Pine Spring Elementary School was named one of the winners in the 2018-19 Virginia Breakfast Challenge for increasing the number of students who participate in breakfast programs, implementing a Breakfast After the Bell model or by expanding its existing model. Pine Spring had a 311 percent increase in the number of students participating in a breakfast program.

The Virginia Breakfast Challenge is an initiative of No Kid Hungry Virginia, the Virginia Department of Education, Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, Virginia Hunger Solutions, and the Dairy Alliance. The program occurred during the fall of 2018 in an effort to connect more students with school breakfast to ensure academic success.

A total of 1,471 Virginia schools from 109 of Virginia’s school divisions enrolled in the Breakfast Challenge to be evaluated this past year.

These schools and divisions competed from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2018. School winners were named based on breakfast participation increases over the 2017-18 school year.

Participation winners will receive funding for school nutrition equipment as well as funding to support technological enhancements, field trips, or playground equipment.