National School Breakfast Week 2021- Score Big with School Breakfast!
3/5/21
COVID-19 may have put a damper on many traditional school activities, but school meals persevere! National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) is being celebrated by CMSD this week from March 8-12 with a sports theme created by the School Nutrition Association (SNA). This year the theme is "Score Big with School Breakfast" to encourage kids around the country that "scoring big" can and should be applied to a wide variety of student achievements - academics, the arts, and personal milestones - so that everyone feels included in the message. Scoring big is also to encourage that everyone should try their best - especially with the help of a healthy school breakfast. Doing this will help them win on multiple levels such as teamwork, self-esteem, perseverance, and courage.
History of National School Breakfast Week
In 1966, Congress authorized funding for a pilot program to serve breakfast at school as a measure to combat hunger and food insecurity among children. In 1975, the School Breakfast Program (SBP) was granted permanent authorization. Since then, school breakfast participation inches up year to year, reaching nearly 15 million children in SY2018-19. But there remains a troubling participation gap, with millions of children who eat school lunch failing to take advantage of school breakfast offerings, often in response to stigma and logistical barriers to access.
National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) was established in 1989 as an annual observance that promotes the value of a healthy, school breakfast for students in K-12 schools. SNA has long supported NSBW, encouraging its members to help promote the occasion and leverage the opportunity of a national spotlight on school breakfast. To assist members in this effort each year, SNA develops an official campaign and theme art, along with merchandise, engagement ideas, customizable communications, reproducible coloring/ activity sheets, and various marketing materials.
How to Celebrate National School Breakfast Week with your Scholars
If you want to celebrate NSBW and missed our "Breakfast Masterpiece" competition, don't worry! There are still many ways to can celebrate at home. Here are some ideas from SNA:
- Encourage your scholars to pick up their free breakfast and lunches from any CMSD school. Throughout the pandemic, we have been giving away free meals for all Cleveland children under the age of 18.
- Follow our social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the handle @NutritioninCLE. We post every other day with healthy tips and facts from CMSD School Nutrition and celebrate food-related holidays, such as NSBW! Encourage your scholars to take a picture enjoying school breakfast and tag us!
- Download the SNA's coloring sheets here. Encourage your scholars to fill them out and return them to the schools to be hung up!
