by Megan Taliaf

The second annual November School Breakfast Challenge launches on November 1, 2016! We’re excited to announce that 98 schools are competing in the Challenge, more than a 200 percent increase from 2015! Participating schools represent communities across Oregon, including 29 school districts, 33 towns or cities, 18 counties and nearly 50,000 students. Check out our map to see which schools are involved!

The Let’s Do Breakfast, Oregon! campaign promotes the School Breakfast Program because we know there are numerous benefits for kids when they eat breakfast at school.

• Kids who eat breakfast at school are more likely to eat fruits, drink milk, get greater variety in their breakfast and have improved nutrition.
• School breakfast protects kids and teens from hunger and allows all students to focus on their studies, instead of a growling stomach. Without school breakfast, many kids wouldn’t eat a nutritious breakfast every morning.
• Food is a powerful tool for uniting people and strengthening communities. School breakfast can be a way for peers, teachers, and staff to come together for a common purpose—breakfast!

Despite all of these benefits, the number of kids who eat school breakfast remains relatively low, both nationwide and in Oregon, due in large part to barriers like stigma, bus schedules, tardiness and lack of student awareness. The Breakfast Challenge uses the power of collaboration and a dash of healthy competition to encourage schools to tackle these challenges head on!

The four schools that see the greatest spike in average daily participation during the month of November will receive cash prizes in the amounts of $1,000, $750, $500 and $250 (as well as cool trophies and bragging rights).

One new component of the Challenge that we’re excited about this year is an opportunity for teens, the Teen School Breakfast Essay Competition. Two essays will be selected to each win a $100 gift card! Participating schools can share contest instructions with their school today!

Good luck to all of those involved in the 2016 November Breakfast Challenge!

Follow #LetsDoBreakfastOregon! on social media to cheer on participating schools this November. Together we can create a hunger-free Oregon!

Shout-out to one of our 2015 Breakfast Challenge winners, Hines Middle School in Harney County School District. We’re happy to have them competing in the Challenge again this year!