In the News: Millions of Children Receive Free School Meals; First Class Graduates From Oprah’s School and More

• Unstable Economy Linked to Increase in Children Receiving Free School Meals

Data from the Department of Agriculture reveals millions of American schoolchildren are now receiving free or low-cost meals. The increase in meals program participants is a growing effect of former middle class parents losing jobs or homes during the economic crisis.

The number of students who currently qualify for and receive subsidized lunches rose to 21 million last school year from 18 million in 2006-7, a 17% increase, according to an analysis by the New York Times

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“These are very large increases and a direct reflection of the hardships American families are facing,” said Benjamin Senauer, a University of Minnesota economist who studies the meals program. He said the surge had happened so quickly “that people like myself who do research are struggling to keep up with it.”

Read more at the New York Times…

• First Class Graduates from Oprah’s School in South Africa

Oprah Winfrey told her students that if you teach a girl, you teach a nation.

As the South African school year nears its end, the first class of students is preparing to graduate from Oprah Winfrey’s all-girls school in Henley On-Kip, South Africa.

The last five years have paid off. All 72 members of the graduating class have been accepted to universities in South Africa or the United States, while more than a dozen have received full scholarships.

The talk show queen turned media giant will be at the school for graduation ceremonies in January, school officials said

Read more at the Associated Press…

• Hip-Hop Shines at Victoria Secret Fashion Show

CBS’s broadcast of the annual “Victoria Secret Fashion Show” raked in record ratings with famed models like Chanel Iman

and Adriana Lima ripping the runway, the latest lingerie, and big-name hip-hop performances.

With the exception of Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” all of the show’s performances were by hip-hop artists Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Nicki Minaj.

West paid tribute to his late mother before his performance of “Stronger.”

Watch the performances at The Baltimore Sun…