Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 11A
School System receives Award
SYSTEM WINS AWARD
The Barrow County School System received the annual Golden Radish Award from state agencies for its gains made over the past year in the farm-to-
school movement. Above left: Representatives from the various school districts that were honored are pictured in the state Capitol building in Atlanta.
Above right: Pictured, from left to right, are: Public Health Commissioner Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, State School Superintendent Richard Woods, Pamela
LeFrois, School Nutrition Director, Nicole Trunk, School Nutrition Coordinator, Mary Maples, School Nutrition Manager, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner
Gary Black and Georgia Organics Executive Director Alice Rolls.
Barrow honored by state for farm-to-school accomplishments
Georgia’s Departments of
Agriculture, Public Health, Edu
cation and Georgia Organics
came together under the presti
gious Gold Dome for the annual
Golden Radish Awards to cele
brate incredible gains made in
the farm to school movement.
Fifty-three school districts —
nearly one-third of all public
school districts in Georgia with
a reach of over 1 million stu
dents — are now participating
in farm to school programs and
recognized through the Golden
Radish Awards.
Barrow County School Sys
tem was recognized with the
Golden Radish Award at the
Gold level for their accomplish
ments during the 2015-2016
school year, which include:
•Locally grown food was fea
tured on the menu 123 days
during the school year with a
different local item highlighted
every month.
•All third graders in the dis
trict grew their own cabbag
es from seed. Students learned
how to care for plants
while applying their math
skills with addition, sub
traction and comparisons
in the garden.
•Second grade elementa
ry students from Statham
Elementary partnered
with high school students
at the Sims Academy of
Plant Sciences Program for
a live-streaming event in
which Academy students
Christmas
parade set
for Dec. 10
The 68th Winder Christ
mas Parade will be held on
Saturday, Dec. 10. begin
ning at 4 p.m.
The parade will take
place along North Broad
Street, going through
downtown beginning at
Ingles, traveling south to
East Athens Street towards
Jug Tavern Park.
The road closures will be
as follows:
•North Broad Street from
Lake Drive to May Street,
and Athens Street East
to MLK Drive. The road
closures will begin at the
parade’s commencement.
•East Candler Street
between North Broad Street
to Park Avenue, and North
Jackson Street between
Candler Street and Midland
Avenue will also be closed
between the hours of 7 a.m.
and 11 p.m. on Dec. 10.
for parade festivities which
include a holiday concert
immediately following the
parade, vendors, kids activ
ities and the holiday ice
skating rink.
If there are any questions,
contact city clerk April
Plank at 678-425-6805 or
april.plank@ cityofwinder.
gave the second graders a vir
tual tour of their greenhouse.
The second graders were able
to ask the high schoolers about
plant care and identification and
prevention of plant diseases in
preparation for planning their
own classroom garden.
The Golden Radish Award
publicly recognizes school dis
tricts for all aspects of farm to
school, from local food pro
curement to hosting taste tests
to gardening with students,
and is awarded at Gold, Silver,
Bronze, and Honorary Levels.
Districts were evaluated on their
work in ten different activities
of farm to school.
"It is incredible to see the
growth of farm to school pro
grams in the last few years,”
stated Alice Rolls, Georgia
Organics Executive Director.
“Every day, children across
our state are getting the oppor
tunity to grow and taste Georgia
food in school. I’m excited to
see Georgia’s schools invest in
Georgia farmers and in our chil
dren at the same time."
Districts of all sizes are uti
lizing farm to school programs
to teach academic standards
in school gardens, support the
local economy through local
food purchases for school meals,
and fight childhood obesity and
other preventable food-related
diseases.
"Our ultimate goal here at
the department is for commu
nities to take ownership of their
school cafeterias, similarly to
how we all push for excellence
in the classroom, the arts, and
athletics,” said Georgia Agri
culture Commissioner Gary W.
Black.
“We are proud to have so
many Georgia Grown Feed My
School participants recognized
here today and are excited as to
what current and future Gold
en Radish Award winners will
accomplish as we work toward
our 2020 Vision for School
Nutrition in Georgia.”
State Superintendent Richard
Woods agreed with Commis
sioner Black, emphasizing the
benefits of connecting educa
tion to Georgia’s largest indus
try.
"Having access to fresh,
farm to school meals is great
for Georgia’s students,” said
Woods. “Farm to school pro
grams also connect students
with agriculture, which is an
enormously important industry
for our state. We appreciate the
Golden Radish Award because
it recognizes those school dis
tricts that are striving every day
to provide more farm to school
meals.”
To top it off, Brenda Fitzger
ald, M.D., commissioner of the
Georgia Department of Public
Health, noted the combined edu
cational and long-term health
benefits of farm to school.
"Farm to school teaches our
children the importance of food
that helps bodies grow healthy
and strong and food that pro
motes learning,” said Fitzgerald.
"When children learn as early as
possible where their food comes
from, they are more likely to
eat fresh, nutritious foods that
will sustain healthy choices that
spread to families and commu
nities.”
During the 2015-2016 school
year, school districts collective
ly:
•Served 39 million school
meals that included local food
•Held 8,246 taste tests of
fresh, local food to students
•Taught 3,406 garden, food
and nutrition lessons to students
•Tended 575 edible school
gardens
•Hosted 1,935 hands-on cook
ing activities with students
•Incorporated farm to school
into 390 staff professional
development opportunities
•Championed and sustained
district-wide policies or proce
dures into 29 schools districts
Needless to say, the 2015-16
school year was a banner year
for farm to school in Georgia,
and all participants were thrilled
to celebrate at the Golden Rad
ish Awards.
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