In an effort to increase participation in the Breakfast program and to help students be better prepared to learn, NDS is encouraging the schools with whom we work to join the PA School Breakfast Challenge. The PA School Breakfast Challenge is a state-wide effort aimed at increasing breakfast participation so that students can get the nutrition they need to succeed in school. Schools that enter the challenge can receive technical support and equipment. Those schools that achieve the greatest gains will receive cash prizes and other awards when the challenge ends in the Spring of 2014. The deadline for entering the challenge is December 20, 2013, but to be part of a raffle for Eagles-Steelers tickets, the deadline is November 25, 2013.
Many schools make breakfast available before the school day but only serve a limited number of students. Our hope is to have schools consider some of the other successful models so that additional students may be served. The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) recently published a report on Breakfast in the Classroom, one model of breakfast service that reaches every child and bypasses barriers to breakfast participation in the cafeteria, such as bus schedules, late arrivals, or stigma associated with eating breakfast in the cafeteria. Click here to read the report and decide if Breakfast in the Classroom would work well for your school.
We look forward to joining forces with you to help make your students more prepared learners. Please call us at 267-262-8901 to sign-up. If you are interested in finding out more info about the challenge, visit the web site at www.paschoolbreakfast.org.
