up after themselves, the school breakfasts will continue without a problem.

“So far, it’s been really good. We have seen the amount of students getting them go up every week we increase by almost 30-40 kids each week,” Mr. Miller said. “I actually see a lot of students a little bit happier in the morning because I know they’re eating something.”