The theme of this year’s National School Breakfast Week (NSBW), March 3-7, 2008, is “SCHOOL BREAKFAST FUEL YOUR IMAGINATION.” Child Nutrition Directors can give children opportunities to have fun while learning about eating a nutritious breakfast. Breakfast helps students stay focused and strengthens student performance in class.
The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Child Nutrition Unit (CNU) wants to help Child Nutrition Directors get started with planning activities for NSBW. Visit the School Nutrition Association (SNA) Web site at http://www.schoolnutrition.org. Click on the National School Breakfast Week 2008 link.
The SNA Web site provides
1. A toolkit with promotional ideas and resources,
2. Activity sheets with fun puzzles and brain teasers,
3. A sample Breakfast Proclamation that can be customized,
4. Web Banners,
5. School Breakfast Fuel Your Imagination logos, and
6. Many, many other great suggestions.
The official SNA Press Release can be downloaded for promoting a school’s activities in the local media, and official artwork is available to support a school’s celebration. Merchandise, including posters, balloons, T-shirts, mugs, tote bags, aprons and socks, is available for purchase from the SNA emporium.
Using breakfast promotion activities encourages students to become involved with eating a healthful breakfast, which leads to increased participation in the School Breakfast Program. This is also a wonderful way to involve the district Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee (NPAC)/Wellness Committee.
If the district has a high school journalism class, ask the class to take pictures and write an article about how the district celebrated NSBW. Submit articles and pictures of school breakfast events for possible statewide publication in the CNU online newsletter. Email the article to Juanita Giles, Editor and Project Manager, “Nutrition News,” at juanita.giles@arkansas.gov
For questions about NSBW, please contact Rita Hamilton, Area Specialist, at 501-324-9502 or send an email to rita.hamilton@arkansas.gov