RIDE FREE

LONGMONT................ 3

WELCOME TO NUTRITION

SERVICES .................. 2

FACED WITH A PICKY

EATER? .................... 3

Wellness ST. VRAIN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT IS COMMITTED TO

HELPING YOU AND YOUR KIDS STAY ACTIVE AND STAY HEALTHY

Start Your Year Off Right - Form A School Wellness Team

HEALTHY BACK TO

SCHOOL LUNCH BOX

IDEAS ....................... 4

September 2015

alive

Is your school looking to take wellness to a new level? Have you considered forming your own School Wellness Team and really making wellness a priority!

What is a School Wellness Team?

A school wellness team is essentially an advisory group concerned with the health and wellbeing of students and staff. A team formed at the school building level, typically has 6-12 members and includes school staff, students, family members, and community members.

Why do we need a School Wellness Team?

The school wellness team provides a way to inform teachers, staff, students and families about the work the school is doing to improve the health and academic success of its students. The school wellness team is also a way to ensure that district level wellness policies are implemented at the building level. In addition, these teams represent the unique perspective of the community in a school building. This enables the health priorities and activities put in place to truly reflect the needs and interests of that school.

What do School Wellness Team do?

School wellness teams typically assess the school health environment, programs and policies in place and identify ways to strengthen these to improve the health of students and staff. Usually teams will develop and implement an action plan based on what they learn about the school. They also provide advice and expertise to administrators in the building and provide feedback to the district regarding implementation of health-related wellness policies and programs and report on the content and implementation to the public (including parents, students and the community members).

What are the Roles and Responsibilities of a School Wellness Team?

The school wellness committee is an action-oriented group that makes the implementation of the district wellness policy and other health-related priorities possible. The SWT will:

Support the school in developing a healthier school environment

Create the vision and goals for the school

Assist with policy development or revision to support a healthy school environment

Promote parent, community, and professional involvement in developing a healthier school environment

Advocate for school health programs and policies within the broader school community

Plan and implement programs for students and staff

Help our students succeed!

Does this sound like a great fit for your school?

Do you have a Wellness program or event that you would like help with?

Would you like to see a specific topic

in our next newsletter?

If so, please contact:

Sarah Harter School Wellness Coordinator

303.702.7750 harter_sarah@svvsd.org

Welcome to Nutrition Services St. Vrain Valley School’s Nutrition Service staff believes that nutritious school meals are a main ingredient in students' ability to learn in the classroom. It is hard for students to focus when they are hungry. Our staff takes pride in providing meals that meet the USDA nutrition requirements, and include as many local ingredients as possible, but taste great too! Approximately 18,000 student meals are produced in our kitchens each day. In the 2013-2014 school year the Nutrition Services team produced over 3 million meals and snacks for students using over 500,000 pounds of local fresh produce. Did you know all SVVSD schools offer a fresh salad bar everyday at lunch? Or that you can purchase the fresh salad bar a la carte? And as always, all cafeterias offer a daily vegetarian option! Menus

Monthly menus for both breakfast and lunch can be found on:

The Nutrition Services website at: svvsd.org,

Your students school website, or

You can go green and sign up for electronic menus by going to the Nutrition Services website and clicking on the green recycle logo.

As an added bonus, if you sign up for electronic menus, you will also receive the Wellness Alive Newsletter and other Nutrition Service announcements.

Meal Payment Options

There are two ways to put money into your students meal account:

Send check or cash to the school with your student. If you choose this option, please put the money in an envelope clearly marked with the student's first and last name, their ID #, their teacher's name, and the amount enclosed. Turn the envelope into the cafeteria cashier or school office.

Pre-pay online by going to myschoolbucks.com.

Elementary students will only be allowed to charge two meals, middle and high students are not allowed to charge. Please be sure there is money in your students account. All money owed from the previous year, will roll over to the current school year. Free or Reduced Meal Applications

The federal guidelines require a new application each year and parents must meet income requirements for their children to be eligible for free or reduced meals. Last years status will not carry over to this school year. You can pick up a new meal application at:

Your students school office,

Nutrition Service Office at 2929 Clover Basin Drive - Longmont, CO 80503 or,

You can apply online at: applyforlunch.com.

Until your application is approved, parents should send lunch money or a sack lunch with their child each day.

School Meal Prices

Breakfast Elementary - $1.25 Secondary - $1.50

K-12 Reduced - Free Adult - $2.00

Lunch Elementary - $2.75 Secondary - $3.00 K-5 Reduced - Free

Adult without Milk - $3.25 Adult with Milk - $3.50

Al a Carte Items Salad Bar, Water, Juice or Milk -

If you have any questions about the meal programs, please contact:

Shelly Allen at 303.682.7255 or allen_shelly@svvsd.org

Special Dietary Needs

If your student has special dietary needs, Nutrition Services can work

with your school to prepare nutritious and safe meals. To get

more information, please contact:

Shelly Allen at 303.682.7255 or allen_shelly@svvsd.org

Want To See What’s For Lunch Tomorrow?

Scan the QR code to the left with your smart phone or tablet to take you directly to SVVSD’s Nutrition Services Menu site. There you will find monthly breakfast and lunch menus for both Elementary and Secondary levels. While you are there, take a peek at Nutritional Information for all menu items, Special Meal Accommodation information, as well as many great resources to help you ensure your student is healthy, active, and successful!

When was the last time your child sat down at the dinner table and said, “Gee, thanks for this delicious plate of healthy food! Can I have seconds?” We can’t promise these tips will convert your picky eater into a fruit and vegetable fan, but they should make good food choices more attractive for everyone.

1. Get them involved If you involve kids in planning meals, going grocery shopping, and preparing food, they will become invested in the process and more likely to eat. Even toddlers too young to make grocery lists can help you make choices (pears or nectarines? cheddar or swiss?) along the way. Simple, no-cook recipes like frozen yogurt popsicles or fruit parfaits are an excellent way to get young chefs interested in healthy cooking and eating.

2. Go to the source Teach kids where their food comes from. Rather than limiting yourself to the weekly supermarket run, take your family to a local farmer’s market (or to the farm itself) and meet the people who grow the food. Picking berries from a vine can help nurture a lifelong love of good eating and environmental stewardship. Visiting a dairy farm can teach children where their milk comes from (and why we should care about what goes in it). Planting tomatoes and melons in the garden may tempt a child to try the fruits of her labor.

3. Make healthy snacks available If you stock the kitchen exclusively with healthy treats, children will eat them. As your children grow, stock good snacks in cabinets and shelves that they can reach without your help.

Some kids eat more when they’re in the car than when they’re at the table simply because active play isn’t a viable alternative when you’re strapped in. Make sure you’re prepared with nutritious snacks whether you’re driving the carpool or going to soccer practice. Good choices include sliced apples, carrot sticks, whole grain crackers, light popcorn, raisins and water bottles.

4. Give them freedom of choice Like the rest of us, kids want to have it their way. But no parent wants to be a short order cook, making four different meals for four different family members. Instead try the fixings bar approach. Offer a suitable base meal, like rice and beans, whole wheat tortillas or lean ground taco meat. Then let kids (and adults) dress it up with chopped tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, cheese, salsa, jicama, parsley, peppers and other toppings. You might also try a pasta bar with a variety of healthy sauces. This approach works especially well when you’re serving young guests whose food preferences you may have trouble predicting.

Kids like choices at snack time too, so consider packing an insulated lunch bag full of good snacks so they can make their own smart choices (and you can avoid hearing “I don’t want THAT!”).

5. Drink to that Remember that your child doesn’t have to just eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day he can also drink them. Smoothies and mixed fruit drinks like watermelon smoothies or mango slushies' can be a fun way to introduce new fruits.

6. Be a role model A recent study found that young children’s food tastes are significantly related to foods that their parents liked and disliked. Letting your child see you order a fresh salad rather a burger and fries at the drive-through may encourage her to do the same.

7. Don’t give up Studies show that most children need multiple exposures (between 5 and 10) to try new foods. This isn’t to say that showing your child the same papaya or avocado five nights in a row will win her over, but rather to suggest that you shouldn’t give up the first time she rejects something.

8. Teach healthy eating habits early Use meal and snack times as teachable moments to help even the youngest children make wise food choices. Talk about why certain foods are good for them like “super sight” when they eat carrots or “strong bones” when drinking milk. It might just tip the scales on them wanting to try something new!

Boulder County and the City of Longmont have partnered on an exciting program called ‘Ride Free Longmont’ to provide fare free bus service in Longmont.

This program started July 1, 2014, and thanks to a recent program extension, all

of Longmont’s Local Buses will be free until June 30, 2016! Anyone can ride the local Longmont buses (323, 324, 326 or 327) as much as they want for free!

Hop on and off of the bus as many times as you want, all day long. Local buses are those that travel solely within the City of Longmont. No passes, cards or identification of any kind are needed. REGIONAL ROUTES (BOLT, L and J) ARE NOT INCLUDED, but If you use a local routes to access one of the regional routes, you can request a transfer that will be good for $2.25 off of the regional fare.

To get more information about the program, and to get links to bus schedules and maps visit www.longmontbus.com.

Thanks for Riding!

Ride Free! Longmont

Faced With a Picky Eater? Try These Easy 8 Steps

Article courtesy of: PBS.org

It's back to school time, and you know what that means: making your kid's lunch every day.

This process can be not only time consuming but also monotonous if you are making the same old PBJs

and turkey sandwiches day in and day out.

The percentage of overweight kids is growing at an overwhelming rate, with 1 out of 3 children now considered overweight or obese. According to LiveWell Colorado, Colorado kids get at least 30 percent of their daily calories from the lunches they eat at school. Because of these statistics, it is critical that we make sure our kid's lunches are not only tasty, but also healthy.

The following are several quick, easy, and healthy recipes to mix things up and make your kid's lunch the envy of the lunch table.

The Elvis Pinwheel - Natural peanut butter - Whole-wheat tortilla, toasted - 1 Tbsp. honey - 1 whole banana

Spread peanut butter on the toasted tortilla, then drizzle with honey

Place a whole banana at the edge of the wrap, then roll, pressing gently to break the banana and form a cylinder shape.

Cut into rounds.

Easy Grilled Chicken Sandwich - Whole-wheat hamburger bun - 2 oz. individually packed guacamole - 3 oz. pre-cooked chicken (like Tyson fully cooked chicken breast strips) - Tomato slices

Spread the bottom of the bun with guacamole

Add pre-cooked chicken strips on top

Place tomatoes over the chicken and top with other half of bun

Serve with fruit or veggie sticks.

Homemade Pizza Lunchable - 1 whole-wheat English muffin - 4 Tbsp. pizza sauce - 1/4 cup part-skim mozzarella - Choice of Toppings: sliced green pepper, onion, mushrooms,

olives, pineapple tidbits, turkey pepperoni, diced smoked turkey

Toast the English muffin

Store each topping in small individual food storage containers

When ready to eat, spread 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce on each muffin half and sprinkle with cheese, then add desired toppings.

Lunch Box Fun-Due - 1/4 cup turkey breast - 1/4 cup ham - 1/4 cup cheese of choice - 2 celery ribs - 2 medium carrots, peeled - 3 Tbsp. salsa - 3 Tbsp. yogurt based ranch dressing

Cut turkey, ham, and cheese into bite-sized cubes

Cut celery and carrots into sticks

Mix ranch dressing and salsa in a small sealable container.

Use toothpicks to dip veggies, meats, and cheeses into the dressing

All of the above recipes are designed to include both fiber and protein to help your child stay full and focused at school. Helping kids lead healthy lifestyles begins with parents who lead by example. Try making the above meals with your child so that they can not only learn how to cook, but can be proud of what they have accomplished.

Article courtesy of: 9News.com - Lauren Marek, RD at the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. Follow her Facebook page and Instagram @laurenmarek_rd for nutrition tips!

Healthy Back-to-School Lunchbox Ideas

Boulder County Healthy Kids has partnered with St. Vrain Valley School District to provide health insurance liaisons to help students and their families enroll in health insurance and to access affordable health care. Healthy Kids helps families enroll in Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+).

Medicaid and CHP+ are free and low-cost public health insurance plans that provide dental, medical prescription and vision benefits. There are no monthly premiums and co-pays range from $0-10 depending on family income.

Healthy Kids can also connect families to Connect for Health Colorado, a new health insurance marketplace where people can shop for health insurance and access tax credits to reduce monthly health insurance premiums.

Getting enrolled in Medicaid or CHP+, or Connect for Health Colorado today means your children are covered for urgent care, regular check-ups, dental care, immunizations, and prescription medications when they need it.

For more information Call: 720-722-1454 Bchealthykids.org.

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