Safe Routes to School Community Meeting

The Moose Lake Active Living Coalition and the Moose Lake School Wellness Committee are partnering with the Minnesota Department of Health, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the State Safe Routes to School Network and local partners for a Safe routes to School (SRTS) planning workshop!

WHO: Parents, Teachers, Students, School Administration, City Public Works, City Planners, Community Members, etc.

WHAT: A meeting to develop expertise in SRTS planning, identify action steps for the next 12 months, and position Moose Lake to be competitive for funding to support SRTS (available June 2011!)

WHERE: Moose Lake School's Media Center

WHEN: Tuesday, May 3, 2011 from 4-7:30pm. Dinner is provided!

WHY: Last spring, the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission completed a SRTS Community Assessment. This assessment took feedback from parents, school administration, students, etc. about the walkability and bikeability to and from school, as well as the barriers. From the information and an 'on the ground assessment', they identified successes and barriers to walking and biking to school.

With this assessment completed, the school is in a very good position to receive grant money for the next round, which is scheduled for June 15th. At this point, this meeting will be the first of its kind in Moose Lake--besides the assessment, no prior work as been done with SRTS, so please come and help us with this great development opportunity!

RSVP by April 29th!

Ellen Pillsbury at 218.529.7554 or epillsbury@ardc.org

See you on the 3rd!

 

Next Mini-Grant Funding on the Way!

The School Wellness Committee applied for a grant through the larger Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) Grant for the March 15th deadline. The following items were applied for:

--Worms for the worm bins
--Worm composting curriculum
--The Great Trays Training for Becky (Head Cook)
--Time for Becky to continue using Meal Magic (Food Nutrition Analysis Program)
--Library Resources (books and DVD's)

Make sure to look for these exciting items later this spring!

Also, for those interested, there will be a Safe Routes to School Webinar Training coming up in April. For a description of the webinar and to register, follow the link listed below.

Date: April 12, 2011
Time: 12-1pm
Register here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/948654561

Hummus Taste Test and Super Foods Lunch Day

The Moose Lake School Food Service Staff have been busy menu planning (using healthier options), and allowing students to participate in testing some of the new menu items. With the help of "Meal Magic" a nutrition analysis program, Becky Holt has been working to make each day's lunch meet the dietary requirements (as opposed to a weekly average). This is one of the main goals on the Wellness Committee's action plan, and great changes have been happening as part of this process!

On January 28, the Kitchen Staff conducted a hummus taste test for all students, K-12, as they entered the cafeteria for lunch. As with the previous taste test, Mrs. Rodysill's students assisted. The theme was to taste a healthy, unusual snack. A printed list of facts about hummus was also displayed in the hallway for students to read.

Some of the students helped to prepare the hummus by scooping it into 2oz souffle cups and added two to three mini carrots. Others handed out the cups to students who wanted to participate as they came by. Another student manned the garbage cans, one with a happy face if you liked the hummus, and another with a sad face, if you did not like the hummus. After each section of students was served, Kitchen Staff determined if the hummus was liked or not liked by observing how full each garbage can was.

The results were recorded and showed that the majority of the students liked the hummus, but it was a close call.

The next week the Kitchen Staff served a "Super Foods Lunch Day". The menu included the following:
- A super sub on whole grain bread with hummus, turkey, cheese, and spinach
- A sweet potato fries medley
- A blueberry magic dessert with slivered almonds

The students enjoyed the opportunity to try the different foods that will be integrated into the lunch menu to make it more healthy overall. Way to go Kitchen Staff!!

Mini-Grant and Next Meeting

Through the SHIP Grant, the Moose Lake School Wellness Committee has an available pot of money in which to augment its efforts. As of now, we have a good amount of funding that we can apply for through mini-grants. This money needs to be tied to projects that are directly linked to Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change.

We will be getting a check for a mini-grant soon which will help fund the following:
--New aprons for the Kitchen Staff
--"Worm Bins" for the two 5th Grade Classrooms (worm composting for use as a fundraiser)
--Monthly lunchroom taste testing
--Nutrition-related newsletters to be sent home with students

Sample Worm Bin

There are some great changes happening, and many GREAT ideas for how the rest of the funding should be used. If you have ideas about how to use these funds, please attend our next School Wellness Committee meeting on Thursday, February 17, from 3:45-4:45pm in the Board Room at the school.

November Taste-Testing

On November 23rd, the Kitchen Staff conducted a chili taste test for all students, K-12, as they entered the kitchen for lunch. Mrs. Rodysill's students assisted with the test. The goal was to guess the secret ingredient in the chili.

Some of the students helped to serve up the chili into four ounce souffle cups. Others handed out the chili to the students who wanted to participate as they came by. Another student wrote down some of the secret ingredient guesses, and another manned the garbage cans - one with a happy face if the student liked the chili, and the other with a sad face if the student did not like it.


Garbage Voting

After each section of students were served, the Kitchen Staff looked in the garbage cans to determine if the chili was liked by that group, or not, and recorded the results. The majority of all the students, K-12, did like the chili!

No one was able to guess the secret ingredient, which was revealed the next Monday with more nutrition information about orange vegetables. The whole event went smoothly and it was nice to see that the students were willing to try, and did like the chili!