Category Archives: Health/Wellness

Westside HS students win Cooking Up Change competition for second time

CookingUpChangeThree students representing Westside High School’s Culinary Arts Program won grand champion for the second year in a row at the Cooking Up Change Culinary Competition held on March 28.

Jalien Noel, Jose Acosta, and Briseida Salas wowed judges with a Cajun chicken with black bean hoppin’ John, Texas cabbage and greens, and pineapple turnover. Their winning meal will be featured on next school year’s high school lunch menu. The team will also travel to Washington, D.C. in June to represent Texas in the national Cooking Up Change competition against more than ten teams from across the nation.

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Yates HS students receive practical training for health services careers

Students at Yates High School are getting practical experience in the health services arena. The Health Science Program at Yates HS is in its first year, and the new Jack Yates Community Clinic opened at the beginning of March. Services provided in the Community Clinic include blood pressure screenings for faculty, staff and students, height and weight measurements, and patient education. Continue reading →

TX Dept. of Agriculture dubs HISD Nutrition Services the ‘Cream of the Crop’

Nutrition Services representatives (L-R): Glenn Topfer (vendor liaison), Amanda Oceguera (nutrition manager), Angela Olige (chief administrator), and Audene Chung (senior administrator) accept the award on behalf of the district.

Nutrition Services representatives (L-R): Glenn Topfer (vendor liaison), Amanda Oceguera (nutrition manager), Angela Olige (chief administrator), and Audene Chung (senior administrator) accept the award on behalf of the district.

HISD’s Nutrition Services department was recently recognized for supporting agriculture in the Lone Star State. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) presented it with a “Cream of the Crop” award on Jan. 8 for the district’s commitment to sourcing food locally.

Each year, the TDA challenges schools to use more Texas products in the meals they serve during National School Lunch Week and recognizes those who complete the challenge.

HISD served nine menu items that were locally sourced, including milk from Oak Farms, apple juice from Cal-Tex, and tortillas from Kurz.

“Our vision is to create more recipes from scratch, sourcing the ingredients and menu items locally to not only provide wholesome meals for our students, but also to support the Texas community,” said Audene Chung, senior administrator of Nutrition Services.

This was the district’s second year of recognition. HISD Nutrition Services was also presented with the Grapefruit Award for completing a local products challenge last year.

On-campus licensed athletic trainers help students get back on track

Licensed Athletic Trainer Stephanie Polydore helped her Waltrip HS student Xavier Smith recover from a season-ending injury last fall. Now fully recovered, he plans to run track this spring.

Licensed Athletic Trainer Stephanie Polydore helped her Waltrip HS student Xavier Smith recover from a season-ending injury last fall. Now fully recovered, he plans to run track this spring.

For Licensed Athletic Trainer (LAT) Stephanie Polydore, one of the most gratifying aspects of her job is helping injured student athletes get back on track—both literally and figuratively.

 “I love helping athletes get back to their full ability to compete in their sport,” said Polydore, who also teaches a sports medicine class at Waltrip High School.

The former stadium-based LAT is now one of only two campus-based LATS in HISD (the other is at Chávez HS). And while Polydore wasn’t able to salvage the football season for senior Xavier Smith, who broke his leg during the very first scrimmage of the season, thanks to the rehab he completed under her supervision, “he says he feels stronger now than he did before he was injured. He’s actually going to run track this spring.”

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Health program to help students focus, stay calm expands to 26 schools

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Breathing exercises and yoga poses are just a few of the things HISD students learn in the Sonima Health and Wellness program. Fourteen additional HISD schools now offer the curriculum, which is offered by the Sonima Foundation and teaches students multiple skills for a healthier lifestyle.

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Missy the cow teaches students all about milk

Mobile Dairy Cow

Larry Graham and Missy the cow show students where milk comes from.

Students may never look at a carton of milk the same way again after seeing firsthand where dairy milk comes from, thanks to farmer Larry Graham and his favorite cow, Missy.

Graham and L.P. Voskamp are instructors for the Southwest Dairy Farmers Mobile Dairy Classroom, an outreach program that teaches children about the dairy industry. Elmore Elementary School students recently learned how dairy foods contribute to good health, the anatomy of dairy cows, and how the milking process works. They also got to meet Missy up close. Continue reading →

HISD school nurses get additional training on preventing spread of flu

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HISD school nurses attended a training session recently on the best way to manage and prevent the spread of communicable diseases such as influenza.

In Texas, the flu is currently being reported at higher levels than this time last year. The same holds true for HISD, where more elementary school children have been diagnosed with the flu than other grade levels. Continue reading →