USDA Leader to Join 3 Idaho Elementary Schools to Present National Recognition Award in the HealthierUS School Challenge

On Thursday and Friday, Sept.29 & 30, 2011, USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Deputy Regional Director Jesus Mendoza will join students in Northern Idaho to recognize 3 local schools for receiving USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge Silver awards. Award winning schools are Harrison Elementary School (Harrison, ID), Kootenai School District, Spirit Lake Elementary (Spirit Lake, ID), Lakeland School District and A.B. McDonald Elementary School (Moscow, Idaho), Moscow School District. See event details below.

The challenge is a voluntary initiative established in 2004 to recognize schools participating in the National School Lunch Program that have created healthier school environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity. Mendoza will also join students for activities including a school assembly, garden tour, student nutrition and physical education demonstrations.

USDA's Food and Nutrition Service oversees the administration of 15 nutrition assistance programs, including the child nutrition programs. Improving child nutrition is also a focal point of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act that was signed in to law by President Obama in December 2010. This legislation authorizes USDA’s child nutrition programs, including the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program, which serves nearly 32 million children each day. It will allow USDA, for the first time in over 30 years, the chance to make real reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act is the legislative centerpiece of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative. To learn more, visit http://www.letsmove.gov/.

Thursday, September 29, 2011
Harrison Elementary School
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

WHAT: USDA FNS Deputy Regional Director Jesus Mendoza will join students from Harrison Elementary School to recognize the school for receiving USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge Silver award. Representatives from the Idaho State Department of Education, and local school officials will join Mendoza for lunch with students.

WHERE:

Harrison Elementary School
13030 E. O’Gara Road
Harrison, Idaho 83833
(208) 689-3631

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Friday, September 30, 201l
Spirit Lake Elementary School
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

WHAT: USDA Deputy Regional Director Jesus Mendoza will join students from Spirit Lake Elementary School to recognize the school for receiving USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge Silver award. Representatives from the Idaho State Department of Education and local school district officials will join Mendoza and students for breakfast and school assembly.

WHERE:

Spirit Lake Elementary School
32605 N. 5th Street
Spirit Lake, Idaho 83869
(208) 687-5451

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Friday, September 30, 2011
A.B. McDonald Elementary School
12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

WHAT: USDA Deputy Regional Director Jesus Mendoza will join students from Spirit Lake Elementary School to recognize the school for receiving USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge Silver award. Representatives from the Idaho State Department of Education, and local school officials will join Mendoza and students for lunch and a school assembly.

WHERE:

A.B. McDonald Elementary School
2323 East D Street
Moscow, Idaho 83843
(208) 892-1123