DECATUR - Mom always said you should start every day with a good breakfast.

"It woke me up," said Raisa Taylor, a junior at Eisenhower High School, who was enjoying some sliced strawberries Thursday morning during a special breakfast for juniors who took the Prairie State Achievement Exam on Wednesday and Thursday.

As a way to fuel the juniors prior to the test this week, Assistant Principal April Hicklin organized a hot breakfast to be served before school.

Decatur School District students can partake of breakfast any school morning, but usually the fare is cereal and fruit. The juniors got bacon and eggs, hash browns and fruit, coffee and juice.

As an incentive to get the kids to show up, a drawing was held both days for prizes - an iPod shuffle, CD clock radio, a boom box with CD and MP3 player and AM-FM radio, a portable DVD player and, the most coveted prize, the PlayStation Portable.

Ryan Jusk won an iPod shuffle Wednesday and said breakfast made a difference in his test performance. "It was easier for me," he said.

Wal-Mart provided the prizes; the Decatur Public Schools Foundation provided the breakfast.

"Research has shown that when students are well fed, they do better on tests and it helps prepare them for the day in general," Hicklin said. "We decided it would be a good idea to make sure the students were well fed before the (Prairie State test), and we've had an awesome response."

Hicklin said she could see a difference in the students' attitudes as compared to previous test days. After testing ended on Wednesday, Hicklin said, several students approached her on their own to tell her they thought they'd done well on the test.

Eisenhower's scores on the Prairie State test last year were low, with only 47.8 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards in reading, 31.3 percent in math and 40.1 percent in science. Neither of Decatur's high schools made adequate yearly progress as defined under the No Child Left Behind federal education law. The test includes the ACT exam, the scores of which are commonly used as one criterion in college admissions and scholarship decisions.

"You know the scores I want," Hicklin told the class during the meal. "This is that class that's going to do it, right?" In response, the class cheered, and some students even beat on their table tops.

Valerie Wells can be reached at wells@herald-review.com or 421-7982.