SBISD’s Health Fitness Department kicked off the 2008 March for Babies sponsored by the Texas chapter of the March of Dimes with a March 7 breakfast at Spring Woods Middle School, 9810 Neuens.

At the breakfast, teachers and parents learned that SBISD ranked 41st last year among the entire Houston region's corporate teams. SBISD staff donated $17,149 last year to the March of Dimes through the sale of plush bears and other items as part of the nonprofit’s fund-raising activities. Stuffed bears, stickers, buttons, t-shirts and other items will be sold once again through March of Dimes sponsors.

Speakers at the breakfast included March of Dimes Director of Development Susan Ramirez, Superintendent of Schools Duncan Klussmann and district Health Fitness Director Rebecca Fuchs, among others.

The March of Dimes supports programs of research, community services, education and advocacy to help mothers have full-term pregnancies and healthy babies. In Texas, 1 in 7 newborns, or more than 52,000 babies a year, are delivered prematurely. The national rate, by comparison, is 1 in 8 babies born prematurely.