SMUE Wellness Plan

School Wellness Policy for St. Martin Upper Elementary

August 2010

Rationale:

The link between nutrition, physical activity, and learning is well documented. Healthy eating and activity patterns are essential for students to achieve their full academic potential, full physical and mental growth, and lifelong health and well-being. Healthy eating and physical activity, essential for a healthy weight, are also linked to reduced risk for many chronic diseases, like Type 2 diabetes. Schools have the responsibility to help students learn, establish, and maintain healthy eating and activity patterns. Well-planned and effectively implemented school nutrition and fitness programs have been shown to enhance students' overall health, as well as their behavior and academic achievement in school. Staff wellness also is an integral part of a healthy school environment, since school staff can be daily role models for healthy behaviors.

Goal:

All students in St. Martin Upper Elementary (SMUE) shall possess the knowledge and skills necessary to make nutritious food choices and enjoyable physical activity choices for a lifetime. All staff at SMUE are encouraged to model healthful eating and physical activity as a valuable part of daily life.

To meet this goal, SMUE adopts this school wellness policy with the following commitments to nutrition, physical activity, comprehensive health education, marketing, and implementation. This policy is designed to effectively utilize school and community resources and to equitably serve the needs and interests of all students and staff, taking into consideration differences in culture.

Commitment to Nutrition
SMUE will:

Offer a school lunch program with menus that meet the meal patterns and nutrition standards established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Child Nutrition Programs.
Offer school breakfast program with menus that meet the meal patterns and nutrition standards established by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Child Nutrition Programs.
Encourage school staff and families to participate in school meal programs.
Operate all Child Nutrition Programs with school foodservice staff who are properly qualified according to current professional standards (Mississippi Board of Education Policy, Code EE-2E)
Establish food safety as a key component of all school food operations and ensure that the food service permit is current for the Food Service school site.
Follow State Board of Education policies on competitive foods and extra food sales (Mississippi Board of Education Policy, Code EEH) Attachment A, and Local Competitive Food Sales Policy (Code EECA) Attachment B.
Establish guidelines for all foods available on the school campus during the school day with the objective of promoting student health and reducing childhood obesity.
See Appendix A.

Provide adequate time for students to eat and enjoy school meals (a minimum of 15-20 minutes at breakfast and 18-25 minutes at lunch).
Encourage students to make food choices based on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, by emphasizing menu options that feature baked (rather than fried foods), whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and reduced-fat dairy products.
Establish a cafeteria environment conducive to a positive dining experience, with socializing among students and between students and adults; with supervision of eating areas by adults who model proper conduct and voice level; and with adults who model healthy habits by eating with the students.
Offer nutritious and appealing options (such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, trail mix, beef jerky, reduced-fat milk, reduced fat-yogurt, reduced-fat cheese, 50% - 100% juice, and water) whenever foods/beverages are sold or otherwise offered at school, including vending machines, school stores, concessions stands at sporting and academic events, parties, celebrations, social events, and other school functions.
See Appendix A for example of guidelines and options.
Restrict use of foods as rewards for student accomplishment to acceptable snacks as prescribed in this policy.
See Appendix B for non-food reward ideas.
Encourage all school-based organizations to use services, contests, non-food items, and/or healthful foods for fundraising programs. The sale of candy as a fund-raiser is prohibited.
See Appendix C for alternative fundraising ideas.
Provide nutrition information for parents, including nutrition analysis of school meals and resources to help parents to improve food that they serve at home.
See Appendix D for marketing healthy school meals.
Provide school promotions for school food and nutrition programs.
Marketing strategies that work.
Measure our promotion success.
Attachment A: State policy on competitive foods.
Attachment B : District competitive foods policy.

Commitment to Physical Activity
SMUE will:

Provide one hundred fifty (150) minutes per week of physical activity based instruction.
Offer a planned sequential program of physical education instruction incorporating individual and group activities, which are student centered and taught in a positive environment.
Implement the 2006 Mississippi Physical Education Framework.

Commitment to Comprehensive Health Education
SMUE will:

Offer comprehensive health education by providing fourth and fifth grade students forty-five (45) minutes per week of health education instruction, as defined by the State board of Education. (2006 Mississippi Comprehensive Health Framework).
Implement the nutrition strand of 2006 Mississippi Comprehensive Health Framework.
Emphasize the disease and prevention strand in the 2006 Mississippi Comprehensive Health Framework.
Participate in USDA nutrition programs such as Team Nutrition Schools and the Healthier US School Challenge. The school will conduct nutrition education activities and promotions that involve students, parents, and the community. The school team responsible for planning nutrition activities will include school foodservice staff, school nurses, health and PE teachers, coaches, and additional staff, as appropriate.

Commitment to Marketing a Healthy School Environment
SMUE will:
Provide positive, motivating messages, both verbal and non-verbal, about healthy lifestyle practices throughout the school setting. All school personnel will help reinforce these positive messages.
Involve students in planning for a healthy school environment. Students will be asked for input and feedback through the use of student surveys, and attention will be given to their comments.
Promote healthful eating, physical activity, and healthy lifestyles to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the community at school events (e.g., school registration, parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings, open houses, health fairs, teacher in-services, and other events).
Eliminate advertising and other materials on the school campus that promote foods of minimal nutrition value.
Work with local media, like newspaper, TV and radio, to inform the community about the health problems facing Mississippi children, as well as the need for and benefits of healthy school environments.
See Appendix D for marketing resources.

Commitment to Implementation
SMUE will:
Implement the school wellness policy with the approval of the Wellness Committee/School Health Council and the School Principal.
The principal will insure that the school wellness policy is implemented as written.
Establish and support a School Health Council (SHC) that addresses all aspects of a coordinated school health program, including a school wellness policy.
Measurement and Implementation of plan will be provided annually to the Principal using the Annual Office of Healthy Schools Monitoring Tool and kept on file.
The School Health Council will also serve as the Schools Wellness Advisory Committee.

Appendix A: Nutrition Guidelines

Food items that meet nutritional guidelines for the National School Lunch Program are acceptable.

SNACKS - CRITERIA PER PACKAGE
Nutrients Calories Fat Saturated/Trans Fat Added Sugar
At least 5% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for three or more nutrients (fiber; vitamins A, C, D, E, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, calcium, iron, and zinc). No more than 200 calories per pkg. No more than 35% of total calories from fat and 7 grams max. No more than 10% calories from saturated fat and/or trans fat and 2 grams max. No more than 35% added sugar and 15 grams max.

See Mississippi Department of Education List of Approved and Denied Items for Vending posted at the CN website or under Food Service at the JCSD website.

BEVERAGES
Grade Level Approved Denied
Elementary Bottled Water, 8 oz. low fat flavored and unflavored Milk, and 100% fruit juice Sports Drinks, Carbonated Soft Drinks

Appendix B: Non-Food Rewards

Kids naturally enjoy eating nourishing foods and being physically active. Schools and teachers can provide them with an environment that supports these healthy behaviors by using non-food rewards. Here are effective alternatives – from outstanding educators across the country – to offering food as a reward to individual students or entire classes.

Read a book.
Sit by friends.
Read outdoors.
Teach the class.
Have extra art time.
Enjoy class outdoors.
Have an extra recess.
Play a computer game.
Read to a younger class.
Get a no homework pass.
Sing a silly song together.
Make deliveries to the office.
Listen to music while working.
Play a favorite game or puzzle.
Earn play money for privileges.
Walk with a teacher or principal.
Eat lunch outdoors with the class.
Be a helper in another classroom.
Eat lunch with a teacher or principal.
Start and maintain a vegetable garden.
Dance to favorite music in the classroom.
Get a “free choice” time at the end of the day.
Listen with a headset to a book on audiotape.
Have a teacher perform special skills (i.e. sing).
Be first in line when the class leaves the room.
Have a teacher read a special book to the class.
Take a trip to the treasure box (filled with stickers, pencils, erasers, bookmarks, etc.).

Additional online resources are available at the JCSD website. Food Service Dept.

Appendix C: Healthy Fundraising

Fundraising Alternatives

Food Items:
Fresh and exotic fruit, like cases of citrus fruit
High quality potatoes, onions, or other produce items
Nuts and trail mix
Popcorn

Non-food items:
Gift wrap
Magazine subscriptions
Garden seeds
Candles
Discount coupon books
Raffles of gift baskets
Plants and flowers
School spirit items
Traditional and Non-Traditional Fundraising Events:
Car washes
Walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, jog-a-thons, skate-a-thons, etc.
Family game nights
"Hire a student day" for odd jobs (with proceeds going to the school)
3-on-3 basketball tournaments
Silent auctions
Talent shows

Additional online resources are available at the JCSD website. Food Service Dept.

Appendix D: Marketing

Promoting Healthy School Meals: Marketing strategies that work
There are many reasons to do promotions for school food and nutrition programs. First and foremost, the students, faculty, and staff are customers. They have choices to make in deciding what to purchase and what not to purchase. Promotions are powerful marketing tools that have a direct, meaningful impact on customers and their purchasing decisions.

Promotions do not necessarily have to promote one particular product or event. After all, nutrition is something to promote all of the time. Some effects promotions might have:
- Show customers that the school food and nutrition department cares about them.
- Get customers excited or interested in the programs so that they keep participating
- Highlight specific services or products.
- Introduce new items on a continual basis, for instance to highlight a new recipe on the menu. Perhaps one new item might be featured each month.
- Introduce or reinforce an identity or a marketing theme, such as National School Lunch Week or School Breakfast Week.
- Celebrate a nutrition and health awareness event, such as National 5 A Day Month or National Diabetes Month.
- Establish a distinctive image or “brand” for the school food and nutrition department.
- Reinforce the school food and nutrition departments’ role in the total school environment through promotions around special school activities and events.

Keep in mind that promotions do not make a poorly run operation better. If promotions are poorly planned or done at the wrong time, they may create problems or make problems worse.

Measure Your Promotion Success
Promotions are designed to cause action. Ultimately, a promotion is designed to change some attitude or belief and/or cause customers to buy something. For instance, a promotion may be designed to convince students that the fruits and vegetables on the school salad bar are good for them or just that they want to eat breakfast at school. National School Lunch Week and School Breakfast Week, for example, are designed around annual themes to promote the value of school meals to the entire school community. A promotion may strive to influence students to buy the reimbursable meal in general or to try a new product in particular.

Because promotions are supposed to change attitudes or behaviors, the effect of promotions should be evaluated -- that means that they need to be measured. How might a promotion be measured? That depends on what the goals of the promotion are. In general, the school nutrition department might measure:
- Sales, overall or of a particular product
- Participation
- Customer satisfaction
- Customer attitudes or customer perceptions

Reference: www.asfsa.org/newsroom/sfsnews/promotemeals.asp
Additional Marketing Resources
http://schoolmeals.nal.usda.gov/Training/lesson10.pdf

Attachment A: State Policy Competitive Foods
Policy and Procedures Manual Mississippi Child Nutrition Programs

State Policy on Competitive Foods and Extra Food Sales
Federal Regulations and State Board Policy restrict food sales in competition with the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. On February 22, 1985, the State Board of Education passed the state's policy on the selling of foods in competition with the National School Food Service Programs and on the nutritional quality of foods sold as extra items. This purpose is to ensure that students are not in the position of having to decide between non-nutritious and nutritious foods immediately before or during any meal service period. Mississippi's competitive food sales policy is provided in Exhibit 3.4. On October 19, 2007 the state board amended the policy to allow the purchase of water along with milk and milk products without the purchase of a tray.
Exhibit 3.4. Mississippi Board of Education Policy on Competitive Food Sales

Clarification Interpretation of Competitive Foods Rule
The State policy is clarified/interpreted below, as follows:
No food is to be sold on campus for one hour before breakfast or one hour before lunch and until the end of either serving period. Any food may be sold after breakfast, until one hour before lunch, and any time after the end of the last lunch period.
School food services shall sell only those foods that are components of the approved Federal meal patterns being served (or milk products). With the exception of water and milk products, a student may purchase individual components of the meal only if the full meal is being served. After the full meal has been served, a student may purchase individual components or milk products as extra food sales. A food must be a component of the meal pattern to be sold extra.

Examples are as follows:
Orange juice is a component and can be sold extra.
Hamburger is a component and can be sold extra.
Any fruit or vegetable is a component and can be sold extra.
A dessert that qualifies under the fruit or bread/grain requirement as component can
be sold extra; the dessert that doesn't qualify as a fruit or bread/grain component
cannot be sold extra.'
Ice cream is a milk product. It is not a component but is exempt and can be sold extra.

The state policy is a minimum requirement. A local school board may adopt a more restrictive policy.

Section 3-Policy Guidance Affecting Programs
3-10
9/2000

Attachment B: COMPETITIVE FOODS POLICY
Descriptor Term: EECA

ISSUE DATE: 5-10-04
To ensure that students are not in the position of having to decide between non-nutritious and nutritious foods before or during meal service periods:

A. No food items will be sold on the school campus of any elementary school before 1:00 P.M. of any school day. High Schools and Middle Schools shall be allowed to have one break each morning.

It shall be the responsibility of the sponsor of any snack or drink machines at the elementary schools that they not be at the students' disposal before 1:00 P.M.
Middle/Junior High and High Schools with organized breaks shall adhere to such regulations other than at the time of a specified break designated by the Assistant
Superintendent for the particular school. Any violation of this rule will result in the removal of such mentioned equipment from the school campus and/or the
termination of the organized break.

Schools will be allowed to forego this policy for field days, etc., provided the function is organized in advance and approved in writing by the District Superintendent at
least two weeks prior to the function. However, state law shall prevail in that no food items will be sold on the school campus for one hour before the start of any meal period (breakfast and lunch).

B. The school food service staff shall serve only those foods which are components of the approved federal meal patterns being served (or milk products) and such additional foods as necessary to meet the calorie requirements of the age group being served.

C. With the exception of milk products, a student may purchase individual components of the meal only if the full meal unit is being purchased and the item to be purchased is a component of the federal meal pattern. An additional dessert item cannot be purchased at any time since dessert is not a component of the USDA meal pattern. Adults are allowed to purchase desserts at the price approved by the School Board each school year.

D. Students who bring a lunch from home may purchase water and milk products.

E. No food deliveries from commercial establishments will be received or consumed by adults or students on school property during serving periods as defined in paragraph A. This does not pertain to adult staff members consuming food in areas other than the cafeteria.