Video of entire ceremony:
From TUSD Press Release:
Event to celebrate three TUSD schools that won national
Bronze Awards in HealthierUS School Challenge
C.E. Rose, Tully elementary schools, Pueblo High lauded for improvements in food, nutrition, exercise
Tucson, AZ, November 15, 2013 – Three Tucson Unified School District schools will be honored for earning a Bronze Award in the HealthierUS School Challenge at a celebration on Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. to noon at Pueblo High School’s auditorium, 3500 S. 12th Ave.
C.E. Rose and Tully elementary schools and Pueblo Magnet High School earned the designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s voluntary healthy school initiative by meeting criteria in three areas: offering healthful food options, providing nutrition education and increasing physical activity.
The TUSD schools are the only schools in Tucson to be recognized with the awards, and Pueblo is the first high school in Arizona to win the award.
At the celebration, each school will showcase activities their teams accomplished to earn the award, and students will share their stories. TUSD’s Food Services department will host a taste-test exhibit featuring new FUSION stations that have been added to some school cafeterias. FUSION menu items incorporate cuisines from around the world.
Mary Szafranski, associate superintendent for Health and Nutrition Services at the Arizona Department of Education, will present the awards. TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, community partners and other representatives from the Arizona Department of Education will be in attendance to congratulate the schools.
Shirley Sokol, director of TUSD’s Food Services, and her department have worked closely with the schools and their nutrition teams to develop menus and make changes that led to achieving the Bronze Award.
“I was impressed by activities at each school: The walking paths, the field trips to the grocery store, the school gardens that tie into lifelong lessons,” Sokol says. “Students at Pueblo High School wanted to know what they should do to incorporate a healthy diet and exercise plan into their life. I found their commitment to pass on the information they learned to their families and communities unbending.”
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