REPORTER STAFF
Auburn schools continue to provide a healthier taste.
The school district, which serves 8,000 lunches and 4,000 to students each school day, already is working to make school meal changes to meet specific USDA dietary requirements.
Those include: increasing the variety and amounts of fruits and vegetables offered, many from local farms; increasing whole grains and reducing sodium levels; making free water available during school meals; and providing only milk that is low-fat (1 percent), non-fat white or flavored.
It is all part of a district’s plan to get kids to eat smarter and healthier.
“If you give kids a chance at school to see and have access to healthy foods, they are going to go home and tell their moms, ‘Hey, I tried jicama on the salad bar, and I liked it,’” said Margaret Dam, Auburn Nutrition Services supervisor for the school district. “We’re trying to offer things that maybe their parents don’t have time to prepare or knowledge on how to prepare.”
The school district has used a Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant in the kitchen. A CPPW-funded project has school district staff exploring whole foods cooking. The training – in coordination with Dam – has brought new ideas to staff.
“It actually inspired our cooks to want to start testing recipes and making more things from scratch,” Dam said.
The eight-hour certified training – developed by Cynthia Lair of Cooking Interruptus – was taught by nutritionists at 17 locations throughout King County.
Auburn’s cafeteria staff have attended the training to learn cooking techniques and pick up information about the nutritional differences between processed and whole foods. The district’s cafeteria staff is enthusiastic about implementing the whole foods cooking recipes into their school menus.
The CPPW also is supporting students in the school district’s DECA student-led Commit to Fit marketing campaign to change the culture at school. More than 4,000 students and staff have signed up to participate. Commitments include, for example, 60 minutes of daily activity for one week, walking to school or making healthy food choices. Activities generate points on an online tracking system with the points redeemable for rewards.
Many of the rewards are donated by local businesses.
For more information, visit: www.committofit.org.
To learn more about the school district program, visit www.auburn.wednet.edu/ and click on “School Meals.”
Elsewhere
Auburn’s Devanni Partridge made the dean’s list at Palmer College of Chiropractic (Davenport, Iowa). To be eligible, a student must achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.50. Partridge, the 2007 Miss Auburn and 2009 Miss Washington, is in her fourth trimester in the doctor of chiropractic program at the college. …
Jamestown (ND) College student Erin Delo of Auburn recently performed in the orchestra for the Jamestown College Theatre production of the Tony Award-winning musical, “Titanic”. Delo played the cello. Established in 1883, Jamestown College is a private, liberal arts four-year college. …
The following Evergreen Heights Elementary School students were awarded for displaying the trait of the month, compassion: Cesar Javier-Lopez; Josiah Cournoyer; Lailanee Wise-Granados; Yvonne Tukana; Lorenzo Saavedra Jr.; Kaycee Valdez; Deniss Alvarado; Tianna Long; Scarlett Stelzer; Yiakos Everson; Citlalli Sanchez; Lacey Braden; Tyson Burtis and Selai “Dee” Tukana. …
Auburn Mountainview students are earning Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification. In fact, the school has the No. 1 pass rate in the state, and has 20 industry certifications so far this year. A number of students have scored in the high 900s, and one student has scored a perfect 1,000. With some of the best scores in the country, these students may be invited to represent the United States in the Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office in Las Vegas next July. …
Imani Clark, a senior at Auburn Riverside, was third in the Veterans of Foreign Affairs (VFW) District 11 Voice of Democracy Essay Contest. Clark recently accepted the award during a VFW special event for essay winners in Redmond. …
The Auburn Mountainview FIRST Robotics Team 2907 was awarded a $1,500 grant by the Center of Advanced Manufacturing Puget Sound. The funds will support the team while competing in the FIRST Washington Robotics competitions beginning with a six-week “build session” on Jan. 7.
