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Joseph Erbentraut Senior Reporter, The Huffington Post
The board of a suburban Chicago school district voted unanimously on Thursday to drop out of the National School Lunch Program because it claims being forced to stop serving popular but unhealthy lunch options like pizza and fries will cause the district to lose revenue.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the Township High School District 214 school district in Arlington Heights, Illinois, will forgo $900,000 in federal funding that subsidizes the school’s free and reduced-price lunch program in order to continue to offer foods that would not be allowed under the federal Smart Snacks in School policy starting July 1.
The USDA’s junk food-limiting Smart Snacks in Schools standards require that any food sold in schools, including in vending machines, either be a “whole grain-rich” grain product, be mainly comprised of fruit or vegetable, or list a protein food or dairy product as its first ingredient. Snacks may have no more than 200 calories and entrees may have no more than 350 calories, and fat, sodium and sugar limits have also been set. The policy is endorsed by First Lady Michelle Obama.
The Arlington Heights district doesn’t believe healthier options that adhere to the new standards will be able to compete with cafeteria classics like pizza and the fast food available just off campus near school grounds.
“What we saw based on those menus is that students simply will not choose the food,” Cathy Johnson, the district’s associate superintendent, said of the decision, according to ABC Chicago.
The district said it will come up with their own healthy lunch menu options by working with their own nutritionist, the Tribune reports. The district will also still continue to offer free and reduced-priced meals to students who qualify, though it hasn’t yet revealed exactly how it plans to do that with the loss of federal funding.
The Chicago-area district is not the first to abandon the federal lunch program. The board of the Waterford School District in southeastern Wisconsin also voted this year to drop the program citing concerns over losing revenue and a belief that “the federal government’s having too much influence or control in that area of school programming,” the Racine Journal Times reported.
The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions
Programs
National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. The program was established under the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1946.
School Breakfast Program (SBP)
The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides cash assistance to States to operate nonprofit breakfast programs in schools and residential childcare institutions. The program is administered at the Federal level by FNS. State education agencies administer the SBP at the State level, and local school food authorities operate it in schools.
After School Snack Program (ASSP)
The National School Lunch Program offers cash reimbursement to help schools serve snacks to children in afterschool activities aimed at promoting the health and well being of children and youth in our communities.
Special Milk Program
Begun in 1955, the Special Milk Program is administered at the Federal level by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through its Food and Nutrition Service, formerly the Food and Consumer Service. The Special Milk Program (SMP) provides milk to children in schools and childcare institutions that do not participate in other Federal child nutrition meal service programs. The program reimburses schools for the milk they serve.
Schools in the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Programs may also participate in the SMP to provide milk to children in half-day pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs where children do not have access to the school meal programs.
Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program
The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) provides all children in participating schools with a variety of free fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the school day. It is an effective and creative way of introducing fresh fruits and vegetables as healthy snack options. The FFVP also encourages schools to develop partnerships at the State and local level for support in implementing and operating the program.
Summer Nutrition Opportunities
There are three summer nutrition program opportunities from which SFAs may select to offer meals to students during the summer months and/or other vacation periods.
For more information and resources on the various programs click on a program title below:
Children Not Eating Veggies Despite Healthy School Lunch Program
A new paper reported that the healthy lunch program implemented in U.S. schools has not drove children to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables as projected.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched the National School Lunch Program with the aim of increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables (FV) of school kids. Through this program, kids were required to choose FVs for their lunch as part of the reimbursable school meal; however, researchers found that the program has been surrounded by numerous negative concerns such as the rising number of school food waste.
The researchers from the University of Vermont Burlington and University of California performed the study by initially conducting 10 school visits and observing about 498 lunch trays before the program was put into action. After a year of program implementation, the researchers then visited 11 schools and observed 944 trays, utilizing the verified dietary assessment tools. For each school visit and observation, the researchers selected pupils in the third, fourth and fifth grade and assigned them with a number. They then took digital photos of the students’ lunch trays before and after eating, after which the researchers tried to quantify what has been consumed and has been dump in the trash.
The findings of the study, published in Public Health Reports, show that more kids chose FVs in larger portions when it was mandated by the program compared to when it was still optional. However, the consumption of FVs slightly decreased when it was required compared to when the program was not yet in place. In numbers, the results can be translated as 29 percent more children took FVs when the program started, 13 percent less consumption of FVs were noted after the requirement and 56 percent more food was thrown away.
“The basic question we wanted to explore was: does requiring a child to select a fruit or vegetable actually correspond with consumption,” says Sarah A. Amin, the lead author of the study from the University of Vermont Burlington. As per the study results, the answer to this query is clearly no, she adds.
Although the study was conducted in only two schools in the Northeast area and cannot generalized the entire country, the study results may still provide valuable insights into the decision-making body that is tasked to reauthorize the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.
The authors recommend giving the children more time as they will eventually learn how to eat right. Exposures should be increased through school programs and encouragement in the home setting. Schools may devise other ways to encourage children to eat more FVs such as serving sliced instead of whole fruit. “We can’t give up hope yet,” Amin closed.
Photo: US Department of Agriculture | Flickr
27 August 2015, 7:11 am EDT By Rina Marie Doctor Tech Times – See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/79761/20150827/children-not-eating-veggies-despite-healthy-school-lunch-program.htm#sthash.NNg3zZf1.dpuf
Segregated Charter Schools Evoke Separate But Equal Era in U.S.
John Hechinger
December 22, 2011 — 10:31 AM IST
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Hmong Charter School
Students run under a mural depicting ancient Hmong leader Chi You and the Hmong flight from Vietnam during gym class at the Hmong College Prep Academy on Dec. 14, 2011 in St Paul, Minn. Photographer: Craig Lassig/Bloomberg
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At Dugsi Academy, a public school in St. Paul, Minnesota, girls wearing traditional Muslim headscarves and flowing ankle-length skirts study Arabic and Somali. The charter school educates “East African children in the Twin Cities,” its website says. Every student is black.
At Twin Cities German Immersion School, another St. Paul charter, children gather under a map of “Deutschland,” study with interns from Germany, Austria and Switzerland and learn to dance the waltz. Ninety percent of its students are white.
Six decades after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down “separate but equal” schools for blacks and whites, segregation is growing because of charter schools, privately run public schools that educate 1.8 million U.S. children. While charter-school leaders say programs targeting ethnic groups enrich education, they are isolating low-achievers and damaging diversity, said Myron Orfield, a lawyer and demographer.
“It feels like the Deep South in the days of Jim Crow segregation,” said Orfield, who directs the University of Minnesota Law School’s Institute on Race & Poverty. “When you see an all-white school and an all-black school in the same neighborhood in this day and age, it’s shocking.”
Charter schools are more segregated than traditional public schools, according to a 2010 report by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles. Researchers studied 40 states, the District of Columbia, and 39 metropolitan areas. In particular, higher percentages of charter-school students attend what the report called “racially isolated” schools, where 90 percent or more students are from disadvantaged minority groups.
Charter-School Birthplace
In Minnesota, the birthplace of the U.S. charter-school movement, the divide is more than black and white.
St. Paul’s Hmong College Prep Academy, 99 percent Asian-American in the past school year, immerses students “in the rich heritage that defines Hmong culture.” Its Academia Cesar Chavez School — 93 percent Hispanic — promises bilingual education “by advocating Latino cultural values in an environment of familia and community.” Minneapolis’s Four Directions Charter School, 94 percent Native American, black and Hispanic, promotes “lifelong learning for American Indian students.”
Charter schools, which select children through lotteries, are open to all who apply, said Abdulkadir Osman, Dugsi’s executive director.
“Some people call it segregation,” Osman said. “This is the parent’s choice. They can go anywhere they want. We are offering families something unique.”
Nobody ‘Forced’
That’s a “significant difference” between Minnesota charters and segregated schools in the 1950s South, said Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change at Macalester College in St. Paul.
“Nobody is being forced to go to these schools,” said Nathan, who helped write Minnesota’s 1991 charter-school law.
Ever since Horace Mann crusaded for free universal education in the 19th century, public schools have been hailed as the U.S. institutions that bring together people of disparate backgrounds.
The atomization of charter schools coincides with growing U.S. diversity. Americans of other races will outnumber whites by 2042, the Census Bureau projects.
Even after a divided Supreme Court in 2007 ruled that schools couldn’t consider race in making pupil assignments to integrate schools, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy urged districts to find other ways to fight “de facto resegregation” and “racial isolation.”
“The nation’s schools strive to teach that our strength comes from people of different races, creeds, and cultures uniting in commitment to the freedom of all,” Kennedy wrote.
Diverse Workplaces
Citing Kennedy’s words, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder this month called for schools — including charters — to combat growing segregation.
Along with breeding “educational inequity,” racially-divided schools deny children the experiences they need to succeed in an increasingly diverse workplace, Duncan said in announcing voluntary guidelines for schools.
Charter schools may specialize in serving a single culture as long as they have open admissions, and there’s no evidence of discrimination, said Russlynn Ali, assistant education secretary for civil rights.
The education department is encouraging charter schools to promote diversity. Charters could expand recruiting and consider lotteries that give extra weight to disadvantaged groups, such as families living in low-income neighborhoods or children who speak English as a second language, Ali said in a phone interview.
Immigrant Magnet
Minnesota, 85 percent white, is a case study of the nation’s growing diversity. Since the 1970s, Minneapolis and St. Paul have become a magnet for Hmong refugees, who fought alongside Americans in the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, Somalis sought refuge from civil war.
St. Paul, where the nation’s first charter school opened in 1992, is 16 percent black, 10 percent Hispanic and 15 percent Asian-American, according to the U.S Census Bureau.
Charter schools should be similarly diverse, recommended a 1988 report that provided the groundwork for Minnesota’s charter-school law.
“We envision the creation of schools which, by design, would invite a dynamic mix of students by race and ability levels,” the Citizens League, a St. Paul-based nonprofit public-policy group, wrote in the report.
‘Great Failure’
Instead, in the 2009-2010 school year, three quarters of the Minneapolis and St. Paul region’s 127 charter schools were “highly segregated,” according to the University of Minnesota Law School’s race institute. Forty-four percent of schools were 80 percent or more non-white, and 32 percent, mostly white.
“It’s been a great failure that the most segregated schools in Minnesota are charter schools,” said Mindy Greiling, a state representative who lobbied for the charter-school law when she was a member of a suburban school board in the 1980s. “It breaks my heart.”
Segregation is typical nationwide. Seventy percent of black charter-school students across the country attended “racially isolated” schools, twice as many as the share in traditional public schools, according to the report from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA.
Half of all Latino charter-school students went to these intensely segregated schools, the study found. In the West and the South, the two most racially diverse regions of the country, “charters serve as havens for white flight from public schools,” the report said.
Hmong Roots
They also serve as havens for minority students who need extra help, said leaders of Minnesota charter schools.
Christianna Hang, founder of Hmong College Prep Academy, said she designed the school so children, mostly first-generation Americans, didn’t feel adrift in public schools as she did when she arrived in the U.S. in 1980.
In the Hmong academy’s central hallway, a tapestry depicts families living in Laos, fleeing the Vietnam War and arriving in America. The school’s roughly 700 students, in grades kindergarten through 12th grade, learn Hmong.
“I came here for my parents as much as for me,” said Mai Chee Xiong, a 17-year-old senior. “I was very Americanized. I wanted to be able to speak with them in our language, and I wanted to understand my roots.”
In the 2009-2010 school year, 26 percent of Hmong Academy students met or exceeded standards on state math exams, while 30 percent did so in reading. About half passed those tests in the St. Paul Public School District.
Harvard Banners
To raise expectations, classrooms adopt colleges, hanging banners from Harvard University, Yale University and Dartmouth College over their doors.
“If we don’t do something to help these kids, they will get lost,” Hang said. “If they drop out of school, they will never become productive citizens, and there’s no way they will achieve the American dream.”
Dugsi Academy, the school for East Africans, and Twin Cities German Immersion School make for some of St. Paul’s sharpest contrasts.
Until this school year, the two schools were neighbors, across a busy commercial thoroughfare in a racially diverse neighborhood. At different times of the day, the kids used a city playground in front of the German school for recess. Dugsi has since moved three miles away, across a highway from the Hmong academy.
The German Immersion School is a bright, airy former factory with exposed brick and high ceilings.
Fluent German
“Eva, was ist das?” kindergarten teacher Elena Heindl asked one morning earlier this month as she pointed a red flashlight to letters, eliciting the name of each one in German.
To succeed at the school, students must be fluent in German to enroll, unless they enter before second or third grade, Julie Elias, a parent, told prospective families on a tour this month.
“You can’t just move into the neighborhood if you want to go to our school,” Elias said. The school is legally required to take anyone picked in its lottery, though it counsels parents against enrolling in older grades without German knowledge, said Annika Fjelstad, its director.
The school, which includes many families with one parent who speaks German or that have German relatives, holds special events at the Germanic-American Institute in a $1.3 million St. Paul house with a ballroom. Children like to call the institute “our school’s mansion,” said Chris Weimholt, another parent giving the tour.
No Buses
In the 2009-2010 school year, 87 percent of children at the German school passed state math tests and 84 percent did so in reading, according to the Minnesota Department of Education. Fifteen percent qualify for the federal free or reduced lunch program, compared with 71 percent in St. Paul. The school doesn’t offer bus transportation, so most parents drive, often carpooling, Elias said.
The language requirement and lack of transportation prevents poor families from attending, said Greiling, the state legislator, who has toured the school.
“A regular public school could never have that kind of bar,” she said. “It seems an odd thing that this would be legal.”
The German program doesn’t have buses because they would cost $100,000 a year, too heavy a burden for an expanding school of 274 that wants to maintain classes of 20 students, Fjelstad said. An immersion school can’t take kids who aren’t fluent after early grades, she said.
In February, the school formed an “inclusivity” task force to find ways to make the school more reflective of the community, Fjelstad said. The school will try to improve recruiting through its relationship with community organizations, such as a neighboring YMCA, she said.
International View
The school offers a different kind of diversity, said Weimholt, a nurse whose grandfather emigrated from Germany after World War I. “It doesn’t look diverse by skin color. But families straddle two different continents. The school truly has an international perspective.”
So does Dugsi Academy. Children learn Arabic and Somali along with English and traditional academic subjects. A caller last month heard no English on a school voice mail.
One morning in late November, a sixth-grade social-studies class discussed immigration with 28-year-old Khaleefah Abdallah, who himself fled Somalia 12 years ago. The boys wore jeans and sweatshirts. The girls sported hijabs, or traditional Muslim head coverings with skirts or long pants.
‘Melting Pot’
Abdallah asked his class about the idea of the American “melting pot:” immigrants assimilating into U.S. culture. He suggested another metaphor, a “salad bowl,” where people from different backgrounds mix while retaining their own identity.
“I agree with the salad bowl,” Fadumo Ahmed, 12, dressed in a black hijab and sneakers with pink laces, told the class. “We all come from different places, but we still want to keep our culture.”
Students shared stories of the challenge of co-existing in mainstream America.
Ahmed Hassan, 12, complained about a boy on a city playground who made fun of the long traditional robe he wore one Friday.
“He told me it looked like a skirt,” Hassan said. Abdallah told the class that, under the U.S. constitution, Americans have the freedom to express themselves through their clothing.
Test Scores
Dugsi, a low-slung red-brick building in an office park, has about 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Almost all qualify for federal free or reduced lunches, according to the state. Only 19 percent passed state math exams in the 2009-2010 school year, while 40 percent did so in reading.
The school’s test scores reflect families’ backgrounds. said Osman, the Dugsi director and a former employee of the U.S. Embassy in Somalia, who emigrated to the U.S. in 1993. Parents work as cab drivers, nurses and grocers, Osman said. Many had no formal schooling.
It would be better if one day Somali students could go to school with children from other backgrounds, Osman said.
“That’s the beauty of America — Latinos, Caucasians, African-Americans and Native Americans, all together in the same building, eating lunch and in the same classrooms,” Osman said. “It would be something wonderful. That’s what I’m thinking of for my own kids and grandchildren.”
Grand Tasting Area In My Community > Diabetes EXPOs > Minneapolis EXPO
Grand Tasting Area
The Grand Tasting Area is a multi-layered world class sampling of appealing diabetes-friendly foods created and served by Novo Nordisk Diabetes Education Program Celebrity Chefs: Chef Tiffany Derry, Chef Rory Schepisi, Chef Doreen Colondres, and Chef Dana Herbert. Each chef will be paired with a Novo Nordisk Diabetes Educator delivering educational focused on healthy eating and meal planning. Healthy eating does not have to be boring but vibrant, full of life and flavor! Groups will be admitted into the Grand Tasting Area every 15 minutes from 11:00am – 1:30pm.
Meet the Chefs
Chef Tiffany Derry
With humble beginnings in hospitality, Tiffany Derry has fired up the culinary scene from Dallas, Texas, where she built her TD Concepts brand and company from the ground up. Tiffany found a love of cooking at an early age and later graduated from The Art Institute of Houston, Texas. She went on to become a national spokesperson for the school and a sought-after sous chef at several regionally acclaimed restaurants. Tiffany’s natural ability in the kitchen and her colorful personality made her an obvious choice for Bravo’s “Top Chef,” where she was voted fan favorite in Season 7. This recognition earned her a spot as a contestant on “Top Chef All-Stars,” where she made it to the final-four round. With a personal family connection to diabetes, Tiffany has also made it her mission to educate people about healthy lifestyles and portion control. She has worked tirelessly to revamp the Dallas School Districts lunch program with more nutritious options. In blending nutrition with flavor, Tiffany stands by one rule in her kitchen, “make it taste good or forget it!”
Chef Rory Schepisi
A New Jersey native with a big city attitude, Rory grew up surrounded by family in the restaurant business. At just 16, she decided to make cooking her career and enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America. After making a splash with her first restaurant at age 20, Rory consulted for establishments nationwide, gaining recognition in the process. While embracing the bicoastal lifestyle, Rory was offered the unique opportunity to join the reality TV program “Popularity Contest” on Country Music Television, which transplanted her to a small town in America’s heartland. Her experience on the show inspired her to permanently relocate to Vega, Texas, and start her successful restaurant, Boot Hill Saloon & Grill, which has since become a favorite among locals and visitors alike. Her accolades include reaching the final round on “The Next Food Network Star,” hosting her weekly cooking segment on NBC’s Texas affiliate and appearing on The Today Show as a featured chef. A perfect blend of Southern charm mixed with Yankee sass, Rory adds a healthy twist to her down-home style of cooking. Grab a fork – Rory is in the kitchen!
Chef Doreen Colondres
Born into a family of cooks, Doreen Colondres’ family kitchen was the epicenter of her childhood. She developed a passion for local, fresh food and merging classic flavors with new ingredients. When life took her to Miami, Doreen found she was never far from the kitchen, cooking for friends and entertaining. In fact, Doreen wanted to convince the world that “The Kitchen Doesn’t Bite” and launched her website of the same name. A leading figure in today’s “Cocina Latina” movement and an expert in a range of Hispanic cooking, Doreen is determined to revolutionize the way the world approaches food, cooking, and eating habits. As a fresh food advocate with a passion to educate, Doreen’s easy approach and vibrant personality have helped her become a “people’s chef.” When Doreen isn’t experimenting in the kitchen, she’s either traveling abroad consulting for international companies, or is on-air hosting cooking shows on Fox’s Utilisima Network. Her mission is to show others that Hispanic food is flavorful and diverse, and that cooking is relaxing, healthy, and most importantly fun!
Chef Dana Herbert
Chef Dana Herbert was introduced to cooking and pastry making while studying for a culinary degree at Johnson and Wales University. He operates an award-winning custom bakery “Desserts by Dana” in his home-state of Delaware, where he dishes up sweet and savory treats. Affectionately called “Delaware’s King of Cakes” by local fans, Dana was challenged to join TLC’s “Cake Boss: Next Great Baker” flagship series in 2010-2011. Dana took the show by storm, bringing flavor and color to life in his cakes on television, and ultimately won the show. His big win caught the attention of the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour, where he came on board as a celebrity chef and gained recognition for his culinary creations. He has since been featured on a number of different shows and has authored A Sweet and Savory Union to showcase his love of blurring the lines of sweet and savory. Dana comes to Diabetes Academy with not only a passion for food, but also the sensibility and insight that life is all about moderation.
– See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/in-my-community/diabetes-expos/minneapolis/grand-tasting-area.html#sthash.a3udpfYv.dpuf
Food Processors and Ingredient Suppliers Study School Lunch Programs for Innovative Ideas
Processors and ingredient suppliers need to collaborate in creating meals that are nutritious and desirable for this picky and often overweight demographic.
School lunch nutrition programs come in as many forms and approaches as there are school districts. But one constant is that budgets are always tight. However, processors who participate in the efforts to better feed our children can find satisfaction in not only doing the right thing but in creating products for a significantly large demographic. Case in point: The New York school system alone serves more than 1 million meals per day.
“Schools meals are expected to be universally acceptable to all students, so we have push back from both ends of the spectrum,” says Twyla Leigh, nutritionist for Collier County Public Schools in Naples, Fla. “They’re either ‘too healthy’ or not organic/vegan/scratch-cooking enough.”
Leigh admits school nutrition professionals realize that “one size does not fit all” and continue to seek out manufacturers of better tasting, healthy options, even as they are “challenged with labor issues, food safety concerns and balanced budgets.”
“School nutrition programs are expected to be self-supporting, paying for all food, labor, uniforms, equipment, water, electricity, gas, trash pick-up, payroll and human resource services.”
That according to Leigh and colleagues Terri Whitacre, director of school food and nutrition services for the Charlotte County Public School System in Punta Gorda, Fla., and Stacey Wykoski, foodservice director for the Jenison/Hudsonville School Food Service group in Jenison, Mich.
The three provide recommendations that manufacturers “should avoid MSG, high-fructose corn syrup, nitrates and items that are known to be issues in the food supply.” They also believe that GMOs are going to be a “big topic” moving forward. “Manufacturers also need to take the lead in better food labels: sugar listed on a label should refer to added sugars, not natural and added combined,” they note.
Food allergens also will become more challenging with the increase in children who have food intolerances or allergies, says Leigh. “Gluten and peanuts are big issues with school-age children. Being involved with national ingredient and food label access, even with scanners and a more usable way to obtain this information, to link it to the school menus would be a huge victory for manufacturers, school nutrition and the children.”
Waste not
There are huge challenges facing any program designed to feed wholesome, desirable meals five days per week to hundreds of kids at a time in three or more 30 minute blocs around the noon hour. The biggest, perhaps, is an endless schoolyard tug-of-war between the cost of production and the staggering cost of plate waste.
New Farm to School curriculum puts high school students in charge of tapping into healthy, local foods
MINNEAPOLIS – The new Farm to School Youth Leadership Curriculum released today connects high school students with local foods and farmers, while giving them a leadership role in developing their school’s Farm to School program. The first of its type, the curriculum was developed for 11th and 12th grade students by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and takes students through the tasks of evaluating school lunch menus, partnering with food service staff, talking to farmers and sourcing local foods—all while fulfilling national and Minnesota curriculum requirements.
“The curriculum was designed not only to teach students about their local food system and connect them with farmers in their community, but also to give them the opportunity to take ownership over their school’s menu,” said IATP’s Senior Program Associate Erin McKee VanSlooten. “We know that despite the rapid growth of Farm to School programs around the country, the legwork of connecting with farmers and sourcing local foods can often be difficult for school staff on top of their day-to-day work. Our curriculum puts that work in students’ hands, while teaching them about their local food scene.”
The Farm to School Youth Leadership Curriculum is comprised of six lessons that can be taught consecutively over a semester or as single lessons or activities to complement other classes. Each lesson contains a lesson summary, facilitator preparation notes, activities, worksheets, recommended optional work and further resources for students and teachers. Lessons include themes such as “School Lunch: How Does it Really Work?” and “Communicating with Producers of Local Foods.”
Natasha Mortensen, agriculture educator and FFA advisor at Morris Area High School, helped write and develop the curriculum from activities she created for her own classroom.
“My students have taken ownership of the Farm to School program in our school, and have developed leadership and team building skills as they completed tasks in learning about our local food system and seasonal availability,” said Mortenson. “This curriculum is both about implementing Farm to School and growing young leaders that understand how to build a program from the ground up.”
Development of the Farm to School Youth Leadership Curriculum was a collaborative process, including consultation with educators, food service professionals and Farm to School experts, supported by the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the John P. and Eleanor R. Yackel Foundation, the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
“The Center for Prevention has a long history of investment in healthy food environments promotion, in particular the Farm to School programs across Minnesota.” said Janelle Waldock, director at the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. “Programs linking fresh fruits and vegetables to schools can have an enormous impact on student health, learning outcomes and lifelong dietary habits, not to mention positive economic impact for local economies. Empowering students to lead the program themselves, will ensure continued positive outcomes on into the next generation.”
Find the curriculum and associated resources available online at www.iatp.org/f2s-curriculum.
By
Published March 4, 2014
COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION STANDARDS FOR NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH AND BREAKFAST PROGRAMS
VIRGINIA A. STALLINGS (Chair),
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania
KAREN WEBER CULLEN,
Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, TX
ROSEMARY DEDERICHS,
Minneapolis Public Schools, Special School District No. 1, MN
MARY KAY FOX,
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Cambridge, MA
LISA HARNACK,
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, MN
GAIL G. HARRISON,
School of Public Health, Center for Health Policy Research, University of California, Los Angeles
MARY ARLINDA HILL,
Jackson Public Schools, MS
HELEN H. JENSEN,
Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames
RONALD E. KLEINMAN,
Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
GEORGE P. McCABE,
College of Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
SUZANNE P. MURPHY,
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii, Honolulu
ANGELA M. ODOMS-YOUNG,
Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL
YEONHWA PARK,
Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
MARY JO TUCKWELL,
inTEAM Associates, Ashland, WI
Study Staff
CHRISTINE TAYLOR, Study Director
SHEILA MOATS, Associate Program Officer
JULIA HOGLUND, Research Associate
HEATHER BREINER, Program Associate
CAROL WEST SUITOR, Consultant Subject Matter Expert and Writer
ANTON BANDY, Financial Officer
GERALDINE KENNEDO, Administrative Assistant,
Food and Nutrition Board
LINDA D. MEYERS, Director,
Food and Nutrition Board
From preschool to high school, programs aim to close Minnesota’s STEM achievement gap
Hands-on educational experiences are exposing low-income students in Minnesota to the concepts and opportunities found in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.
Published January 30, 2015 | January 2015 issue
As the industries fueling the global economy grow more technical and complex, the educational foundation of the U.S. workforce—particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)— plays an ever more central role in our nation’s competitive position and the employability of U.S. workers themselves.
In Minnesota, the educational pipeline supplying part of this workforce has sprung a leak: Many low-income children, who account for 38 percent of the state’s K-12 public school population, are underachieving in STEM.[1] In fact, compared to other states that lie entirely within the Ninth Federal Reserve District, Minnesota holds the dubious distinction of having the largest discrepancy between low-income students and their higher-income peers in several measures of STEM-related academic performance.[2]
To better prepare these students for the future, some educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit companies in Minnesota are implementing programs that are intended to kindle a passion for STEM learning, from preschool onward, and help close the state’s STEM achievement gap.
Measuring the gap
Gaps in academic achievement in math and science between the state’s low-income students and their higher-income peers emerge early and persist through high school, according to Minnesota Compass, a social-indicator project of St. Paul-based Wilder Research. Over the 2012–2014 period, 41 percent of low-income students achieved the fifth grade science standards established by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), compared to 75 percent of their higher-income peers. A similar gap appears in eighth grade math performance over roughly the same period (2011–2014): 39 percent of low-income students met the state standards, compared to 71 percent of higher-income students. And in another measure, 24 percent of low-income high school students in 2012 tested as “able” in STEM subjects, compared to 45 percent of higher-income students.[3], [4] Despite this gap in academic achievement, low-income elementary and high school students reported a greater interest in science or STEM in general than their higher-income peers.
“We have this paradox of low-income kids having an interest in STEM subjects, but we’re just not able to turn that interest into achievement,” says Allison Liuzzi, a research scientist at Wilder Research.
The achievement gap could leave low-income students unprepared to enter the workforce, especially in STEM careers. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Minnesota had approximately 340,000 STEM jobs in in 2012, or roughly 12 percent of all jobs in the state. DEED projects that by 2022, employers will need enough STEM workers to fill approximately 108,000 replacement and new jobs.[5] While that figure equates to only about one-ninth of the approximately 900,000 total replacement and new jobs it projects for Minnesota by 2022, DEED expects employers will still require workers who display problem-solving abilities and other qualities associated with STEM work, even if the jobs they fill don’t fit the STEM definition that DEED used in its analysis.[6]
“There’s a concern that we’re not actually generating the number of people we need who are qualified in STEM, or even preparing those who have an interest in STEM to be able to pursue STEM careers,” says Liuzzi.
Levels and roles
Each level of Minnesota’s K-12 educational infrastructure—the MDE, the school districts, and the teachers—influences STEM instruction in distinct but connected ways. The MDE, which sets academic standards and credit requirements for all students enrolled in public K-12 schools in Minnesota, is enhancing STEM instruction by including more technical subject matter in the academic standards it sets for each grade, such as the requirement that students use geospatial technologies in social studies. That could mean, for instance, that an eleventh grader studying U.S. history would have to use mapping software such as ArcGIS or Google Earth to generate complementary analysis for a report.
“We’ve done this with all five major subjects—math, science, English language arts, social studies, and the arts,” says Doug Paulson, STEM integration specialist for the MDE.
Schools then take the academic standards set by MDE and create curricula in order to convey the lessons, skills, and knowledge necessary for students to progress from one grade to the next. The teachers, who instruct students in these courses, then design classes to best convey the subject matter.
“The curriculum is the roadmap for getting students from what they are thinking now to what we want them to master by the end of that grade level,” says Paulson, adding that there has been a recent shift in instruction toward integrating seemingly discrete subjects so students can begin to make connections between disciplines. “Schools and teachers can enhance STEM learning as they create this roadmap and develop lesson plans.”
STEM at three stages
As of 2011, nearly 100 nonprofit organizations, for-profit corporations, university departments, and school districts offered or underwrote programs to enhance STEM instruction in Minnesota, from preschool through high school.[7] While most of these programs are available to the general student population, some are directed toward students from low-income families. Described below are three STEM programs that reach or cater to low-income students at three different age levels: pre-kindergarten, elementary school, and high school.
Starting STEM education early in life
Starting in 2012, Minneapolis Public Schools, through its Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) programming, began offering a course designed to help three- to five-year-olds exercise their problem-solving skills through exploration, discovery, and play. Called “Preschool STEM,” the 19-week course explores each of the STEM subjects through age-appropriate activities, such as investigating different shapes and patterns to sharpen skills of prediction; using Legos, blocks, and ramps to build, evaluate, and improve models; and experimenting with tools like scissors, crayons, and tape.
But what makes this course unique is its inclusion of parents in the classroom. For the first hour of each weekly, two-hour class, parents engage in the STEM activities alongside their children. The aim of the parental involvement is to enrich the kids’ experience while helping parents develop ideas of STEM-oriented activities to follow at home. During the second hour of class, the kids continue to play and learn, under the supervision of a licensed early childhood teacher, while the parents split off to participate in a facilitated child-development discussion with a licensed parent educator.[8]
“Little children are born problem solvers,” says Maureen J. Seiwert, executive director of early childhood education for Minneapolis Public Schools. “They’re always investigating and trying to figure out how something works. This class gives us the opportunity, in a more formal way, to really help develop these cognitive skills and to answer some of the questions parents may have about helping their kids at home.”
All ECFE courses, including the Preschool STEM course, are available on a sliding fee scale to residents of Minneapolis, and no families are turned away because of an inability to pay. Approximately 80 children were enrolled in the course in its debut year, when it was offered at three sites. Last year and this year, ECFE has offered the course at two sites and the enrollment has stood at 50–60 children. Across all ECFE courses, a majority of children—54 percent—were from low-income families.
Exploring STEM through “real world” engineering
STARBASE Minnesota, a St. Paul-based nonprofit organization, promotes STEM skills by presenting a challenge to elementary school students: engineer a human mission to Mars. Working in small teams at STARBASE Minnesota’s technology-rich facility, fourth and fifth graders participate in a five-day, progressive curriculum that guides them through a range of STEM-based lessons. The students apply science and engineering concepts, integrated with math, as they use technology such as robotics, vacuum pumps, wind tunnels, engineering-design software, and 3-D printers. Licensed STARBASE instructors, who specialize in STEM, guide students through the problem solving needed to get their rockets through the Mars atmosphere, land their rovers safely, design and power their Mars colonies, and test their prototypes, all while linking the students’ work to a wide range of STEM careers. Scientists and engineers from 17 local STEM-oriented corporations that partner with STARBASE also participate by giving interactive demonstrations of how STEM is used in their industries.
STARBASE’s aim is for students to complete the program with a feeling of success in STEM, a strong understanding of what it’s like to be a scientist or engineer, and the motivation to pursue more STEM learning.
“We want to inspire kids in STEM by providing them with engaging and immersive experiences that would be difficult to replicate in the classroom,” says Kim Van Wie, executive director of STARBASE Minnesota.
Approximately 3,500 students from six school districts across the Minneapolis-St. Paul region attend STARBASE Minnesota each year; since its founding in 1993, the organization has served more than 49,000 students. And although the program is open to all, the organization’s target demographic is students from underserved backgrounds. Last year, 63 percent of students who attended STARBASE Minnesota were from low-income families. Historically, the average is 79 percent.
“Many students come to us with a limited view of the possibilities in STEM, especially engineering,” Van Wie says, noting that the STARBASE Minnesota program is free to schools. “Our goal is to help students see how successful they can be in STEM by conducting the exciting work of real scientists and engineers. We hope to inspire students to pursue more STEM throughout their middle school, high school, and post-secondary years and to realize the vast opportunities in STEM that await them in the future.”
On-the-job STEM learning
What’s the best way to jumpstart a young adult’s career in the information technology (IT) field? To Genesys Works, a national nonprofit organization that operates an office out of St. Paul, the answer is clear: with a job.
Genesys Works trains minority and low-income twelfth graders in the basics of IT and then places them at local businesses to complete a paid, year-long internship in a role that requires problem solving and interpersonal communication, such as PC deployment, desktop support, or help desk operations. The program provides students with an employment record; exposes them to soft skills necessary to successfully work in a professional environment; and, critically, teaches them essentials of the technical know-how that a career in IT requires—skills like the fundamentals of hardware, software, networks, and information security.
“We’ve found that the experience of succeeding in a professional work environment really helps our students feel that there is a future for them in this type of work,” says Jeff Tollefson, executive director of the Twin Cities office of Genesys Works. “They begin to connect the dots to see that in order to get one of those jobs full-time, they need to take the appropriate steps after high school.”
According to Tollefson, 95 percent of their interns attend some form of post-secondary school. Over the course of their senior year, they all convene biweekly to discuss their post-high school plans with Genesys Works’ counselors. During these meetings, the counselors talk to students about how to choose the right college and also provide help in filling out financing and scholarship applications.
Since its Twin Cities operation opened in 2008, Genesys Works has grown from placing an initial class of 11 student interns to placing 220 in 2014; historically, 90 percent of these students come from low-income families. Each intern works about 20 hours per week and earns $9,000–$10,000 for the year. The roster of businesses that employ interns from Genesys Works—47 to date—includes companies such as Target, 3M, and UnitedHealth Group.
“When we find students who have motivation and we connect them with meaningful opportunities, we see that magic can happen,” says Tollefson. “A lot of the people in the STEM pipeline might come from families whose parents are already working in a STEM field. But not our students. This job is a pretty life-changing opportunity for them.”
Not just a matter of equity
According to Wilder Research’s Liuzzi, the inquisitiveness that lends itself to a STEM career must be nurtured throughout the educational experience, for all students. Doing so is not just a matter of equity but is imperative for the future competitiveness of the U.S. economy.
“We know that there is a lot of opportunity in STEM, particularly as we look at occupational projections over the next decade or so,” she says. “We’re going to have a lot of positions to fill, and if we don’t close those gaps in achievement now, we’re not preparing ourselves to fill the jobs that we know we’re going to have down the road.”
STE(A)M for allIn many school districts, STEM-intensive programs are only available through optional enrichment classes or specialized magnet schools. But in one Minnesota district, STEM-intensive instruction is now a stage in every student’s K-12 career. In 2013, Austin Public Schools in Austin, Minn., opened I.J. Holton Intermediate School, a STEAM school (the “A” stands for “arts”) for all of the fifth and sixth graders in the system. In addition to teaching the core academic standards established by the Minnesota Department of Education, instructors at Holton follow a STEAM-heavy curriculum that challenges students to approach their schoolwork as an engineer would: with creativity, persistence, collaboration, systems thinking, communication, and ethical considerations. “These are all habits of mind inherent in engineers,” says John Alberts, executive director of educational services for Austin Public Schools, “and they are very much STEM ways of thinking.” Nearly 60 percent of the students who attend Austin Public Schools are from low-income families. For the stakeholders who championed the construction of Holton, access for all students was a top priority. “Because of the demographic makeup of our student body, we felt it was important for all students to be exposed to this curriculum,” says Alberts. “We didn’t want it to be a school of choice or a choice program within the school itself. Ultimately, every fifth and sixth grade student who goes to public school in Austin will be exposed to the STEAM curriculum.” |
A one-stop shop for STEM onlineParents, students, teachers, and businesses can learn more about Minnesota-based STEM educational resources by visiting www.mn-stem.com, a newly launched web site created by the Minnesota Department of Education, Boston Scientific, and the Minnesota High Tech Association. The online information portal aims to be a one-stop shop for all things STEM education, providing content such as profiles of STEM enrichment programs and information on connecting teachers who have STEM resource requirements with businesses that can meet those needs. |
[1] Throughout this article and its sidebars, students are considered low-income if they are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the eligibility threshold for free school lunch for the 2014–2015 school year for a family of four is a household income of $23,850 or less; for reduced-price lunch, the income threshold is $44,123.
[2] The National Center for Educational Statistics provides state-level data on students’ performance in the National Assessment of Educational Progress. See more at nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states.
[3] “Able” students were those who met science and math benchmarks, as established by ACT, Inc., the organization that develops the ACT college readiness assessment. ACT, Inc., considers students to be lower-income if they have a self-reported family income of less than $50,000, a threshold that captures all of the students eligible for free- or reduced-price lunch but possibly includes some students who are not eligible.
[4] For more information about the academic achievement gap in STEM, visit www.mncompass.org/education/stem/disparities/income-status.
[5] DEED uses the Workforce Information Council’s definition of STEM jobs, which categorizes them as “Core” occupations or “Health Care” occupations. For more on this, visit www.labor.idaho.gov/publications/Exploring_High-Tech_Industry.pdf.
[6] DEED employment outlook projections can be viewed at apps.deed.state.mn.us/lmi/projections.
[7] To learn more about the programs available in Minnesota, visit www.starbasemn.org and click on “STEM Inventory of Local Programs.”
[8] For more information about ECFE and its STEM course, visit ecfe.mpls.k12.mn.us/general_information.
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)
During the school year, over 312,000 Minnesota children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. However, when the school year ends for the summer, these children may not have access to the nutritious meals they need.
The Summer Food Service Program provides free meals to children 18 and under to fill this gap.
Looking for a free meal near you?
Finding Free Summer Meals for Kids Is EasyUse the Summer Meal Map to find a free meal site near you, or call or text 612.516.3663 for locations!
Español
Para información sobre las comidas de verano para niños, visite el sitio de internet http://summerlunchmap.2harvest.org/, llame al 612.516.3663, o envíe un mensaje de texto con la dirección de su hohar al 612.516.3663.
Soomaali
Wixii akhbaar la xiriirta cuduntada lacag la’aanta ah ee caruurta loogu talagalay ee dugsiyada xiliga xagaaga waxaad ka eegtaa http://summerlunchmap.2harvest.org/, ama soo wac 612.516.3663, ama cinwaanka aad ku nooshahay fariin ahaan ugu soo dir lambarkaan 612.516.3663.
Hmoob
Yog xav paub txog kev noj mov dawb thaum lub caij ntuj so rau cov me nyuam, mus saib rau ntawm http://summerlunchmap.2harvest.org/, hu 612.516.3663, los sis sau koj qhov chaw nyob hauv xov tooj xa mus rau 612.516.3663.
Interested in starting or expanding an SFSP?
Becoming a sponsor of the Summer Food Service Program allows you to make a difference in your community and provide free meals to kids.
Minnesota
- Visit Minnesota Department of Education SFSP website
- Contact Jenny Butcher, SFSP Coordinator with the Minnesota Department of Education at 800.366.8922.
Wisconsin
- Visit Wisconsin Department of Education SFSP website
- Contact Amy Kolano, SFSP Coordinator with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction at 608.266.7124.
SFSP sponsor grants
Thanks to our partners and supporters, Second Harvest Heartland is thrilled to be able to offer grant funding to new and experienced SFSP sponsors. Although Second Harvest Heartland’s 2016 grant application is now closed, please check back in spring 2017 for summer 2017 funding opportunities. With questions on the grant application or process, contact Child Hunger staff at 651.403.6060.
Best Practices & Tips for Sponsors
In an effort to support sponsors, Second Harvest Heartland has compiled a list of resources to facilitate a SFSP sponsorship. Click here to find creative ways in which previous sponsors have used grant funding, as well as links to futher information on best practices
Outreach materials
Second Harvest Heartland has outreach materials available for distribution in order to increase the participation at meal sites in your community. Outreach materials do not have year specific information and can be distributed multiple summers. To request or see outreach materials available, click on the link below.
Outreach poster
Second Harvest Heartland has an 11″x17″ poster available for download. (Note: Download the pdf file to the computer and print poster from file source in order to print in the correct size and dimensions.)
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