Schools take team approach to training

Food and Nutrition, Dec, 1992

In North Dakota, NET coordinator Loris Freier is encouraging school teamwork by offering mini-grants to support in-service training for teachers.

The state also awards mini-grants on a competitive basis to help schools purchase materials and conduct more comprehensive school nutrition education projects.

As Freier explains, schools have used the mini-grants to put together a variety of in-service training programs for teachers, and using teamwork has been very effective. "Many of these programs involve school administrators, the food service staff, parents, and other members of the community who may benefit," she says.

When a grant is awarded, Freier works with the school district to find a resource person to teach the in-service course. The person is often a home economics instructor, a registered dietitian, an Extension home economist, or a licensed nutritionist.

Everyone likes team approach

The instructors as well as workshop participants like having many people involved in the training. "To do a workshop when a whole team is involved is rewarding," says nutrition education consultant Pam Vukelic of Bismarck, who conducted a training program in the Selfridge School District. "And getting the message to everyone at the same time ensures the success of the project."

Selfridge was awarded a $500 mini-grant to fund a 7-hour program, presented in two afterschool sessions. According to district superintendent Robert Braun, who was very supportive of the project, the team approach was a natural for the district.

"As small as our school community is," he says, "we really work closely in all we do. People attending the nutrition workshop weren't there because they were required to be, but because they're all dependent on each other to carry it out.

"That's why the principals, coaches, cooks, teachers, and teachers' aides all feel the commitment they do. We sent a letter home to all parents inviting them to participate, too."

Training targeted to the district

Districts receiving in-service grants must have teachers complete a survey indicating which nutrition topics they need to know more about. Based on Selfridge teachers' responses, Vukelic identified two priority areas.

"I included an overview of nutritional requirements in relation to health, then provided more indepth information on how to meet daily nutrition needs by eating the right variety of foods," she says.

Holding the two sessions one month apart in February and March gave teachers an opportunity to try out nutrition activities in their classrooms and come back with feedback and questions. As well as working with the students, the teachers gathered personal information about their own nutritional status and habits.

In addition to all of the district's teachers, a number of parents participated, including the parent-teacher organization president, Cheryl Feist, who helped with the grant application process.

"The parents learned some of the foods they typically fed their children weren't the best choices," says Braun.

Results were noticeable

There were many noticeable results from the training. "After teachers introduced new foods in classroom nutrition activities, we could see that students were more interested in trying different foods offered in the cafeteria. We also now have more students who regularly participate in school lunch," says Braun.

"I have also noticed much more excitement among the teachers about doing nutrition activities. In fact, some of them spent their own money to get additional resource materials. We've already submitted a proposal for a mini-grant to purchase more materials for next year."

In all, 91 North Dakota school districts received mini-grants last year. Eight of the grants were for inservice teacher training. This year a number of new schools as well as some previous grantees are submitting proposals for projects.