March 9, 2010

2010 Illinois School Wellness…From A to Z Conference

Attention educators, food service staff, school nurses, student advocates, and wellness policy team members! You can pick up new strategies and resources to support student health at the 2010 Illinois School Wellness Conference, co-sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Action for Healthy Kids.  

Experts in child nutrition, physical education and school wellness will present innovative ideas about healthy food choices and an active lifestyle. This year’s Keynote speaker is Jill Jayne, MS, RD, the country's only Rock Star Nutritionist. She will discuss childhood obesity and ways to use cross-curricular teaching and kinesthetic learning to reverse this negative health trend.

May 4, 2010 Decatur Conference Center, Decatur, IL.

Click here for details and registration information.

March 5, 2010

Fuel Up to Play 60 with the NFL!

The Midwest Dairy Council, St. Louis District Dairy Council, National Dairy Council and the National Football league have joined forces to develop Fuel Up to Play 60 , a program that empowers youth to take actions to improve nutrition and physical activity at their school and for their own health.  Over 60,000 schools in the nation participated in the 2009-2010 school year.  Fuel Up to Play 60 leverages the excitement of the NFL and applies social marketing principles to influence actions and behaviors and motivate youth to invest in their own health and take action to improve their school. The program lets students take the lead to develop nutrition and physical activity action strategies and engage the whole student body in the program.  

Enrollment is now open for the 2010-11 school year (kits will not ship until next fall).  Log into www.fueluptoplay60.com to register your school for a FREE school kit and find other online tools for activation!  Order your kit now since quantities are limited.

March 4, 2010

FamilyFarmed Expo! Connecting Local Farms with Schools and Institutions

Interested in improving school lunch programs and supporting family-run farms? The FamilyFarmed Trade Show will include Farm to School advocates, school food administrators, farmers, institutions, and distributors who will discuss ways to connect local farms with the cafeterias that need them. You will also be able to chat with exhibiting farmers and distributors that specialize in local food; listen to keynote speaker Marc Zammit, VP of Sustainability at Compass Group, discuss his own pioneering work in getting local and sustainable foods into institutions with Bon Appetit Management Company; and hear what leading Midwest school food service directors are saying about their own experiences working with local food during the afternoon panel discussion.

March 12, 2010, UIC Forum, Chicago, IL. Click here to Register.

February 25, 2010

Federal Nutrition Education Resources

This document provides a comprehensive compilation, with active links, of currently available federally published nutrition education resources. All items have been approved through the joint HHS and USDA Dietary Guidance Review process and provide federal nutrition recommendations based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005.
Click here for the PDF version, or for the TXT version.

February 16, 2010

March is National Nutrition Month®: Nominate Those That Are Doing Great Things!

The Interagency Nutrition Council (INC) is celebrating National Nutrition Month® by commemorating those that are doing great things in the area of wellness.  INC is currently taking nominations for outstanding work being done in the area of nutrition, physical activity, and wellness.  We would like to hear about the programs and people that work to promote healthy eating; regular physical activity; build positive partnerships; and/or include a community, family, or school wellness component that can be replicated as a model program across the state. 

Go to: http://inc.aces.illinois.edu/.  If you have any additional questions, contact Lindsay Blough at lblough@isbe.net or via telephone at 800/545-7892.

Cooking Up Change - National Healthy Cooking Contest!

Cooking Up Change challenges teams of high school and college students to create a healthful and delicious school meal that meets the Institute of Medicine nutrition standards, incorporates a local food item, draws from ingredients commonly available to food service, and can be easily prepared in a school kitchen.  Finalists will prepare their recipes in Detroit at the 5th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, May 17-19, 2010.

Deadline to submit recipes is March 26, 2010.   

For contest guidelines and information, visit www.cookingupchange.org

Real Food Is - National Video Contest!

K-12 and college students are challenged to define what real food means to them by creating a short video that completes the phrase "Real Food is..." Created by the National Farm to School Network and sponsored by the Lunch Box Project. The winners will receive $1,000 and an all expenses paid trip to the 5th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Detroit Michigan on May 17-19, 2010.

Deadline is March 29, 2010..

 More info is available at video.farmtoschool.org

February 12, 2010

Let's Move! - America's Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids!

Join First Lady Michelle Obama, community leaders, teachers, doctors, nurses, and parents in a nationwide campaign to tackle the challenge of childhood obesity. Let’s Move! will give parents the support they need, provide healthier food in schools, help our kids to be more physically active, and make healthy, affordable food available in every part of our country.

Visit the Let's Move! website and get involved!

Click here to view the White House press release of the Let's Move! Initiative.

Donate to the Backpack Buddies!

Backpack Buddies is a program that supports healthy, balanced eating over the weekend for elementary school children who may not have adequate resources. In order to ensure that the children are receiving the recommended nutrition needs, The Pediatric Healthy Weight Research & Treatment Center at the Brody School Of Medicine has created a reference sheet with ideas for food donations. Please go to www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/pedsweightcenter/upload/Backpack-ideas.pdf.

For information on how to donate items for this program contact your local food bank, food pantry or backpack program.

February 9, 2010

Meet The Taste Buddies!

This website from The American Institute for Cancer Research introduces kids to The Taste Buddies, six characters that each have a specialty in nutrition and fitness. Explore each of their worlds and learn fun facts about nutrition, how to prepare easy, delicious and healthy recipes, new games to increase fitness, and how to grow items in a garden to eat. Visit this kid-friendly website at www.thetastebuddies.org/?location_id=62.

ebruary 4, 2010

Create a Healthy Recipe Contest!

Middle school students (7th and 8th graders) are encouraged to create a healthy recipe using Del Monte products in the "Stirring Up Health" recipe contest from Healthy Kids Challenge.

The contest is open September 1, 2009 - March 13, 2010.
Winners will be announced April 2010.

For entry rules, contest categories, and prize information go to: http://www.healthykidschallenge.com/content/kids-recipe-contest

January 29, 2010

Mini-grant Opportunity for Afterschool Care Programs!

All Illinois afterschool programs participating in the Afterschool Care Snacks Program are eligible to apply for this $2000 mini-grant, provided by the Illinois Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program through a USDA Team Nutrition Training grant. The purpose of this grant is to assist after-school programs in educating students and their families about healthy food choices and physical activity, through creative and innovative activities. For more details and to download an application, CLICK HERE. Deadline - July 1, 2010

January 28, 2010

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Grant

The Illinois State Board of Education is accepting applications for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) Grant for the 2010–11 school year. The purpose of the FFVP Grant is to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to elementary students during the school day at times other than meal periods at a minimum of two times a week. Any elementary school participating in the National School Lunch Program is eligible to apply but priority will be given to those schools with 50 percent or greater free and reduced-price eligibility.

See http://www.isbe.net/nutrition/htmls/ffv_program.htm for additional information about the FFVP Grant, program requirements and to access the FFVP Grant application. You must complete and submit the FFVP Grant application to ISBE no later than March 15 to be considered for the 2010–2011 school year.

NFSMI Is Now Part of the Social Network: FaceBook, YouTube and Twitter!

To become a fan of NFSMI on Facebook, click HERE.

To view dozens of short video clips on YouTube, including the Culinary Techniques Food Preparation demonstrations click HERE.

To follow NFSMI on Twitter and get the latest news click HERE.

January 20, 2010

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Awards Grants to 41 Communities to support programs focused on Reversing Childhood Obesity.

Congratulations to Kane County for being the Illinois recipient of this grant worth up to $360,000. The grant will support local efforts to improve access to affordable healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity for children and families. The program will target the barriers that make it difficult for children to get daily physical activity or eat healthy foods and then determine what new policies and environmental changes would work best to overcome those barriers and reduce the prevalence of obesity. For complete details about this program go to www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/product.jsp?id=53989&cid=xrs_rss-nr&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email.

January 12, 2010

Announcing CEED@Chicago Website -- www.ceedchicago.org

The Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities (CEED) has a new website. You will find information relevant to social disparities, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and healthy eating and physical activity among Latinos and African Americans. And, in addition to keeping you informed of CEED's activities and events, CEED wants to post information on your events and activities. You can send information about your organization to Sheila Castillo, CEED Program Manager, srcastil@uic.edu.

January 8, 2010

Kids Eat Less Junk Food When Middle Schools Stop Providing It

Positive news from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University . Their researchers looked at six middle schools in Connecticut over two years. In the three target schools, snacks meeting current nutrition standards replaced items that did not meet the standards, while the foods at the three comparison schools remained the same. The results: kids ate less junk food at school and did not compensate by eating more at home. The article is published in the Journal of Health Education and Behavior 36(6), 2009. You can access the article at: www.cfah.org/hbns/archives/getDocument.cfm?documentID=22116 and click on the link at the bottom of the page.

December 21, 2009

Twenty-One Schools Receive HealthierUS School Challenge Mini-grants!

Congratulations to 21 Illinois elementary schools that have been awarded grants from the Illinois Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program in preparation to take the HealthierUS School Challenge during the 2010 – 2011 school year. The HealthierUS School Challenge is a voluntary recognition program from USDA Food and Nutrition Service that recognizes outstanding achievement in healthier school environments. The Illinois NET Program is supported by the Illinois State Board of Education and the mini-grants have been provided by a 2009 USDA Team Nutrition Training grant. Click here to see a list of the winning schools.

December 18, 2009

New Resource to Prevent Stomach Illnesses at School: The Stomach Bug Book: What School Employees Need to Know

This booklet explains what you—the school employee—need to know about stomach illnesses at school. What are your responsibilities? How can you decrease the risks to yourself, your co-workers, and other students? How should you clean up? This booklet will answer these questions for you and provide you with tips to share with your co-workers, family, and the school community. Click here to download the booklet for free!

Healthy Eating Web-based Games Challenge!

Food, Nutrition And Consumer Services, FNCS is requesting submittal of completed web-based games that motivate tweens, students aged 9-12, to eat healthy. The web-based games must use the nutrition concepts from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the MyPyramid Food Guidance System as well as USDAs dataset of 1,000 of the most common food items. Cash awards will be provided to four winners in a gold, silver, bronze, and popular choice categories. This contest is open to the public. Submissions will be due in spring 2010. For more information, go to  www.cnpp.usda.gov/Innovations/Innovations.htm.

December 8, 2009

Now Available! Culinary Techniques for Healthy School Meals Online Course

The National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI) has developed a series of six free online courses designed to help child nutrition teams prepare healthier school meals that appeal to students' tastes. The Culinary Techniques for Healthy School Meals courses help school foodservice staff initiate food production and culinary techniques that incorporate principles of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans into the planning and preparation of school meals.

Illinois school foodservice staff members that complete all six courses are eligible to receive a stipend reimbursement of $75 and a set of Dietary Guidelines posters for their cafeteria while funding lasts. The stipends were made available by a USDA Team Nutrition Training grant.

For more information, visit the Illinois NET Program website at http://www.kidseatwell.org/CulinaryTechniquesforHealthySchoolMealsProject.htm

December 7, 2009

New Report on Fat Content of School Lunches

Concerns about child obesity have raised questions about the quality of meals served in the National School Lunch Program. In the mid-1990s a range of policies and standards to improve the quality of USDA-subsidized meals were instituted. Schools have been successful in meeting USDA nutrient standards except those for total fat and saturated fat. This report uses school-level data from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment-III to assess the differences between the fat content of NSLP lunches served by schools with different policies and characteristics. The presence of a la carte foods and vending machines appears to increase the fat content amd decrease the nutrient content of USDA-subsidized meals.

To read the full report go to: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR87/

November 30, 2009

Press Release November 11, 2009: Science Supports the Important Role of Milk, including Flavored Milk, in Children's Nutrition

Leading health and nutrition organizations – including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Dietetic Association, and the School Nutrition Association – recognize the valuable role that low-fat or fat-free milk, including flavored milk, can play in meeting daily nutrient needs, and helping kids get the daily servings of milk recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Click here to read the entire article from the American Dietetic Association: http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/media_23069_ENU_HTML.htm

USDA Child Care Recipes - Updated!

The recipes from the 1999 publication Child Care Recipes: Food for Health and Fun for the USDA's Child and Adult Care Food Program have been updated. USDA Recipes for Child Care consists of a booklet and 2 CD-ROMs. The booklet describes how to work with recipes, adjusting recipes, food safety information, and much more. The first CD contains the booklet text; tips for cooking, preparation, and storage; files of the recipes by name and number; “how to" instructions; food storage times, mini-posters on hand washing and thermometer usage. The second CD contains the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs.

Visit the USDA website for details: http://bit.ly/Dr0mo

The kit is available to child care centers and state agencies upon request from Team Nutrition.

October 23, 2009

HealthierUS School Challenge for Middle and High Schools!

The Obama Administration has just approved the expansion of the HUSSC criteria into middle and high schools.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2009/PR-0523.htm.

The application has been updated to reflect the new criteria to include middle and high schools. Note that there are differences between the criteria for elementary and middle/high schools.  Applications can be found on the HUSSC/Team Nutrition website: http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/HealthierUS/index.html (Click on Step 3)

October 20, 2009

New Nutrition Requirements Recommended for School Meal Programs

A new report from the Institute of Medicine states that the The National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program should adopt a new set of nutrient targets and standards to meet children's nutritional needs better and foster healthy eating habits. The recommended targets and standards would bring the programs in line with the latest information on nutrition and child health and with current dietary guidelines. For complete details: www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/School-Meals-Building-Blocks-for-Healthy-Children.aspx.

September 17, 2009

MyPyramid Menu Planner for Teens

The MyPramid Menu Planner is a useful and engaging way to show teens how to make healthier food choices. Using their own personal information (gender, age, ht. and wt.) and food choices, the Menu Planner shows teens if their food and snack choices are balanced for the day or, on average, over a week. It also tells them if they are getting enough fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk or fat-free milk or milk products, and whole-grain foods. They can see if they are getting too many added sugars, solid fats, and calories. And, they can explore ways to improve their food choices, track their meal and snack choices over time, and involve family members in healthier eating, too.

The Menu Planner is a fun, interactive web tool for teaching nutrition concepts to middle and high school students. It is available in computer disc format and online.

The menu planner is also part of Rate What YOU Ate: Using the MyPyramid Menu Planner (PDF). This resource is a step-by-step lesson plan for utilizing the MyPyramid Planner.

Join the Healthy Schools Program's Network for FREE!

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a partnership between the American Heart Association and The William J. Clinton Foundation, are working to create healthier schools. They are now offering free admission for anyone interested in helping a school become a healthier place to learn and work. When you join you will have access to a wealth of resources to support your efforts to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and create healthy lifelong habits.

Join now at HealthierGeneration.org/schools.

August 27, 2009

The Nutrition Education Loan Library has many new items!

The Nutrition Education Loan Library provides ready access to nutrition education materials which can be used for student instruction, staff training, parent education and program planning. Many new items have recently been added:

• Promotional posters focusing on breakfast, caffeinated beverages, and whole grains
• A game show activity focusing on nutrition: Snap Recap: Nutrition
• DVD's and PowerPoints focusing on:
  • MyPyramid: Anatomy of MyPyramid
  • Breakfast: Breakfast....Because and The Case for Breakfast
  • Reading labels: Nutrition Labels-Starting with Breakfast
  • Portion Distortion: Avoid Portion Distortion
  • Dietary Fat: Fats-Know the Difference, Healthy or Harmful
  • Sugared beverages and obesity: Obesity in a Bottle

Click here to search the Loan Library: www.kidseatwell.org/loan-library.htm.

July 27, 2009

Now Available! NFSMI's Online Course System

The National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI) has released a list of online courses that are now available. The NFSMI's advanced online course system uses the latest Internet technology to make it easy and convenient for you to learn. To reflect the busy lives food and nutrition professionals, each course can be taken over multiple sessions and computers, ideal for those who need to access courses from work, school, or home. Click here to view the courses, and for registration details.

July 21, 2009

School Meal Program Participation and Its Association with Dietary Patterns and Childhood Obesity

This report from the Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. used data from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment III Study to examine the dietary patterns of school meal program participants and non-participants and the relationship between school meal participation and children’s Body Mass Index (BMI). Overall, NSLP participation was not significantly related to students’ BMI while SBP participants had significantly lower BMI than did non-participants. You can read the complete report at www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/CCR55/.

The School Breakfast Program: Participation and Impacts - a study from the University of Wisconsin - Madison

This report examines the determinants of participation in the School Breakfast Program among third grade public school students. The study found that students are more likely to participate when breakfast is served in the classroom, when time available for breakfast in school is longer, and when they come from lower income or time-constrained households. Children with access to the School Breakfast Program are more likely to eat breakfast in the morning and that program access may enhance food security among families at the margin of food insecurity. To read the full report go to www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/CCR54/.

New Team Nutrition Resources for Food Service Professionals!

Team Nutrition has just released five resources that have been updated to assist food service programs in providing meals to students that meet the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. They include:

• Menu Planner for Healthy School Meals
  and the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs
• Fruits & Vegetables Galore Helping Kids Eat More
• Fact Sheets for Healthier School Meals
• USDA Recipes for Schools
• Offer versus Serve Resource Guide

These resources are available to schools participating in the National School Lunch Program at no charge. Please see the Team Nutrition web page for more details.

May 29, 2009

School Food Challenge! If you'd like to join the fight for healthy kids,

Upcoming Training

February 23, 2010

1st Food and Nutrition Services Farm to School Webinar: Opportunities to Increase Local Food in School Meals

The USDA Farm to School Team is holding its first webinar to introduce the Farm to School Team. We welcome state agencies, school food service administrators, farmers, and others interested in learning about the commitment USDA offers to Farm to School. USDA will discuss the Farm to School Team’s mission and goals for 2010, available resources, grant opportunities, and answer questions you may have regarding Farm to School.

Date & Time: Wednesday, March 10, 2010; 2:00pm-3:00pm CST

Deadline for registration is Monday, March 8, 2010 at: http://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/17fb9g42e15

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation NEW WEBINAR SERIES: Making Schools the Model for Healthier Environments

A series of four webinars that will discuss initiatives currently underway to ensure that schools (PreK-12 )become the standard for healthy eating and active living. Featuring researchers, advocates, and policymakers who will discuss solutions to problems that schools face in providing healthy food and opportunities for physical activity and resources to help make schools healthier.

Thursdays at 1 p.m. CST

February 25: Seizing the Moment: Efforts Underway to Improve our Schools

March 11: Sowing Seeds: Improving Food Quality with Farm-to-School Programs

March 25: Setting the Standard: What Schools Are Doing about Competitive Foods

April 8: Let’s Get Physical: Being Active to Reverse Child Obesity
 
For more information about this webinar series visit: www.reversechildhoodobesity.org.

February 23, 2010

SNF Webinar Wednesdays!

March 24, 2010, 1 pm CST: 100% Juice: Squeezing Fact from Fiction, in partnership with the Juice Products Association

April 28, 2010, 1 pm CST: Soy Solutions for Schools: Offering Health-filled Options for Meal Planning, in partnership with the National Soy Research Lab

May 12, 2010, 1 pm CST: Fuel Up To Play 60: Best Practices, in partnership with National Dairy Council

May 19, 2010, 1 pm CST: Fiber, iIn partnership with Kellogg's Food Away From Home

Visit www.schoolnutrition.org/webinars to learn more about these education programs.

February 16, 2010

Taking Root: 5th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference

Learn how to start or scale up a farm to cafeteria program at your school. There will be field trips to local farms, school lunchrooms, and processing plants. There will also be short courses, workshops and sessions to attend. Hosted by the National Farm to School network.

When: May 17-19, 2010

Where: Detroit Michigan

Registration begins February 22, 2010. Go to www.farmtocafeteriaconference.org/ for more details.

January 28, 2010

Train-the-Trainer Web Seminars: Growing Your Professional Skills Breakfast Lunch training (BLT)

This series of seminars is designed to demonstrate how to use the NFSMI's Growing Your Professional Skills BLT resource. The BLT is designed to help school nutrition assistants notice the ways their decisions impact school nutrition operations and identify why growing their professional skills is important.

Seminar One: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - 2 p.m. CST

Seminar Two: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - 2 p.m. CST

Seminar Three: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 2 p.m. CST

After the live broadcast, the Web seminars will be posted in the Resource Center on the NFSMI Web site and will also be made available as online courses. www.NFSMI.org

Third Season of Cooks For Kids: Cooking Green Across America

Mark your calendar for the last episode of Cooks for Kids, Season 3. These 30-minute training programs showcases recipes, techniques, and practical solutions that schools can adopt to prepare healthier, tastier, and environmentally sound meals.

March 11: Cooks for Kids will be in Minnesota where Chef Marvin will read “The Little Red Hen Makes Pizza" and then will show young students whole wheat kernels and how they are transformed into dough.

All episodes are available on their website after the original airing date.

Go to www.nfsmi.org/ResourceOverview.aspx?ID=324 for details on viewing the program via satellite or on their website after the program has aired.

November 30, 2009

We Can! Regional Training

We Can! will be hosting eight regional trainings around the country; all are open to anyone interested in attending. The events are designed to educate participants about the NIH We Can! program; provide training on We Can! science-based curricula for parents and youth; share innovative ideas to help launch and strengthen We Can! programming; and network with others trying to prevent childhood obesity around the country.

Chicago, IL: May 19-20, 2010

Visit the We Can! Training Registration Page if you would like to register or learn more about any of the events.

2009-2010 Conference Schedule for School Food Service Staff:

The following list of conferences is provided to assist school food authorities in scheduling professional development for staff this school year.  Please access the appropriate association’s website for further information; if no information is available, check back closer to the date of the event.

• May 4, 2010—Illinois School Wellness From A to Z Conference in Decatur, Illinois (www.isbe.net/nutrition)
• June 22–24, 2010—Illinois School Nutrition Association’s 60th Annual Conference in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois (www.ilsna.net)
• July 11–14, 2010—School Nutrition Association’s Annual National Conference in Dallas, Texas (www.schoolnutrition.org)
• July 24–27, 2010—Society for Nutrition Education Annual Conference, Reno-Tahoe, Nevada (www.sne.org/conference/index.html)

Do not forget professional development opportunities are available online as well from the School Nutrition Association, National Foodservice Management Institute, and the National Restaurant Association.  Visit www.schoolnutrition.org, www.nfsmi.org, and www.nraef.org for further information.

June 1, 2009

These courses focus on basic skills food service assistants need in a child nutrition program. The four online courses are based on the four lessons of the On the Road to Professional Food Preparation Breakfast Lunch Training (BLT) module: Standardized Recipes, Weights and Measures, Portion Control, and Adjusting a Recipe. Click here for more information and to register. .

National Food Service Management Institute Training Resources

With the rising concern of food costs and food rationing, now more than ever portion control is important for your food service operation. Forecasting and serving the correct portion size will help to control the cost of food and prevent food waste.

Here is just one example of how portion control can save you money.
If serving 1⁄2 cup (No. 8 scoop) instead of 1⁄4 cup (No. 16 scoop) increases the cost of one serving only $.03, the serving cost of $.03 multiplied by 600 customers would increase the cost of one food item on the menu by $18.00 for one day. If this occurred just 75 days during a school year, the cost would increase to $1,350.00 per year. If this occurred 180 days (the average number of days per school year) the cost would increase to $3,240.00 per year.Do your employees know the correct serving sizes for the utensils used in your operation?

Check out On the Road to Professional Food Preparation and Basics at a Glance poster as possible training resources for your operation.

Grant Opportunities

Saucony Run for Good Grant Program

This is a national grant that encourages schools to create a school-based program that increase participation in running in order to improve the healthy and well being of students. Preference is given to programs that would serve youth who would not traditionally be exposed to running programs due to lack of resources or lack of safe running routes.

$10,000 will be awarded to ten schools. Applications are accepted twice a year in June and December. The 2009 Deadline has passed, check back for details for 2010. For more information go to: www.sauconyrunforgood.com.

IAHPERD (Illinois Association for Health, PE, Recreation and Dance) Program Enhancement Grant

This grant is for members of IAHPERD only and preference will be given to first time applicants. The proposed project must enhance, initiate, or continue an educational HPERD program. You can request a grant for up to $4000.00. Applicants must agree to present a summary of their outcomes to IAHPERD or write an article in the IAHPERD Journal within 3 years.

Applications are due September 1 and February 15 of each year. For details go to www.IAHPERD.org/textpages/grants/endowment.php.

April 3, 2009

GoGirlGo! Ambassador Team Awards (high school only)

The Women’s Sports Foundation and The Gatorade Company want to recognize teams in high school that demonstrate leadership in their communities by inspiring girls to get involved in sports and physical activity.

Applicants must be a school team made up of girls in 9-12 grade. The team should select a Captain (Ambassador), create a service project that gets girls physically active in the community, enter the project online, and complete 3 short essay questions about the project (done by a team member).

20 grants will be awarded nationally worth $2500.00 payable to the school.

2009 Deadline has passed, check back for Details for 2010. . For details go to: www.GoGirlGo! Ambassador Team Awards.

Other Yearly Grant Opportunities for Programs that Support Children's Health

Outdoor Classroom Grant Program – Deadline: Rolling

Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, International Paper and the International Paper Foundation, and National Geographic Explorer classroom magazine are awarding grants to K-12 schools and/or districts for $2,000-$20,000 for new or enhancing existing outdoor classrooms, including fruit and vegetable gardens. See www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=pg&p=AboutLowes/outdoor/index.html for more information.

Websites to Check for Funding Opportunities that Support Student Wellness

The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors provides a web page that consolidates funding opportunities aimed at improving chronic diseases. Page available at:
ttp://www.chronicdisease.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3574

Center for Health and Health Care in Schools - grant opportunities for schools are posted at: www.healthinschools.org

USDA Team Nutrition - this webpage lists sources of wellness funding for local wellness policy initiatives at: http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Healthy/wellnesspolicy_funding.html

Illinois NET Program KidsEatWell.org - we post current grant opportunities for Illinois schools on this page (What's New) so be sure and bookmark it!

Illinois NET Program Illinois Schools Can! electronic newsletter updates subscribers on new grant opportunities. Sign up to receive a copy at: http://www.kidseatwell.org/ASP/ISCNewsletterForm.asp