Posted by Sherry W. Schweitzer, U.S. Department of Education on August 30, 2016
Ed. Note: This is a cross post from Homeroom, the official blog of the U.S. Department of Education. You can find the original post here.
Reading over the summer makes students more prepared when the new school year begins. That’s why the U.S. Department of Education (ED) makes an annual call to action that encourages more reading time out of school, especially over the summer months. Two events held in August celebrated reading and physical activity and aimed to increase awareness about the critical importance of summer learning.
Posted by Rodney K. Taylor, Director, Nutrition Services Department, Riverside Unified School District, Riverside, CA on March 25, 2013
We’ve never been satisfied with meeting minimum standards. We started our own school food revolution by eliminating sodas and junk food from our cafeterias, setting up school gardens, and purchasing fruits and vegetables from local and regional farmers before the new school meals came into play.
Three delicious recipes -- Sweet Potato & Apple Salad with Lime Vinaigrette, Summer Ratatouille, and Tuscan White Bean Salad with Roasted Garlic -- from Vermont's school chefs have inspired us to bring school meals home!
Today, Rachael Ray joined First Lady Michelle Obama and 400 elementary school students in Clinton, Mississippi to celebrate the new, healthier school meals being served in cafeterias across the country. Two teams -- cafeteria chef Fannie and celebrity chef Sunny Anderson versus cafeteria chef Wendy and celebrity Ryan Scott -- competed in a Let's Move! Cafeteria Cook-off to make the most delicious, healthy school lunch.
When Chef Cat Cora heard the First Lady’s call to action to chefs, she took it to heart. “We want every school in the nation to have a chef partner, a set of kids who call you theirs, who believe that you care about nothing more than how they grow up and how they feel. The more grownups who are working on behalf of our kids, the stronger they’ll be,” said the First Lady at the launch of the Chefs Move to Schools program two years ago.
As a concerned parent, Chef Cora decided to join the movement. She signed up for Chefs Move to Schools and got involved in her son’s school. She has since done cooking demos for the students and faculty, taught nutrition lessons, and worked with the principal to put a cafeteria in the school. Her motivation and effort created positive change within the school system, and demonstrate the impact parents and professionals can have.
April showers bring May flowers. That’s how the old adage goes. But instead of waiting for the flowers to bloom, this May bring your family together with an activity that is perfect whether the sun is shining or it’s pouring down rain – we're talking about gardening of course! Families, schools and communities across the country can all take part in our newest initiative to get our children healthy. We’re growing our own produce and we want you to join us.
Earlier this week, First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed schools that met the First Lady’s goal to double the number of participants in the HealthierUS School Challenge in a year to the White House to celebrate their achievement.
Posted by Kevin Concannon, USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services on October 18, 2011
Watch First Lady Michelle Obama's full remarks here.
Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the USDA blog.
Given that many children eat as many as two meals a day at school, it’s pretty clear that schools have a vital role to play if we’re going to combat the disturbing rise in childhood obesity we’ve seen in recent years. Just as clear is that schools participating in USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge honored at the White House this week demonstrate the kind of deep commitment needed to create and maintain a healthy school environment. These schools are leaders that set an example for schools across the country.
Ed. Note: Cross-posted from the White House blog.
First Lady Michelle Obama and White House Chefs join children from Bancroft and Tubman Elementary Schools to harvest vegetables during the third annual White House kitchen garden fall harvest Oct. 5, 2011. Mrs. Obama planted the White House kitchen garden to help connect kids with the food they eat – an essential component of her Let’s Move! initiative. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Today, First Lady Michelle Obama was joined by a big group of helpers for the third annual White House kitchen garden fall harvest. Students from Bancroft and Tubman Elementary Schools got their hands dirty picking produce from the garden and then had a chance to try some of the vegetables that they picked on grilled garden pizza.
Posted by Dr. Judy Palfrey, Executive Director of Let's Move on October 5, 2011
On October 3, Katie O'Malley, the First Lady of Maryland welcomed 20 chefs to the Governors Mansion in Annapolis. They ranged in age from 4 to 14 and were happy to take on the task of preparing Maryland grown produce into a special treat for the crowd who had gathered to celebrate ChopChop Maryland.
The best way to get your kids interested in eating healthy food is get them involved in preparing healthy food. Our friends at Chop Chop magazine paid a visit to the White House kitchen recently where their kid chefs grilled our chefs about what they like to cook – and what they like to eat.
Posted by Karen Duncan, National Co-chair for Cooking Up Change on June 7, 2011
What does school lunch look like when students are in charge? As high school culinary students recently reminded me, a student-designed lunch is fresh, healthy and full of flavor.
For the past year, I have served with Christie Vilsack as National Honorary Co-Chair of Cooking up Change, a competition presented by Healthy Schools Campaign that challenges aspiring chefs studying culinary arts in our nation’s high schools to create a school lunch that meets high nutrition standards, draws from ingredients commonly available to food service, and can be easily prepared in a school kitchen.
Posted by Aaron Lavallee, USDA Office of Communications on May 25, 2011
Every now and then we come across a great story of people making change in their communities and so it was on the next stop in the Recipes for Healthy Kids competition. Tribal communities are focusing a lot of attention on ending the epidemic of childhood obesity in Indian Country and attention and credit is due to Monument Valley High School in Kayenta, Arizona. Located on the Navajo Nation, they are the only school district in Indian Country to make it to the semi-finals of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition.
Posted by Rich Lucas, Office of Research Analysis, USDA Food and Nutrition Service on May 18, 2011
Who says a delicious classic can’t also make a healthful lunch? On Tuesday, students at Van Buren Middle School in Kettering, Ohio served judges in the First Lady’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition their Chicken Alfredo with a Twist, an updated take on Fettucine Alfredo that leaves out extra fat and boosts nutrition with whole grain pasta. Van Buren students Graham, Jonathan, Shawnrica and Savannah worked with chef Rachel Tilford and Kettering school professionals to create a great dish – one of 15 semi-finalist recipes nationwide in the R4HK whole grain category.
