The HealthierUS Challenge Award was established by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a way to give national recognition to elementary schools that are creating healthy school environments by promoting good nutrition and physical activity. With certification as a Silver or Gold School, schools and surrounding communities in Arkansas could receive a share of this national recognition for work being done to make schools healthier places for kids.
The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Child Nutrition Unit (CNU) will hold a workshop to assist schools in completing the application process leading to the HealthierUS Challenge Silver or Gold Award. The workshop will be held in Rooms 102 and 103 at St. John’s Center, 2500 N. Tyler Street, Little Rock on Tuesday, May 8, 2007, from 10:00am until 3:00pm. The workshop is open to any elementary school that wants to apply for a HealthierUS Challenge Award and meets USDA criteria.
This workshop will focus on completion of the required paperwork for the child nutrition section of the application process. At a minimum, the Child Nutrition (CN) Director needs to attend and, if possible, a member of the Wellness Committee. A catered lunch will be provided. Please pre-register by Friday, April 27 so that an appropriate number of handouts can be prepared and an accurate count for lunch can be made. NO ON-SITE REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
For certification as either a Silver or Gold School, an elementary school must:
1. be enrolled as a Team Nutrition School (enrollment can be completed during the workshop),
2. have an average daily participation (ADP) of at least 70% of school enrollment for reimbursable lunches,
3. have had a School Meals Initiative (SMI) review of the district’s School Food Authority (SFA) completed within the preceding 5 years; the SFA must have completed all improvement activities agreed to in the corrective action plan, and have no outstanding Coordinated Review Effort (CRE) audit issues or claims,
4. have submitted menus from the school that were reimbursable meals served and that met the menu criteria for either Silver or Gold certification,
5. have a written description of opportunities for physical activity that meets the criteria,
6. sold/served foods and beverages--a la carte, in vending machines, school stores, snack bars, etc.--that meet the criteria for recognition.
Additional information can be found at:
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/HealthierUS/criteria_instructions.pdf
District CN Directors participating in the ADE Child Nutrition Unit workshop must bring the following items:
1. menus for the period March 26-May 4 (at least 4 weeks) for reimbursable lunch meals at the school(s) applying for the award. (Must be actual menu served.),
2. standardized recipes for all site prepared menu items on the menus for the period,
3. ingredient labels, product formulation sheets, Nutrient Facts Labels, CN Labels,
4. production records for the period March 26-May 4,
5. daily record forms for each school applying for the period March 26-May 4,
6. average daily membership of the school(s) applying. (Ask the school Principal or Secretary for a copy of the report with these numbers.)
For questions regarding the above items, please contact the CNU Area Specialist assigned to the district or Sheila Brown at 501-324-9502.
REMINDER: ADE Commissioner’s Memo FIN-06-028 contains a comparison of the HealthierUS Challenge menu criteria and the ADE Three Steps menu planning system. This memo is available at http://cnn.k12.ar.us Click on the ADE MEMOS button.
The USDA headquarters office in Washington, DC makes the final decision on the certification for ALL HealthierUS Challenge Award applications nationwide. Certification is granted for the year of application, plus the two following years.
Fax Registration Form by APRIL 27, 2007 to:
Debi Branscum
ADE Child Nutrition Unit
FAX: 501-324-9505