Will It Be an Incumbent Sweep? - The Spectrum Magazine
Will It Be an Incumbent Sweep? - The Spectrum Magazine
Will It Be an Incumbent Sweep? - The Spectrum Magazine
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RCSD Corner: News From the Redwood City School District<br />
SCafeteria Time Is Surprisingly Robust for RWC Kids<br />
chool is back in session, <strong>an</strong>d each day thous<strong>an</strong>ds<br />
of Redwood City students file toward the<br />
lunchroom after working up <strong>an</strong> appetite from a<br />
morning of learning. While the prospect of a school<br />
lunch for some conjures the specter of mystery meat,<br />
the quality <strong>an</strong>d diversity of school lunch <strong>an</strong>d breakfast<br />
offerings in the Redwood City School District are<br />
impressive <strong>an</strong>d surprisingly robust.<br />
When President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010<br />
into law, which prescribed new m<strong>an</strong>dates for child nutrition programs to be<br />
phased in over several years, the district was able to report that it was already<br />
meeting m<strong>an</strong>y of the new provisions. Specifically, the new federal guidelines<br />
require <strong>an</strong> overall reduction in total calories, new cholesterol, fiber <strong>an</strong>d sodium<br />
thresholds, <strong>an</strong>d a discontinuation of Vitamin A <strong>an</strong>d C, iron <strong>an</strong>d calcium parameters<br />
in addition to various other recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.<br />
Redwood City School District serves up more th<strong>an</strong> 1,000,000 lunches per<br />
school year to its preschool through eighth-grade students. In addition to<br />
various entrees, there are weekly offerings of fresh, favorite seasonal fruits,<br />
such as watermelon, t<strong>an</strong>gerines <strong>an</strong>d strawberries (that are grown locally, to<br />
the extent possible) <strong>an</strong>d produce-of-the-month taste testing. District staff<br />
have even <strong>an</strong>alyzed various ways of presenting apples (presliced? whole?) to<br />
maximize their appeal to students, who c<strong>an</strong> be picky eaters.<br />
All pasta <strong>an</strong>d rice, <strong>an</strong>d over 90 percent of bread products, are whole grain.<br />
All lunch menus comply with the Healthy US Challenge gold st<strong>an</strong>dard award<br />
for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign. Over the coming<br />
months, portable all-you-c<strong>an</strong>-eat salad bars will be installed at each <strong>an</strong>d<br />
every one of the district’s 16 school sites.<br />
Another idea to build on <strong>an</strong> already impressive nutrition program is to<br />
add more freshly prepared, nonprocessed foods — which are healthier <strong>an</strong>d<br />
also tend to be more environmentally friendly. For example, though labor-<br />
intensive, h<strong>an</strong>d-rolled burritos have proved a popular option among students.<br />
Various student activities surrounding the cafeteria seek to impart valuable<br />
health <strong>an</strong>d nutrition knowledge <strong>an</strong>d better educate students to choose healthy<br />
lifestyles. An <strong>an</strong>nual cooking contest showcases students’ budding culinary<br />
abilities, <strong>an</strong>d International Week at Clifford exposes the children to a diverse<br />
sampling of multicultural fare.<br />
M<strong>an</strong>y schools also maintain org<strong>an</strong>ic gardens, <strong>an</strong>d instructors seek to<br />
connect the principles gle<strong>an</strong>ed from students’ participation therein with the<br />
food being served in the cafeteria.<br />
Board of Education Trustee Shelly Masur, who also sits on the district’s<br />
Wellness Committee, has long championed the cause of student health <strong>an</strong>d<br />
fitness; she frequently cites studies linking student wellness to learning <strong>an</strong>d<br />
achievement. “We know that when students are eating high-quality nutritious<br />
meals <strong>an</strong>d engaging in regular physical activity, they are enabled to perform<br />
better academically <strong>an</strong>d we see higher levels of student achievement,” said Masur.<br />
Students at Fair Oaks School sampling foods from their new portable salad bar<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Spectrum</strong> 5