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Eat a carrot or a candy bar. Eat a sweet potato or drink a sweetened soda.
These are choices parents and children have to make every day to ensure a healthy lifestyle. Three Shawnee elementary schools have helped educate parents and students about making healthier choices, and for that they were honored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Horace Mann, Jefferson and Will Rogers each received Gold School certifications from the HealthierUS School Challenge. Men and women from Washington, D.C., Dallas, Texas and Oklahoma City came to Shawnee to honor the three schools at Horace Mann. Students at the school got to celebrate the honor.
All three schools were given awards from the Oklahoma Department of Education, along with the USDA award.
Susan States, a mother of a third grade student at Jefferson, said eating healthier is good for her son.
“It makes me feel good that the school offers to provide nutritious meals for the kids,” States said. “He’s definitely more aware of nutrition. He eats breakfast and lunch every day. He eats healthier.”
The ceremony featured a student skit and song by two groups, along with a visit from Power Panther.
Deborah Taylor, director of school nutrition services for Shawnee Public Schools, said the district decided it was necessary to give students healthy choices for lunch.
“It’s teaching kids how to take foods we like and make them into a healthy combination,” she said.
Dr. Janey Thornton, USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services deputy under secretary, said the staff of the district and students made a commitment to this project and made it stand out. She, along with Taylor, presented the awards to Susan Field, principal at Horace Mann; John Wilson, principal at Will Rogers; and Serena Ward, counselor at Jefferson.
“You all are now eating healthier foods, you are getting healthy education and you are exercising,” Thornton told the students, school personnel and others. “I really congratulate each and every one of you. You have gone above and beyond to ensure Shawnee Public Schools has everything they need.”
Dee Baker, executive director for Oklahoma Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs, remembered when students didn’t have the choices they do now.
“You didn’t have choices back then,” she said, recalling what she experienced with eating meals at school. “We used to have a choice of going home, taking lunch or eating at the cafeteria.”
Schools then only had a single choice of what to eat, Baker added.
“I have all the hope in the world that with the help of Mrs. Taylor, that she will get many more schools involved in this program,” she said.
Marilyn Bradford, superintendent for the district, said she was happy Shawnee received the award.
“To my knowledge, we’re only the second district in Oklahoma to receive this award,” she said. “We’re privileged and pleased to receive this award.”
Mayor Linda Peterson said these awards are a great way for Shawnee to be put on the map.
“You make me very, very proud to represent you,” she said. “You need to be commended for your hard work. Thank you very much.”
Field said afterward, she was excited about the award when she found out in August.
“I was pleased, I was very pleased,” she said, before talking about how the cafeteria staff at each school worked for these awards.
“It’s something they take a lot of pride in and that’s good,” Field said. “There’s nothing they won’t do.”
Did You Know?
• The HealthierUS School Challenge was established to recognize schools that are creating healthier school environments through their promotion of good nutrition and physical activity. Four levels of superior performance are awarded: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Gold of Distinction.
A school must:
• provide nutrition education to students
• provide students with physical education and the opportunity for physical activity
• maintain an average daily participation of school enrollment for reimbursable lunches of at least 62 percent for Bronze or 70 percent for Silver and * Information obtained from the HealthierUS School Challenge Web site at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/HealthierUS/index.html.
Eat a carrot or a candy bar. Eat a sweet potato or drink a sweetened soda.
These are choices parents and children have to make every day to ensure a healthy lifestyle. Three Shawnee elementary schools have helped educate parents and students about making healthier choices, and for that they were honored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Horace Mann, Jefferson and Will Rogers each received Gold School certifications from the HealthierUS School Challenge. Men and women from Washington, D.C., Dallas, Texas and Oklahoma City came to Shawnee to honor the three schools at Horace Mann. Students at the school got to celebrate the honor.
All three schools were given awards from the Oklahoma Department of Education, along with the USDA award.
Susan States, a mother of a third grade student at Jefferson, said eating healthier is good for her son.
“It makes me feel good that the school offers to provide nutritious meals for the kids,” States said. “He’s definitely more aware of nutrition. He eats breakfast and lunch every day. He eats healthier.”
The ceremony featured a student skit and song by two groups, along with a visit from Power Panther.
Deborah Taylor, director of school nutrition services for Shawnee Public Schools, said the district decided it was necessary to give students healthy choices for lunch.
“It’s teaching kids how to take foods we like and make them into a healthy combination,” she said.
Dr. Janey Thornton, USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services deputy under secretary, said the staff of the district and students made a commitment to this project and made it stand out. She, along with Taylor, presented the awards to Susan Field, principal at Horace Mann; John Wilson, principal at Will Rogers; and Serena Ward, counselor at Jefferson.
“You all are now eating healthier foods, you are getting healthy education and you are exercising,” Thornton told the students, school personnel and others. “I really congratulate each and every one of you. You have gone above and beyond to ensure Shawnee Public Schools has everything they need.”
Dee Baker, executive director for Oklahoma Department of Education Child Nutrition Programs, remembered when students didn’t have the choices they do now.
“You didn’t have choices back then,” she said, recalling what she experienced with eating meals at school. “We used to have a choice of going home, taking lunch or eating at the cafeteria.”
Schools then only had a single choice of what to eat, Baker added.
“I have all the hope in the world that with the help of Mrs. Taylor, that she will get many more schools involved in this program,” she said.
Marilyn Bradford, superintendent for the district, said she was happy Shawnee received the award.
“To my knowledge, we’re only the second district in Oklahoma to receive this award,” she said. “We’re privileged and pleased to receive this award.”
Mayor Linda Peterson said these awards are a great way for Shawnee to be put on the map.
“You make me very, very proud to represent you,” she said. “You need to be commended for your hard work. Thank you very much.”
Field said afterward, she was excited about the award when she found out in August.
“I was pleased, I was very pleased,” she said, before talking about how the cafeteria staff at each school worked for these awards.
“It’s something they take a lot of pride in and that’s good,” Field said. “There’s nothing they won’t do.”
Did You Know?
• The HealthierUS School Challenge was established to recognize schools that are creating healthier school environments through their promotion of good nutrition and physical activity. Four levels of superior performance are awarded: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Gold of Distinction.
A school must:
• provide nutrition education to students
• provide students with physical education and the opportunity for physical activity
• maintain an average daily participation of school enrollment for reimbursable lunches of at least 62 percent for Bronze or 70 percent for Silver and * Information obtained from the HealthierUS School Challenge Web site at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/HealthierUS/index.html.
