ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION School Nutrition Programs Newsletter Wednesday, March 13, 2019

What's on your Calendar?

Upcoming Trainings! 3/21 Webinar: USDA Foods 2019 myFOODS Webinar Training  3/26 Webinar: Starting Your Afterschool Care Snack Program, Part 2 3/27 Webinar: Farm to Summer Week Challenge  3/28 Webinar:USDA Foods 2019 myFOODS Webinar Training  3/29 Tucson: Arizona School Garden Sustainability Workshop 4/2 Webinar: Staying on Track 4/3 Mesa: Arizona School Garden Sustainability Summit Day 1 4/4 Mesa: Arizona School Garden Sustainability Summit Day 2 4/4 Phoenix: USDA Foods 2019 myFOODS System Training 4/5 Prescott: Arizona School Garden Sustainability Workshop  4/8 Webinar: Overview of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) for School Year 2019-2020 4/10 Phoenix: Allies for Childhood Hunger Solutions

Click Here to view all scheduled School Nutrition and School Food Program Training Opportunities

Messages from USDA

Congratulations, 2019 Champions of Breakfast Awardees!  Monday, March 4 – Friday, March 8 was National School Breakfast Week. USDA - Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has recognized winners of the 2019 Champions of Breakfast awards. USDA- FNS received over 40 nominations this year, and their review team had a truly hard time choosing between the amazing school breakfast programs! Please see the Arizona 2019 Champions of Breakfast awardees , below. These winners will receive a school breakfast banner and certificate as a token of appreciation. USDA-FNS thanks you so much for your work supporting the School Breakfast Program! Congratulations Arizona SFAs! Implementation of Innovative School Breakfast Models Balsz School District Successful Startup of a School Breakfast Program Antelope Union High School District Buckeye Elementary School District

A Note from School Nutrition Programs

Thank you for celebrating National School Breakfast Week! Many SFAs entered ADE's NSBW Photo Contest! This was a fun and exciting way to share awesome School Breakfast photos all around Arizona. Congratulations to our three NSBW Photo Contest winners! These entries were chosen because they showcased involvement of students and community members in NSBW celebrations and/or high nutritional quality and variety of the foods promoted as part of NSBW. Thank you to all who entered! Visit the ADE School Nutrition Blog for more about the winners.

Queen Creek Unified District

Dysart Unified District

Portable Practical Education Preparation, Inc. PPEP TEC High Schools

USDA Foods/DoD Fresh This applies to all LEAs participating in USDA Foods and/or Department of Defense Fresh Produce Program

Register Your School Garden!

Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NSK7BNQ

Arizona School Garden Sustainability Summit  This event is sponsored through a Specialty Crop Block Grant in support of sustaining school garden programs. ADE has committed through their grant project to build school gardens and to provide professional development to garden leaders in need of training on best practices around school garden programs. ADE is basing the framework for these workshops on research that encourages schools garden leaders to 1) seek professional development in garden techniques & training 2) build an active garden committee 3) seek sustainable funding 4) integrate the garden within core curriculum like math and science. ADE also believes that school gardens are necessary to expose children to where food comes from, which makes them better life-long consumers of fresh food and also future agricultural leaders.

Click here to register for the Arizona School Garden Sustainability Summit (Day 1 & Day 2)

2019 Farm to Summer Week Challenge (June 10th - 14th, 2019) Farm to Summer is an initiative of the Health and Nutrition Services Division within the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). To encourage nutrition-focused activities and enhance meal quality through the service of locally sourced, fresh and healthy meals, HNS challenges SFSP Sponsors to join the Farm to Summer Week Challenge.  TASTE ARIZONA Serve a minimum of three local meal components (e.g., grain, dairy, fresh fruit, vegetable, or meat/ meat alternate) during the week of June 10th-14th to encourage your community to eat Arizona grown, fresh and healthy food. TEACH ARIZONA Host a minimum of two educational activities during June 10th-14th. Educational activities that educate children about Arizona's rich agriculture scene and vast produce availability. CONNECT ARIZONA Share a minimum of one social media post on Facebook, Instagram or post to your website about your Farm to Summer Celebration(s). Using the Hashtags #AZf2S #SummerFreshAZ Register on the Event Management System (EMS) by clicking here!

Partner Announcements

None at this time.

Featured Resource!

It’s National Nutrition Month! Healthy Eating With MyPlate , an informational text from Team Nutrition is designed to help teachers incorporate nutrition education into 6 th grade classes. The handout covers vocabulary words like ”nutrient,” “dietary fiber,” “vitamins,” and more! This resource is colorful and is a great way to incorporate health, science, language arts, and social studies in a fun, interactive lesson!

As always, if you have any questions or need additional information or assistance, please feel free to contact your School Nutrition Program Specialist. We can also be reached at our group email: ADESchoolNutrition@azed.gov.   Click here to subscribe to these weekly School Nutrition Program Updates!