Every October, districts across the country celebrate National School Lunch Week, a time to highlight the meals, teams, and moments that fuel student learning. The School Nutrition Association makes it easy with a full toolkit of logos, graphics, and activity ideas designed to help schools celebrate.

This year, Daviess County and Oldham County (just to name a couple) showed just how fun and meaningful those national resources can become when they’re adapted with local flavor.

how shared resources can spark creativity

The School Nutrition Association’s toolkit gives every district a solid foundation: ready-made materials for storytelling, celebration, and education. When schools start there, they can focus on what really matters: connection, creativity, and community.

Daviess County used the “Passport to School Lunch” theme and transformed it into a full sensory experience for students at East View Elementary. Their nutrition team turned the cafeteria into “Italy for a day,” complete with staff dressed as chefs and travel guides. The team filmed a short reel on their phones, capturing laughter, costumes, and students waving pretend passports as they “visited” Italy. See the reel here!

The video spread across the district’s channels, showing how a national idea became something uniquely theirs — joyful, relational, and full of local pride.

turning templates into storytelling tools

Oldham County took the same foundation and built a different kind of story. Their team launched a “culinary adventure” through India, serving Chicken Tikka Masala while sharing cultural fun facts with students.

Their post read:

“We started off our week of travel by taking students on a culinary adventure to India. Today we offered Chicken Tikka Masala — our take on a popular curried chicken dish. The exact origins of this dish are debated. India is diverse in its landscape and culture, and has a fascinating ancient past.”

What began as a menu idea became a geography lesson, a cultural exploration, and a joyful celebration of curiosity, all within the school cafeteria. See their post here!

Both districts began with the same national resources, yet each found its own voice. That’s the power of shared tools used with intention.

why local adaptation matters

When districts personalize national campaigns, they strengthen relationships and elevate the everyday work happening in their cafeterias.

These stories show how structure and creativity can coexist.

The national toolkit provides consistency; the local team brings the heart.

From Daviess County’s “trip to Italy” reel to Oldham County’s vibrant culinary post, both efforts turned ready-made materials into moments that reflect their communities. The impact extended beyond the lunch line by reaching families, staff, and students who felt proud to be part of the story.

Each post became more than promotion; it became a window into what school nutrition looks like when communication and creativity work hand in hand.

ready to make it yours?

Start with the School Nutrition Association’s National School Lunch Week resources.

Then, bring them to life with your district’s story, people, and places.

Whether it’s a reel filmed on a phone or a post written by hand, what matters is that it feels like your district.

If your district would like support building communication systems that make storytelling this easy, schedule an free discovery call with our team.

We’d love to help you turn shared ideas into local gold.