About | Ohio School Breakfast Challenge

The Ohio School Breakfast Challenge encourages
schools to start the day with school breakfast
so all students are ready to learn.

IT IMPROVES

Attendance
Behavior
Classroom participation
Attentiveness

Concentration
Math and reading scores
Standardized test scores
Cognitive test speed
Vocabulary

IT DECREASES

Anxiety
School nurse visits
Tardiness
Absenteeism^1,2

School breakfast programs also make economic sense and have been shown
to increase revenue in the food service department.³

Breakfast Strategies

Customize your breakfast program to service the unique needs of your school.

Breakfast in the Cafeteria
Breakfast is served and eaten in the cafeteria. A variety of hot and cold menu items can be offered so students get a healthy start to their day. Ohio best practices include Millcreek West-Unity Local

Grab ‘n Go
Students pick up breakfast when they arrive at school and it is served in a variety of high-traffic areas such as the cafeteria, hall or entry ways. Ohio best practices include Bright Local, Graham Middle and Southern Local

Breakfast in the Classroom
Students eat together in the classroom and breakfast is delivered by the nutrition staff, students and/or volunteers. Ohio best practices include Garfield Heights City and Logan Hocking

Second Chance Breakfast
Students get breakfast during a break in the morning after first period or mid-way between breakfast and lunch, similar to Grab ‘n Go. Ohio best practices include Cincinnati Public and Scioto Valley

Explore more innovative and collaborative school breakfast practices.

Did you know in Ohio, breakfast counts as part of the school day when served in the classroom.⁵

Breakfast and Beyond Recognition for SY 2021-2022

Breakfast and Beyond recognizes districts or individual school(s) within a district, that demonstrate a collaborative approach and innovative strategies to expand access and participation in school meals.

How to Participate

School Districts will be notified to participate thru survey gizmo beginning in December 2021. Submit stories that

include plans implemented between June 2021 thru December 2021
demonstrate collaborative efforts, innovative strategies and practices
maximize resources to expand and increase access to the school meal programs.

Stories can be submitted anytime between January 2022 thru April 15, 2022.

Recognizing Your Efforts

A selection of stories from around the state will be highlighted and shared on an ongoing basis (February through May 2022) with all Ohio School Breakfast Challenge partners, Ohio Education Associations and their membership, and other education, health and child focused organizations.

Districts submitting stories will receive

an electronic medallion for use on school menus, website, social media, school district profile & other community focused communications.
social media messages and a press release to share with their district and the community.

See map of all Ohio Champions of Breakfast Award Winners.

Get the Word Out

Promote and share school breakfast social media messages to your community thru e-newsletters, Facebook and Twitter. Hashtag: #OHSBC. Explore the resource page for more promotion ideas!

In The News

Podcast Recognizes Unique Meal Programs

Leading the Way, the Ohio School Boards Association podcast, featured recent Breakfast & Beyond Superstar Dana Anderson of Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center to share how her district met the challenges of the pandemic and food supply chain and staff shortages.

Breakfast & Beyond 2021-2022

Congratulations to the 2021-2022 Breakfast & Beyond recipients that were recognized as Breakfast & Beyond “Super Stars.” Districts and schools received a medallion from the Ohio School Breakfast Challenge for their excellence, innovative and collaborative work to increase access to school meals.

Click here to view all of the 2021-2022 Breakfast & Beyond stories, or click on a school link below to view their individual story.

2020-21′ Breakfast & Beyond Recognition

Congratulations to the 2020-2021 Breakfast & Beyond districts and schools that received “Super Star” distinction and a medallion from the Ohio School Breakfast Challenge for their excellence, innovative and collaborative work to increase access to school meals during the pandemic.Click here for a collection of stories that demonstrates how districts stepped up to the challenge to increase access to school meals during the pandemic.

2020 Champion of School Breakfast Awards

Congratulations to the 2020 Champion of Breakfast Award Winners for their innovative and collaborative school breakfast practices, including their commitment to increasing school breakfast participation and empowering students to make healthy choices.

Click here for the 2020 Champion of Breakfast Award announcement, and click each school link below to view individual success stories.

2019 Champion of School Breakfast Awards

Click here for the list of 2019 Champion of Breakfast Award Winners and click on the links below for each winner’s success story, and click here for all 2019 Champion of School Breakfast success stories.

2018 Champion of School Breakfast Awards

Click here for the 2018 Champion of School Breakfast Award winners announcement, and click here for best practices.

2017 Champion of School Breakfast Awards

Click here for the 2017 Champion of School Breakfast Award winners announcement and success stories.

2020 Breakfast All-Star Award Winners

Click here for the 2019-20 Breakfast All-Star Announcement, and click here for a complete list of the 2019-20 Breakfast All-Star Schools.

2019 Breakfast All-Star Award Winners

Click here for the list of the 2019 Breakfast All-Star Award Winners.

2018 Breakfast All-Star Award Winners

Click here for the 2018 Breakfast All-Star Award Winners.

2017 Breakfast All-Star Award Winners

Click here for the Spring 2017 Breakfast All-Stars Award announcement.

Click here for the Spring 2017 Breakfast All-Stars Award Winners.

2016 Breakfast All-Star Award Winners

Click here for the Fall 2016 Breakfast All-Stars Award announcement.

Click here for the Fall 2016 Breakfast Challenge Award Winners.

Ohio Education Groups Support Breakfast

The Ohio School Breakfast Challenge is supported by more than 25 school and health organizations. Learn why from the following groups:

CITATIONS
¹ Breakfast Intake and Composition Is Associated with Superior Academic Achievement in Elementary Schoolchildren, Journal of the American College of Nutrition Vol. 35, Iss. 4,2016
² Adolphus K1, Lawton CL2, Champ CL2, Dye L2. The Effects of Breakfast and Breakfast Composition on Cognition in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review. Adv Nutr. 2016 May 16;7(3):590S-612S. doi: 10.3945/an.115.010256. Print 2016 May.
³ Wellness Impact Report: Enhancing Academic Success through Healthy School Environments – GENYOUth Foundation 2013 www.GENYOUthFoundation.org
⁴ 2017, U.S. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, Center for Disease Control
⁵ Section 3313.813, Food Programs-Outdoor Education Centers, 3 (e)
*Annual Total ADP Definition: School Breakfast Annual Average Daily Participation Rates of total students enrolled based on food service monthly claims.