All eight elementary schools in RSU 17 were recognized as bronze award winners of USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) at an assembly at Paris Elementary School. The awarded schools were Agnes Gray School, Guy E. Rowe School, Hebron Station School, Harrison Elementary School, Otisfield Community School, Oxford Elementary School, Paris Elementary, and Waterford Memorial School.
Award certificates signed by Food and Nutrition Services Northeast Regional Administrator, Kurt Messner, were presented to food service staff. Also recognized were Jodi Truman and Martha O’Leary, Food Service Directors and Jen Cash, Director of Health and Physical Education for their leadership in creating environments and policies to meet the criteria. Each principal accepted the HUSSC plaques for their school and a banner is displayed at each school.
Since 2010, 151 schools in Maine have received one of these prestigious awards. Nationally, a select group of only about seven percent of schools throughout the United States is certified as a HUSSC school. HUSSC schools meet a selection of criteria to improve the school health environment for students in addition to meeting the updated school meal patterns with a focus on whole grains, more variety of fruits and vegetables and low fat milk.
For more information, contact Program Coordinator with Maine DOE’s Child Nutrition Services Gail Lombardi at gail.lombardi@maine.gov.