Articles in the January 2009 Issue

• A Note from Sandra
• School's get $5000 for Commitment to Student Health
• National School Breakfast Week
• Plan To Attend some Training in the New Year
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
• Happenings In Team Nutrition
• On-site Monitoring Reviews to be completed by February 1st
• Verification Summary Report 742SD Due February 1st
• Feeding Children During the Summertime
• School Nutrition Association (SNA) New Certification Program Information Part 3 of 3
• Building for the Future with the CACFP
• Kids in the Kitchen
• Kids on the Move
• 21st Century Community Learning Center Grants Available
• After School Snack Ideas for grades K-12
• Reflections of Phycical Activity

School’s get $5,000 for Commitment to Student Health

Three South Dakota schools and one school district have been selected as winners of Governor Rounds’ Healthy School Awards. Each will receive a $5,000 award.

This year’s winners are Knollwood Elementary School in Rapid City, Mitchell Middle School, Mitchell High School, and Brandon Valley School District.

“The Governor’s Healthy School Awards provide recognition for leadership in the area of school health,” said Kari Senger, co-director of the Coordinated School Health Program, which oversees the award process. “These schools are taking very thoughtful, calculated steps to improve the overall health of their students and school community, and we commend them for their efforts.”

According to Senger, winning schools are chosen for their efforts in areas such as health education, physical education, family and community involvement, school-based nutrition programs, health services, healthy school environment and counseling services.

One of Brandon Valley School District’s initiatives included a health fair that drew 1,600 people. It included a volleyball game between school administrators and the high school volleyball team. Staff also participated in a dance competition. Food vendors were available to show families what new and healthy items are available through the school lunch program, and parents and students provided input for future menu items.

At the Mitchell Middle School, students participated in taste tests, which have resulted in the addition of kiwi, strawberries, grapes, grapefruit, pears, and spinach to the regular menu.

Governor Rounds’ Healthy School Award winners are chosen at four levels: elementary school, middle school/junior high, high school, and school district. In addition to the cash prize, winners receive a banner to display at their schools.

Finalists for the awards receive a plaque. This year’s finalists are Arlington Elementary School, Colman-Egan High School, and Eureka School District.

Back to Top

National School Breakfast Week  

March 2-6, 2009 is the designated week to celebrate and promote school breakfast. Research has shown that starting the day with a nutritious breakfast helps students stay alert and perform better in school. Having breakfast in the morning also helps children develop healthy eating habits and contributes to their overall well-being.

 The theme for this year is “Power Up For School Breakfast”. The following link will take you to the School Nutrition Association’s website for this year’s guidance for promoting the special week. http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/meetingsandevents/nsbw2009/index.html

Also reference the November 2008 issue of School Nutrition magazine for pictures and stories of how schools can promote National School Breakfast Week.

The Food Nutrition Services division of USDA has developed an on-line resource titled “The School Breakfast Toolkit”. You will find information to help promote and expand School Breakfast Programs as a way of supporting positive outcomes for children. Many of the materials included on this site are designed to be customized. You can download PowerPoint files, information sheets, letters, and marketing materials and modify them to suit your specific needs. http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/meetingsandevents/nsbw2009/index.html  (hit control+enter to hyperlink to site

Back to Top

Plan To Attend Some Training In The New Year

January NFSMI Training

Two Trainers from the National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI) will be in South Dakota to provide an all day training on January  12th, 13th, and 15th. Topics of the training include the Food Buying Guide and SMI Road to Success. The deadline has past for registration. If you do not receive confirmation from the CANS office that you are on the class list by January 8th and you had submitted a registration form by the deadline, please call the CANS office at 605-773-3413 to verify that we received your registration form.

March DDN Training—Food Safety Update

Save the date for a 2 hour DDN session entitled Food Safety Update. It will be offered March 4th from 3:00- 5:00 pm Central time/2:00-4:00 pm Mountain Time. Janelle Peterson from the CANS office will present the session. Locations are yet to be determined. Watch your email box for a registration form that will be sent in January. 

April NFSMI Training

The NFSMI will be back in South Dakota in April to again offer one day training in three locations across South Dakota. The topics will be Offer vs. Serve and Standardized Recipes. More information will be forthcoming once the days, locations, and presenters are determined.

Back to Top

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 requires all School Food Authority’s(SFAs) who participate in the National School

Lunch Program (NSLP) to have a food safety program based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis/Critical Control Points) principles at each site that serves meals.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are part of the food safety program requirement. The National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI) developed 20 sample SOPs. NFSMI wrote these sample SOPs not only for South Dakota SFAs but for those in larger cities and states. That’s why it is necessary to “tweak” them. SOPs must be “tweaked” to reflect two things: 1) the rules and regulations in South Dakota—as outlined in the SD Food Code book and 2) the way you do things in your school or agency.

As you know there are some differences between the SD Food Code book and the  U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) 2005 Food Code—one being the temperature danger zone (41º to 140º in SD), and reheating of leftovers (you only have 1 hr. in SD to reheat a food product to 165 degrees.) You must base your SOPs on the rules, regulations, and temperature requirements of the SD Food Code book.

You must “tweak” your SOPs to reflect where you write/record some of your documentation. Areas where changes often occur—in other words where you most often “tweak” the sample SOPs are in the recordkeeping and verification section of the sample SOP. For instance, the sample Cooking Potentially Hazardous Food SOP states under the Recordkeeping & Verification section that temperatures should be documented on the cooking and reheating temperature log. That is only a suggestion. Your SOP needs to say where you want food temperatures recorded and on what form. SFAs should record temperatures in a place that is most convenient and makes the most sense for their situation. If you decide that you are not going to record temperatures on the cooking and reheating temperature log and instead are going to record them on your production records, you need to say that in your SOP. Cross out “cooking and reheating temperature log” and replace those words with “production records.” Now you have “tweaked” the SOP to reflect what you do at your facility. You should do this for each of the SOPs at your facility.

What are the expectations of our office for SOPs?

• Every site…whether it is a central kitchen, or a serving kitchen is required to have SOPs that reflect how things are done where you are serving food at. If you have multiple service sites, you may not need all the SOPs that a central kitchen may need to have. That may mean you have 10 SOPs or you may need 20.
• At the top of the sample SOP, cross out “sample SOP” and replace that with the name of your school district and/or the site name for which this SOP pertains to.
• Make sure you have signed and dated each SOP.
• Another area that always needs to be tweaked on the sample SOPs is under the recordkeeping and verification section. The sample SOPs state that records need to be kept for a minimum of 1 year. That section should reflect the requirements that records should be kept for “three years plus the current year.”

Points are deducted on the health inspection report for any SFA site serving food that does not have an SOP for Cooking Potentially Hazardous Foods, Washing Hands, and Personal Hygiene. You may also lose points if you are not taking and recording food temperatures, taking and recording refrigerator/freezer temperatures, and calibrating thermometers and recording calibration dates and adjustments.

By now, you should have implemented all the SOPs that are specific to your site. Some SFAs will not have to have all 20 sample SOPs as part of their food safety program as they do not serve meals off site, or perhaps you do not use leftovers, or you do not have a salad bar. You are only required to implement the SOPs that are specific to your facility’s situation. Our office has been helping “nudge” schools along that are working to finish their food safety program by asking DPS inspectors to continue looking for additional SOPs each year. This year those SOPs are: 

• Cooling Potentially Hazardous Foods
• Handling a Food Recall
• Receiving Deliveries
• Reheating Potentially Hazardous Foods
• Serving Food

It can’t be stressed enough that by now your food safety program should be part of your day to day operation of the NSLP.

DPS Inspectors receive information at annual training to assist us with making sure SFAs are meeting the requirement of having a food safety program in place. Points may be deducted during the twice annual food safety inspection on the kitchen inspection report. In addition, when SFAs have their CRE, records are collected and reviewed in our office. 

Back to Top

Happenings In Team Nutrition

School Bulletin Board Contest

Got a great school bulletin board idea to motivate teenagers to eat more fruits and vegetables or be physically active? If not, come up with an idea that you think might work and enter our bulletin board contest! The bulletin board contest is open to all school staff and a separate student category is open to 7-12th grade students. First prize in the adult category is $250.00 worth of Fruits and Vegetables--More Matters educational materials for your school.

The goal of the contest is to motivate teenagers to eat more fruits and vegetables and be more physically active. (You never know—it might also encourage school staff to eat more fruits and vegetables and be more active!). All school staff is welcome to apply—so in addition to yourself applying—encourage other staff at your school to apply to increase your school’s chances of winning and to also get more bulletin boards up at your school motivating teens to eat healthy fruits and vegetables and be more active!

The contest is sponsored by CANS and Coordinated School Health. For more information about the adult contest as well as the student contest—please visit the South Dakota Team Nutrition website and scroll down to the section on the contest. http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/nutrition/

Back to Top

On- Site Monitoring Review to be completed by February 1st

All schools and agencies serving National School Lunch meals that have more than one building or site where meals are served are required to complete an On-Site Monitoring worksheet for each serving site by February 1st. The purpose of performing the monitoring worksheet is to ensure the accuracy of meal counts and daily procedures. At the present time on-site monitoring is not a breakfast program requirement but is encouraged as a good business practice. Be sure that meal counts are taking place at the end of the serving line after students have had the opportunity to walk past the all required menu components including the milk cooler and salad bar. Be sure there is a designated and trained meal count person stationed at the end of the serving line doing a point of service meal count. The meal count cannot simply be an attendance count; it must be counting reimbursable meals. A classroom count is not an acceptable meal count method as it does not allow for a “point of service” meal count. Be sure the meal count person understands what the SFA has chosen to implement for the “Offer versus Serve” option for each grade level. For guidance, refer to the SFA’s Child Nutrition Program Agreement, Part 3, page 3.

Authorized Representatives should refer to NSLP Memo number 52.1 for the instructions and worksheet to be used for each serving site visit. The memo contains two attachments. Attachment 1 must be completed annually by February 1st for SFA’s with multiple serving sites. Attachment 2 does not have a mandatory deadline but reviews a combination of food service concerns. The completed attachments should be filed with yearly records and kept on file for the current school year and the next three succeeding years.

NSLP Memo #52.1 can be quickly assessed by clicking on the following link:
http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/docs/nummemo/OnsiteMonitoringLunch.doc

Verification Summary Report 742SD Due February 1st

If you have not already submitted the Verification Summary Report 742SD, February 1st is the deadline for school food authorities (SFAs) to submit the report to Child and Adult Nutrition Services (CANS). The 742SD reporting form is the last page of NSLP Memo #51.2. The memo can be located on the CANS website http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/nslp/formsdocs.asp.

All (SFAs) participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) must report their verification activity and results to the state agency. CANS must report the SFA level data to the Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) of USDA in March. The data collected enables the state agency and FNS to better understand certification errors and to improve oversight and technical assistance activities. The goal is to ensure that free and reduced-price subsidized meals are provided only to eligible children.

Feeding Children During the Summertime

Yes, summer will be here before we know it! It is time to consider if your agency wants to offer meals to children while school is not in session. Does it need board action or administrative approval? Look at getting on the agenda to get that approval taken care of. More information will be provided during the upcoming months regarding rates, training, and the application process for Summer Food Service and Seamless Summer. In the meantime, if you have questions about summer feeding, please contact Sandra Kangas at 605-773-4746.

School Nutrition Association (SNA)

New Certification Program Information

Part 3 of 3

21.     Does work experience count for CEU or Core Requirements?

   A.     No. Work experience is not part of the new certification program.

22.     Do Back-to-School meetings count for CEUs?

• Yes. Attending Back-to-School workshops counts for CEUs. Each hour of instructional time equals 1 CEU.

23.     How many of the “To Your Credit” articles in School Nutrition Magazine or Professional Development Articles (PDAs) can I use from the magazine to renew my certification?

• You can use a maximum of three (3) passing “To Your Credit” or PDA articles per year to renew your certification. The passing grade is 80%. Each article is worth 1 CEU. Articles must be published and submitted within your current renewal period.

24.     Is SNA going to keep track of all my CEUs?

• No. SNA will only maintain CEU records if you’ve attended SNA sponsored activities. You are responsible for maintaining records of all CEUs earned.

25.     What would serve as documentation for CEUs at the school site?

• You can submit a letter from your school principal, nurse, manager, or director documenting your participation in a 1 hour CEU activity.

26.     If I take a college course on writing children’s books, can it count for CEUs?

• No. CEUs must be related to your job in school foodservice and nutrition.

27.     Can I take the same course twice within my yearly certification period?

• No. Courses may not be repeated and used twice for CEUs within the same annual certification period.

28.     Can I carry CEUs over to my next certification period?

• No. When your certification is renewed, you start fresh with no CEUs. All CEUs must be earned within the annual certification period.

29.     Do state affiliate programs have to be pre-approved by SNA?

• The only courses that have to be  pre-approved are the Core Courses including Nutrition Education alternatives and Safety/Sanitation alternatives.

30.     Do the state affiliates still send in the rosters? When will SNA stop recording/processing the states rosters?

          A.     States are able to send in rosters until August 1, 2008. Beginning September 1, 2008, SNA will stop processing rosters. At that time, those certified will have to keep track of their own CEU records.

31.     Do district workshops have to be approved by state SNA?

• No. They do not require approval. Each hour of instruction time is worth 1 CEU. The agenda can be used as documentation.

Key Area Hours

32.     Do I have to take the test for sanitation or just the course?

• You do not need to take the Sanitation test for SNA Certification. You simply take the course. However, some courses have required tests, as do some states.

33.     Do Key Area programs/courses have to be approved at the state level?

• States are able to approve in-state Key Area programs/courses. Third party associations offering Key Area programs within a state must receive approval from SNA State Affiliate. Third party associations offering Key Area Courses in more than one state must receive approval from SNA Headquarters. For example, if a local distributor or food broker wants to offer CEUs for a program in your state they must request approval from the state affiliate. If on the other hand the distributor wants to offer the program in more than one state or nationwide, they will have to request approval from SNA headquarters.

34.     Is National Restaurant Association an approved provider?

• No. The National Restaurant Association is not an approved provider, but SNA does accept NRA’s ServSafe as a Core Course.

Trainer Certification

35.     Is trainer certification required to teach all classes or only core classes?

• Healthy EDGE is the only Core Course required to be taught by a SNA Certified Trainer.

36.     How do we find a trainer certification workshop?

• The National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI) is developing a trainer certification workshop that will be available online. Minnesota SNA has also developed a trainer certification workshop. Additionally, many colleges and universities offer Adult Education Courses.

37.     What else can I use for the 10 hour trainer certification workshop?

• Completing a minimum of 1 credit college course in Adult Education is the alternate to the trainer certification workshop.

38.     Can you teach ServSafe if only certified to teach Healthy EDGE and grandfathered in?

• No. ServSafe is managed by the National Restaurant Association. Trainers must meet the requirements set by NRA. ServSafe requires NRA trainer certification.

For more information contact Shelly Anderson, Summit School District, 605-398-6211 or 398-6520 (h) and leave a message.

Building for the Future with the CACFP

Milk Quiz Show:

In an attempt to help you avoid the most common errors we see during CACFP reviews we are using this as a way to educate agencies on the milk requirements that are most commonly found as errors during program reviews.

Did you know?

• That milk must be served in its fluid form to be creditable in the CACFP
• That soy milk and rice milk are not creditable in the CACFP (unless supported by a special diet request/prescription signed by a recognized medical authority)

Check back next month for more Quiz Show learning. J

Kids in the Kitchen

Carrot and Raisin Salad

Source: Physical Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children

2 cups carrots, raw, grated

1 cup seedless raisins

1/3 cup nonfat mayonnaise

1/4 cup skim milk

Shred 2 cups peeled carrots and toss with 1 cup raisins. Stir in 1/3 cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup skim milk and serve.

Provides 1 fruit/vegetable for CACFP Snack for 1-5 year olds

Calories, 99: Fiber, 1 g; Total Fat, .1g; Saturated Fat, 0 g.

Snack Idea (1-5 year olds):

½ cup salad with ½ cup skim milk     

Back to Top

Kids on the Move

Jump the Line

Source: Physical Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children

Arrange the children so each child is on his or her own line (chalk line, tape line, strings, etc). Lines do not need to be near each other or in the same direction.

Jump with both feed down (along) along the line.

Jump over the line, turn and jump back over the line, repeat.

Jump from side to side over the line.

Jump forward and backward over the line.

Jump high over the line.

Repeat several times.

Allow the children to demonstrate or lead jumping by selecting one of the ways to jump.

Expand: Arrange children in a line, the first child is the leader who selects a way of jumping. The other children follow. You can be the leader too.

Back to Top

21st Century Community Learning Center Grants Available

The application process for the 2009 21st CCLC grants is open. Programs that support student learning outside of school time may apply for 21st Century Community Learning Center grants. Grant awards will range from $50,000 to $150,000 per year for five years. The South Dakota Department of Education will award the grants, which are available through the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

21st Century Community Learning Center grants are designed to strengthen after-school, Saturday and summer programs that support student learning and development and help students meet performance standards in core academic subjects such as reading and mathematics. The grants help schools, nonprofits, and other community-based organizations provide activities that complement or enrich regular academic programs for students attending high-poverty schools or schools identified for school improvement.

The department expects to award approximately six grants. In order to qualify for the grants, the applicant must serve school districts in which 40 percent or more of the students qualify for free and reduced meals.

In addition to academic enhancement, these grants can be used to provide a broad array of additional services for students, including drug and violence prevention programs, counseling programs; art, music and recreation programs; and character education programs.

Applications are available online at http://doe.sd.gov/oess/21cent/appprocess.asp.  Applications must be received by February 20, 2009.

For more information, contact Sue Burgard, South Dakota Department of Education, at (605) 773-5238 or sue.burgard@state.sd.us.

Reflections on Physical Activity

I have to exercise in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing. ~Marsha Doble

Commit to be fit. ~Author Unknown

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. ~John F. Kennedy

Back Top

DOE Home | State Home Page | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy

Copyright © Department of Education SD