Superintendent Challenge Winner! Healthy Eating Bright Idea (Submitted on July 26, 2004)
What did they want to do? The goal of the district is to provide each student access to delicious, enjoyable and nutritious meals each day. The mission shall be accomplished through nutrition education, garden experiences, food served in schools and core academic content in the classroom.
Who took action? The Nutrition Advisory Committee (NAC) - comprised of a student, two district administrators, the Director of Food Services, a teacher, the Nutrition Education/Garden Coordinator, a School Nurse, a Registered Dietician, an Executive Chef, and parents - was formed in September 2002 to draft a comprehensive nutrition policy to improve the nutrition environment of Ukiah Unified School District. The NAC was also charged with evaluating the implementation of the policy. The NAC is a subcommittee of our District’s Health Advisory Committee.
The NAC members developed the policy, took the draft to the Health Advisory Committee and then on to the district’s administrative leadership. A community forum was held to introduce the policy to parents, community members and city and county personnel. The policy went to the board for a first reading. The policy was changed slightly to include “no sales of irradiated foods”, went on for a second reading and adopted in August 2003.
Where did this happen? Ukiah Unified School District - school
Demographics
UUSD has 6,500 students in Kindergarten through Twelfth grades.
Why did they want to do it? Since adopting our policy we’ve entered the implementation stage. It is our intent to fulfill the following mission statement from our policy:
“The goal and policy of the Ukiah Unified School District is to provide each student access to delicious, enjoyable, and nutritious meals each day. The district shall improve the health of Ukiah’s children and help them excel at learning through better nutrition. The district will help by teaching students ways to establish and maintain life-long healthy eating habits. We shall foster in our students an understanding of nutrition and food that will serve them throughout their lifetimes and will benefit our entire community. The mission shall be accomplished through nutrition education, garden experiences, the food served in schools, and core academic content in the classroom.”
Background
How did they accomplish their goal? Vending Machines: Middle school principals contacted the vendor for the UUSD vending machine contracts and had him change all snacks and drinks to meet SB19 standards ensuring healthier options for students. UUSD elementary school students do not have access to vending machines. The high school students will be conducting taste tests to find out which healthier foods they would consider buying from onsite vending machines in the fall of 2004.
Nutrition and Gardening Program: Teachers were encouraged to enroll in the program. UUSD is currently piloting various projects and developing curriculum for their use. Students, teachers and parents were active partners in learning and implementing the program.
Nutrition Education: UUSD researched and developed a comprehensive, standards based curriculum to help teachers teach nutrition education more effectively. Research has shown that students who grow their food, tend to eat more fruits and vegetables, thus UUSD provided all students in the district with the opportunity to grow fruits and vegetables in organic gardens. The food service director also put some of the fruits and vegetables grown by students into the school meals.
Surveys: Two were conducted by the School Nutrition Advisory Committees (SNAC’s). The first was from the “Changing the Scene” toolkit and helped schools to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses. The second was the School Health Index that was conducted by the SNAC’s at each school site. In 2003-2004, schools used this to set goals to address issues like improving foods served in cafeterias, improving the cafeteria environment, lunch times, educating and encouraging parents to send healthy snacks and foods to school, and for healthy fundraising.
What were their results? UUSD’s promotion and outreach was extremely successful:
• Over 300 teachers and other personnel participated in the implementation of the program.
• The “Health, Hunger and Learning Forum”, coupled with adoption of UUSD’s policy, served as a catalyst for the formation of the Mendocino County Nutrition and Activity Collaborative (MCNAC). This promoted awareness and education on the benefits of good nutrition and physical activity countywide.
• UUSD’s gardening and nutrition program had been chosen by the Emeril Lagasse Foundation as the project to support for two years
• Other school districts are using UUSD’s policy to create their own.
• UUSD compiled standards based literature based nutrition education curriculum for grades K-3 and presented it in a workshop to over 30 staff members.
What are their future plans? UUSD will amend its PE Policy in early 2005. UUSD is waiting for the State Dept. of Education to adopt PE standards that will guide UUSD’s policy. The NAC will include PE specialists.
UUSD will also pilot a few ideas to increase students’ consumption of fruits and vegetables in school meals, e.g. through serving the “Harvest of the Month” at lunchtime. Through the California Nutrition Network, UUSD will continue to network with other Mendocino County and Californian school districts to promote better nutrition and physical activity in schools. UUSD will also create a webpage on UUSD’s website for parents, students and interested parties to get information about UUSD’s policy and other health facts. UUSD will continue implementing and updating the policy. Taste tests for healthier vending options at Ukiah High School will also be held in the fall of 2004. UUSD plans to introduce healthier options in vending machines and open a student run store that will sell only healthy snacks.
For More Information Contact Terry Nieves, Garden-Enhanced Nutrition Education Coordinator Ukiah Unified School District 925 N. State St. Ukiah, CA 95482 United States (707) 462-2561
[email protected] none
