Tag Archives: Food Corps

Giving Thanks Every School Day

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When I started the TIPS for Schools Meals That Rock Facebook group in early 2018, I did not know what to expect. The response has been wonderful with 2,065+ members sharing recipes, resources and their successes. A recent post by Amanda Pack Warren from Staunton City Eats, SCS School Nutrition Programs, Staunton, Virginia, made me step back and reflect on the celebration of School Nutrition Employee Week. Warren pointed out that School Nutrition Professionals deserve much more than gifts, thank you cards and social media posts for the incredible job they do – they deserve professional respect and deep appreciation every day.

HERO Pack Warren 1

There’s a T-shirt (popular among school nutrition professionals of course) that says “I feed hundreds of hungry children every day with a smile on my face. What do you do?” This photo from Staunton City Eats embodies that slogan. With many thanks to Amanda Warren, I want to share my gratitude to every school nutrition professional by expanding on two points from her post: Every day these hard-working professionals deserve to receive sincere and specific thanks for a job well-done and to be seen as partners in education.

Woodland Staff

Sincere Thanks: The story behind this photo made me cry when I read the post from Kalin Bryan, Bartow County School Nutrition, Cartersville, Georgia: “A very special thing happened today at Woodland Middle School. Our central office team was delivering special aprons for School Nutrition Employee Week at WMS; she handed out the aprons and invited the staff into the cafeteria for a photo while the students were still eating. As the school nutrition staff walked out into the cafeteria, the entire lunchroom full of students started clapping and applauding them. No one asked the students to do this. They did it because they know how hard the ladies work to provide delicious, fresh food to them every school day.” I have eaten in this cafeteria and I know how hard these professionals work to plan, prepare and serve tasty, fresh meals with a smile.

Dallas Solar Preparatory

Specific thanks: While celebrating all the Dallas ISD Food Super Cooks Heroes during #FreshAttitudeWeek (coinciding with #SchoolNutritionEmployeeWeek), the department, directed by Michael Rosenberg, chose to recognize one school team with a specific award for serving with loving smiles: Our amazing Solar Preparatory School for Girls at James B. Bonham Cafeteria Crew was honored today by Dallas ISD Food and Child Nutrition Services with the Heart of Child Nutrition Award! We are extremely grateful for this team who serves each meal with love and a smile! #SolarStaffRocks.”

Stem Sensational Salad

Partners in STEM Education: School Nutrition programs and staff are the perfect partners for STEM (Science, Technology, Electronics and Math) Education using food to teach and reinforce classroom lessons. In Carrollton City Schools, Georgia, (Director Linette Dodson), Eat Healthy Eat Local Eat at Carrollton City Schools has developed delicious partnerships using school gardens, Food Corps service members and nutrition professionals: “When our CES Trojans grow enough mixed greens in school gardens to provide our kitchen with greens for 800+ STEMsational school lunch salads, it brings new meaning to Georgia Grown!” Now that’s a STEMsational example of the many ways Georgia School Nutrition Programs are creating strong educational partners with their  #ShakeItUPGA initiative!

RockledgeFruitapolooza

Partners in MATH/STEM Education: It’s clear from all the banners in this photo and from their Twitter feed (@RKES_PWCS) that the Rockledge Elementary Eagles, Prince William County Schools, VA, are focused on education excellence and fun educational activities, especially when it comes to STEM. AND they involve their school nutrition professionals in events like the Annual 3rd Grade Fruitapalooza to learn about fractions. Talk about #deliciousmath! Follow Prince William County Schools, School Food & Nutrition Services at @PWCSNutrition on Twitter to learn all about their delicious program.

I am grateful every day to every school nutrition professional across the USA. I am grateful to dishwashers, food artists, menu planners, directors and most of all those who serve hudreds of hungry children with smiles on their faces. You feed our future. 2015-10-27 I Feed Hundreds Shirt

 

 

Georgia on My Mind: #GoldenRadish, #LeafItToSpinach, #HealthiestSchools, and #HarvestBright

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I’ve been waiting for the right inspiration to kickstart my blog again. I got it on Monday at the 2016 #GoldenRadish ceremony in the Georgia State Capitol. I was beyond honored to speak briefly about the 53 districts, representing over 39 million school meals featuring both regional and local Georgia Grown products, 8246 farm to school taste tests, 575 school gardens and so much more. The number of #GoldenRadish awards have expanded dramatically since the original 30 in 2014. The #GoldenRadish committee keeps adding new categories – Outstanding District award in 2015 and a planned 2017 Platinum award – challenging districts to grow better and better farm to school programs.leafittospinach

At Statham Elementary School, a site in the Gold Level #GoldenRadish Barrow County School Nutrition District, Diana Cole and her special needs students have explored #LeafItToSpinach as part of their October #FarmToSchool Month lessons. As I entered the classroom Tuesday, they were reading Sylvia’s Spinach before tasting Spinach Lasagna, enjoying the Spinach Brownies they had made themselves, and going out to check on their newly planted spinach seeds in the school garden. 2016-10-25-sylvias-spinachAfter the garden we all enjoyed Georgia Grown Spinach Salad (and carrots too) for school lunch. While award ceremonies feature state officials and fancy plaques, the real work of changing how Georgia’s children eat is moving forward with #onesmallstep at a time in classrooms like Diana’s Cole’s every school day.2016-10-25-statham-lunch

I’ve been following Bibb County Schools – aka Eat Right, Be Bright – for years. Director Cleta Long does an outstanding job and folks know it: SIXTEEN Bibb County Schools were recognized this year among America’s #HealthiestSchools by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Cleta and her staff take their Gold Level #GoldenRadish status seriously with boxes and boxes of local produce served all year round in deliciously appealing ways.apple-collageBibb County’s healthy ways extend beyond the cafeteria to Georgia Grown parades for #FeedMySchool week in hallways, nutrition education in classrooms, science-lessons in school gardens, and real field trips to local farms. In addition to 16 #HealthiestSchools awards, Bibb County was recognized with two Georgia School Nutrition Association #BestPractice awards and ten Let’s Move Active Schools.

#HarvestBright is the new tagline for Burke County Public Schools Farm to School Program, the Outstanding District honored at Georgia Organics 2016 #GoldenRadish ceremony. Director Donna Martin, President-Elect of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, was recently described as the “Ultimate Lunch Lady.” Donna actively promotes the benefits of #FarmToSchool and #SchoolMealsThatRock from the fields of Burke County to the White House Garden. donnaDonna travels the world to promote Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and the Academy, but she is still happiest eating lunch with Burke County Public School students, out standing in collard fields with organic farmer Sam Adderson, or planning new ways to get even more local products, like grits, onto school lunch trays and farmers market shopping bags.

group-photoBarrow, Bibb and Burke counties were just three of the award-winning districts celebrated on the steps of Georgia Capitol on October 24, 2016. There are 50 more districts with dedicated directors from the Atlantic coast to the mountains of north Georgia. How has Georgia Organics been able to successfully grow the #GoldenRadish Awards for all these Georgia districts doing such extraordinary work in farm to school? It’s really pretty simple: Georgia Organics coordinates the #GoldenRadish Awards with the Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Department of Agriculture, and Georgia Department of Public Health, a powerful team to make the dream of local food for local kids work. It’s really no wonder that, according to USDA’s 2015 Farm to School Census, 62 percent of Georgia districts participate in farm to school programs – well above the 42 percent of districts nationwide. For more about all the current award winners and next year’s applications, please visit the Georgia Organics website at https://georgiaorganics.org/for-schools/goldenradish and blog at https://georgiaorganics.org/2016/10/53-georgia-school-districts-honored-farm-school-success/.