Breakfast is the most important meal of the day – especially for students. Beginning each school day with a belly full of a nutritious morning meal is linked to better performance overall. And yet, Massachusetts is ranked 33rd in the nation when it comes to school breakfast. But a bill passed and signed by Governor Charlie Baker this August seeks to change that, by requiring schools TO offer breakfast right after the bell rings. 

We talked about the need for the bill last November, when it was first introduced.

Guests:

Erin McAleer – President of Project Bread, a Massachusetts-based anti-hunger not-for-profit.

Andy Vargas – Massachusetts State Representative for the third Essex District and co-sponsor of the Breakfast After the Bell bill.

Later in the show: 

Under cover of darkness on June 2, 1863, two Union ships stole up the Combahee River in a mission that would liberate over 750 slaves from South Carolina plantations. What became known as the Combahee Ferry Raid, was the first major U.S. military operation led by a woman - Harriet Tubman. The same Harriet Tubman whose remarkable life as a spy, abolitionist, nurse, and cook included connections to Boston. Many know her name, but few know her story. Author and historian Elizabeth Cobbs connects the dots in her latest historical novel about one of Harriet Tubman’s greatest achievements. 

Guests:

Dr. Elizabeth Cobbs, Melbern G. Glasscock Professor of History at Texas A&M University. She’s the author of several historical fiction novels – the latest of which is the Tubman Command, a dramatized account of Harriet Tubman’s activities around the Combahee Ferry Raid. 

L’Merchie Frazier, director of education and interpretation at the Museum of African American History, Boston.

Dr. Edda Fields-Black, associate professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University.

Show Credits:

That’s it for this week’s encore show. Find us on the web and wherever you get your podcasts. Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of WGBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman. This encore show was originally produced by Franziska Monahan and engineered by Doug Shugarts.

Our theme music is FISH AND CHIPS by #weare2saxys’, Grace Kelly and Leo P.