Throughout the year, school nutrition services teams work to ensure students receive free, healthy and appetizing meals to help them thrive even when school is not in session.
During National Nutrition Month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the Fullerton School District alongside 12 other school districts in California for making extraordinary efforts to serve students high-quality meals during the 2023 summer months.
A total of 140 school districts, government agencies and nonprofits across the U.S. received the Turnip the Beet award for addressing food insecurity and supporting good nutrition in their communities.
According to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services, this year’s honorees were selected for the creativity displayed in their summer meal programs, whether engaging students in nutrition education during mealtime or teaching them how to plant the fruits and vegetables that later made their way to their plates.
The Fullerton School District was joined in the gold category by other education agencies in California including the Goleta Union School District, the Ontario-Montclair School District and the Santa Cruz City Schools Food Services Department, along with the Moreno Valley, Yuba City and Rialto unified school districts.
A complete list of organizations selected for the Turnip the Beet award can be found at the USDA Food and Nutrition Services website.
Here are the other stories we’ve been tracking this week:
- On Monday, nine local staff members were named the 2024 Orange County Classified School Employees of the Year by the Orange County Department of Education.
- As the 48th annual Orange County Arts and Disability Festival returns April 27 with a new mistress of ceremonies and interpreter, longtime duo William Allen Young and Paula Dunn reflected on the past four decades hosting the joy-filled festival.
- Local superintendents, legislators and policy shapers recently convened to discuss pressing issues impacting local schools for the second annual Legislative Roundtable Day hosted by OCDE.
- More than 100 Orange County scholars will head to Sacramento in April after receiving medals for their original projects in the National History Day-Orange County competition.
- State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced that REACH Academy in the Santa Ana Unified School District was one of California’s eight Model Community Day Schools for 2024.
- Through a partnership between OCDE’s Alternative Education division and the Art4Healing program, ACCESS students can express their emotions through abstract art and weekly workshops on campus.
- After being named among the 2024 California Distinguished Schools, 38 Orange County campuses were decorated with celebratory yard signs by more than two dozen volunteers from OCDE.
- With a 36-year career serving students, Dr. Clint Harwick has announced his retirement as superintendent of the Huntington Beach Union High School District.
- The Orange County Register announced that 892 students have been nominated for the annual Artist of the Year program.
- A new robotics curriculum inspired by the TV show “Battlebots” is making its way to Oak Middle School in the Los Alamitos Unified School District.
- According to the Register, multiple school districts sent out reduction in force notices to employees — a precautionary measure for districts and charter schools to maintain flexibility as they prepare for uncertain financial prospects.
- Los Alamitos High School students created a film to help their classmate Brady, who has cerebral palsy, win a new adaptive bicycle that he can use on rides with his family.
This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroom, subscribing for emailed updates and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.