Join the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s (OSSE’s) Division of Health & Wellness this March in celebrating National Nutrition Month®. Created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Nutrition Month® is a nutrition education and information campaign that takes place annually in March to emphasize the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

To celebrate, we will focus on a different topic for each day of the week during National School Breakfast Week and See below for the daily themes for National School Breakfast Week. Additionally, find below a list of activities, game, and lesson plans by grade that can be conducted throughout the month.

Welcome to National School Breakfast Week!

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is excited to promote the many benefits of school breakfast: improved dietary intake, reduced food insecurity, better test scores, improved student health and fewer distractions in the classroom throughout the morning. With so many advantages, we encourage you to celebrate school breakfast with us all week long. See below for ideas to make your National School Breakfast Week a success.

• Monday: It’s National School Breakfast Week!
  • Learn more about the benefits of a healthy school breakfast here, then check out OSSE’s Increasing School Breakfast Participation learning session. This new resource provides strategies and guidance for increasing student participation in breakfast, specific to DC schools.
• Tuesday: Show and Tell Tuesday!
  • Share how you’re helping to improve and increase student participation in the School Breakfast Program by sharing photos of local and/or culturally appropriate food items on your menu! Don’t forget to check out OSSE’s Increasing School Breakfast Participation learning session. Share your photos with @OSSEDC using #NSBW23
• Wednesday: Hear the Crunch!
  • Join OSSE and DC Hunger Solutions in making some noise by participating in a city-wide apple crunch to celebrate the benefits of school breakfast. Learn more about Hear the DC Crunch and share how you plan to celebrated the day by visiting the DC Hunger Solution’s website. For questions please contact Lamonika Jones at [email protected]. Also, share photos of you and your staff participating in Hear the DC Crunch by tagging @OSSEDC using #NSBW23.
• Thursday: Recognize Your School Breakfast Team Heroes!
  • Hop onto your go-to social media platform to show OSSE how you celebrate #NSBW23 with your favorite #unsunghero. Recognition can also be submitted to [email protected].
• Friday: Fun(d) Friday: A success grantee story from the Breakfast Expansion Grant
  • Thanks to funding from this grant, Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy Public Charter School (MMBDA PCS) has built a greenhouse to grow fresh fruits and vegetables and provide their students with hands-on learning of the farm-to-table eating experience. These grant funds have also allowed MMBDA PCS to incorporate Healthy E-Pro software to assist with menu planning, and nutrition assessment that ensures all meals are USDA approved. Additionally, they have acquired equipment, materials and supplies to enhance the quality of the meals served, e.g. They have replaced/upgraded their freezer and oven,

See below for activities, games, lesson plans, and handouts to incorporate each topic into the school day.

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

Social Media

To promote “Hear the DC Crunch!” view here for social media tips.

Attachments

• Morning Announcements

Related Websites:

1. ChooseMyPlate.gov - A resource that can help teachers create nutrition education materials based on the Dietary Guidelines.
2. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics - A professional organization that provides reliable and evidenced-based nutrition information to the public.
3. Team Nutrition - An initiative of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to support the Child Nutrition Programs.

Frequently Used Resources:

1. Team Nutrition. United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Service. Retrieved from https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/team-nutrition.
2. Nutrition Activities. New York Road Runners. Retrieved from http://www.nyrr.org/youth-and-schools/running-start/nutrition-activities.
3. Create A Classroom That Moves! Ohio Department of Education. Retrieved from https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Other-Resources/Food-and-Nutrition/Resources-and-Tools-for-Food-and-Nutrition/Ohio-Team-Nutrition/ClassroomThatMovesJan2013HR.pdf.aspx.
4. Teaching Nutrition through Family and Consumer Sciences: A Curriculum Guide for Middle Schools. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Retrieved from https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/school-nutrition/pdf/tncurr.pdf.
5. KidsHealth in the Classroom Resources. Retrieved from https://classroom.kidshealth.org/.
6. National School Breakfast Week March 5-9, 2018. School Nutrition Association. Retrieved from https://schoolnutrition.org/Meetings/Events/NSBW/2018/.
7. National Nutrition Month Resources. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Retrieved from http://www.eatright.org/resources/national-nutrition-month.

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