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The Baldwin County School District (BCSD) has received the Innovation in Nutrition Education Award from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Healthy Meal Incentives.
The award recognizes the implementation of nutrition education activities that make classroom, cafeteria, community, and home connections for students and parents/guardians.
The Baldwin County School District’s Nutrition Department has diligently worked to provide nutrition education to students. More than 2,600 students participated in classroom-based nutritional educational activities. Additionally, nine cafeteria-wide taste-testing events were held at the academy and primary levels and 12 at the middle and high schools.
The district also offered a host of other activities to engage students, families and the community. Some included creating mini greenhouses at the Early Learning Center’s STEM Night, gardening, recipe development, taste-testing with parents, providing take-home meal kits, and posting nutrition information on the district website and social media.
In a letter from the USDA recognizing the award to the BCSD, Rob Bisceglie, executive officer and president for Action for Healthy Kids, shared his thoughts.
“We congratulate the Baldwin County School District on this important achievement. The HMI Recognition Awards are an opportunity to showcase innovative school nutrition practices that provide children with access to nutritious school meals.”
Cindy Long, administrator for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service said USDA school meal programs reach around 30 million children from all communities and backgrounds nationwide each school day.
“This Recognition Award highlights the remarkable achievements Baldwin County’s School Nutrition has made in offering healthy meals that students enjoy, and we look forward to them sharing their best practices to help other schools follow in their footsteps,” said Long.
The award follows the introduction of a coffee bar at the high school. Students can choose between four flavors of iced coffee made with two ounces of coffee and eight ounces of milk.
“The new coffee bar is an innovation that nutrition is using to help increase breakfast participation numbers and inspire more students to eat a nutritious breakfast. So far, the Baldwin High School cafeteria manager has seen over 200 more students eating regularly since the coffee bar’s inception,” Aketi Mayweather, wellness coordinator for the school district, said.
The Office of Nutrition plans to showcase the success of this feature by applying for the Rural School Food Authority Breakfast Trailblazer Award.
“The Nutrition Department consistently looks for ways to engage our students and provide them with nutritious choices that are appetizing as well. To be successful in the classroom, we know that students need to start their day off right,” Susan Nelson, director of school nutrition, said.
The Baldwin County School District was recognized at the USDA National Summit in October.
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