Hoyer Visits Greenbelt Elementary School

GREENBELT, MD – This morning, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-5) visited Greenbelt Elementary School to highlight the importance of school nutrition programs. Greenbelt Elementary is one of the 481 schools across the state that benefit from the Maryland Meals for Achievement Program. During his visit, he greeted students during the school's student-run news program, which is shown on TV in each classroom, and visited students in their classrooms, where they eat their breakfasts.

"Today, I visited Greenbelt Elementary School to see firsthand how the Maryland Meals for Achievement program is being implemented in our schools and benefiting our students," said Congressman Hoyer.  "If a student comes to school hungry, we know they will have a more difficult time focusing in the classroom and participating in their lessons. Thanks to the Maryland Meals for Achievement program, over 240,000 students in our state have access to a nutritious breakfast, better preparing them for a full day of learning and success in the classroom. I was pleased to hear how the program is benefitting our schools by improving student attendance and decreasing tardiness and behavioral problems, and I thank Principal Monica Gaines and Greenbelt Elementary staff, teachers, and students for welcoming me to their school today."

The Maryland Meals for Achievement Program provides in-classroom breakfast to all students in participating schools at no charge, regardless of family income. In the 2014-2015 school year, the program will benefit 240,665 Maryland students.  Greenbelt Elementary School, which began participating in the program in August, has 400 students this school year who receive breakfast.