During COVID-19, Hawai'i public schools offered free breakfasts and lunches for all students. This was recently stopped, and we have seen a significant drop in the number of lunches purchased by students. Many students come to school without eating breakfast and some still do not eat lunch. This especially becomes an issue during state testing. Whether we like it or not, our students' test scores affect how the community sees them.
Is it fair that some students have the opportunity to do better on an exam, simply because of the resources their family has?
We want to make sure that all students are given the opportunity to do as well as possible. Multiple studies have shown that eating before an exam can help to improve scores significantly. While some teachers may ask students to bring in their own snacks, this is not possible for some of our students, especially the over 30% of our students who qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Please consider donating to our project so that we can give all students the opportunity to do their best with these snacks.
More than a third of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Kawakami and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.