Third-grade teacher Kay Power found many of her students crashing mid-morning.

Their attention spans waned, and it made the Cathedral School teacher wonder about what her students ate for breakfast.

"I asked the class how many eat cereal for breakfast, and three-fourths of the class was raising their hands," Power said Tuesday.

Students already brought in candy and chips for snacks, but she wondered if there was sugar lurking in their morning breakfast. She started teaching her students about nutrition and reading product labels.

"We talked about breakfast and how it gets you through to lunch time," Power said.

Now a nearly 5-foot high tower of cereal and snack boxes creates a reading room in the back corner of her classroom. All the boxes contained items that do not list sugar in the first two ingredients.

The class calls the structure the health club. Inside is a chair and a bean bag.

"I brought granola and Corn Chex," third-grader Nora Fritz said.

Her classmate Elizabeth Renner brought in Honey Bunches of Oats and Cheerios, and classmate Hudson Bradley also brought in Honey Bunches of Oats, as well as granola bars.

The lessons might have led to changes in breakfast habits at home.

"Sugar cereal gives you energy for 10 minutes, then you feel sleepy," Bradley said.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@bismarcktribune.com.)