Over the past year, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service partnered with the Institute for Child Nutrition (ICN) to host seven regional workshops called Team Up for School Nutrition Success. The two day, face-to-face workshops used a research-based mentorship model to educate and empower school nutrition professionals around the country. Each training was tailored to the specific needs of that region. Topics included everything from menu planning to financial management and meal presentation. Participants shared challenges and solutions, identified program strengths, and developed action plans for implementing their new ideas.
Thanks to the Team Up for School Nutrition Success training, the participants reported they can now:
“Breathe easy. I can now say I have people who will help guide me in the right direction.” – Cheryl Bowers, Courtland, VA.
“Feel good about what I’m doing and what I want to do. [I can] go back and work on my goals. I will be successful.” – Bruce Davis, Farmville VA.
“Communicate better with my superiors on what this department clearly needs. I have defined goals and a clearer view. I’m also aware that many districts share my struggles – so I’m not alone.” – Kerry Y. Billner, San Jose, CA.
More than 650 people attended the seven trainings, not to mention the more than 4,700 that participated in the corresponding webinars each month. Across the board, the feedback received from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. They walked away with valuable knowledge that they would be able to put to use immediately. For example, Charlotte Davis from Arkansas shared:
“Having the panelists talk about increasing participation and menu planning was really helpful to me because it’s easy to get stuck in a rut and you want to do new things so that gave me a lot of new ideas to take back to my staff to see how much of this we can use.”
Another attendee, Katherine Alexander from Vermont, stated:
“I really appreciated the peer mentoring model, especially the intentional method… In each of my small groups I had the opportunity to hone my skills.”
For many one of the most beneficial parts of the workshops was the opportunity to network with other school nutrition professionals like themselves. Margret Farris from Washington exclaimed:
“I can’t wait to email mentors and others I have met at the conference. I had no training – no one to call – I was ‘professionally isolated’ this past year. I now have a family to ask and answer questions, give and receive support.”
Texan Shelly Copeland added:
“One of the things I’m taking away from here is the relationships we’re establishing because we do depend on each other for ideas. No one is re-inventing wheels, we’re all learning things that other people are doing. Even if we can’t do things exactly how they’re doing them in other school districts, we can tweak them and make them work for us.”
The Team Up coordinators are thrilled to hear and see the impact these trainings have already had on the participants, their schools districts, and the students. To continue that momentum, USDA is excited to announce that we’re extending the Team Up for School Nutrition Success program! Next week, USDA and ICN will host a Team Up consultant orientation to train approximately 40 consultants on how to facilitate a Team Up for School Nutrition Success workshop. These consultants could then be hired by state agencies and regional offices to facilitate additional workshops. Then, on November 17, we’ll hold a “train the trainer” session for up to 100 state agency representatives so they can take Team Up back to their own state. Together, these trainings will make Team Up for School Nutrition Success a long-term sustainable training program and will prepare for future expansion efforts.
For more information about the Team Up for School Nutrition Success initiative, check out these guest blogs authored by former participants in the Team Up workshops. For more information on other training and resources available to school nutrition professionals, visit our Healthier School Day website.