Category Archives: Nutrition Services

HISD Nutrition Services is perfectly peachy after Texas Department of Agriculture award

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HISD Nutrition Services was recently recognized with the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Perfect Peach Award for offering locally sourced products such as summer squash, apples and watermelon on school menus.

The state’s Local Products Challenge, which asked districts to use more Texas products in their schools, is in line with Nutrition Services’ commitment to use locally grown products on its menus so students become familiar with the agricultural diversity of the Lone Star State.

At Stevens Elementary School, HISD Chef Brittany Jones recently demonstrated how to use summer squash in a variety of fun and tasty ways. “The students enjoyed learning about spaghetti squash,” said Jones. “They never imagined they could use a vegetable in place of noodles.”

Besides fruits and vegetables, HISD also serves milk and fresh bread from Texas.

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NASA astronaut celebrates National School Breakfast Week with HISD

AstronautatGrissomESNASA astronaut Mike Fincke visited with Grissom ES students on March 10 to help HISD’s Nutrition Services Department celebrate National School Breakfast Week.

First, he presented a video that showed him and his fellow astronauts enjoying their mission on the International Space Station and fueling their bodies for space travel.

“We have fun with our food because it floats. Do you know why it floats?” asked Fincke. “No gravity!” shouted the students.

Fincke explained how space food needs to be packaged to stay fresh and nutritious so astronauts can remain healthy while in space. “We especially enjoy the fresh fruits and vegetables we get when a care package is delivered with a supply cargo from earth.”

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HISD Nutrition Services called a ‘role model’ after acing state review

TDA Lead Monitors Kelly Craig and Sally Page sign the preliminary review report to Nutrition Services Senior Administrator Audene Chung.

TDA Lead Monitors Kelly Craig and Sally Page sign the preliminary review report to Nutrition Services Senior Administrator Audene Chung.

HISD’s Nutrition Services Department was praised recently by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) as a “role model” for other districts after achieving a near-perfect score on an administrative review.

The preliminary review debriefing took place on Feb. 26, and Nutrition Services was praised for its efforts to provide HISD students with the best school meals in the state.

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HISD observes National School Breakfast Week March 7–11

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The Houston Independent School District encourages students to start their day with a healthy breakfast. That’s why HISD’s Nutrition Services Department is observing National School Breakfast Week March 7–11, with the theme of “Blasting off with Breakfast.” The districtwide effort highlights the many benefits of HISD’s free breakfast program.

This year, Nutrition Services invited two local heroes to show students the importance of breakfast at school. On March 8, the Houston Texan’s mascot Toro pumped up students for a day of learning in the breakfast line at Montgomery ES, courtesy of Dairy MAX. And on March 10, NASA Astronaut Mike Fincke will be on a mission at Grissom ES to talk about the importance of healthy eating for space travel.

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School Meal Challenge improving student health through competition

Kennedy ES students enjoy a pizza party after achieving 100-percent participation in HISD's breakfast program.

Kennedy ES students enjoy a pizza party after achieving 100-percent participation in HISD’s school breakfast program.

HISD’s Nutrition Services Department is supporting students in achieving high scores on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) by working with schools to adapt, promote, and reinvigorate their meal programs for the upcoming testing season.

The department launched a friendly competition on Feb. 10 to see which schools could increase their on-campus meal consumption by students by at least three percent. The School Meal Challenge, which runs through April 4, is designed to improve students’ academic performance and health by encouraging children to eat district-provided breakfast and lunch.

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First Class Breakfast expands to middle and high schools

A student at Jackson Middle School enjoys breakfast at her desk through the First Class Breakfast program.

A student at Jackson Middle School enjoys breakfast at her desk through the First Class Breakfast program.

HISD has been serving healthy, nutritious breakfasts for free to all students every school morning since 2010, and many of them receive it right in the classroom through First Class Breakfast.

Now, even more secondary students are taking advantage of this option. First Class Breakfast was already in place at 40 middle and high schools, but Nutrition Services recently added two more schools to the program and continues to add schools weekly.

Offering breakfast to students in the classroom eliminates many of the obstacles that get in the way of students eating the first meal of the day. Kenya Davis, a student at Washington High School, noted that some of her classmates ride the bus and get to school just as the bell rings. “I love the idea of breakfast in the classroom,” she said. “It gives students who are on time for school — but late for breakfast — an opportunity to eat.”

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New inspection app simplifies food quality assurance in HISD schools

HISD Nutrition Services Quality Control Representative Jeffery Chenier conducts food inspections in school kitchens using a new web-based inspection application.

HISD Nutrition Services Quality Control Representative Jeffery Chenier conducts food inspections in school kitchens using a new web-based inspection application.

Every day, HISD Nutrition Services quality control representatives visit school cafeteria kitchens to ensure that food is safe to serve and kitchens meet the city’s safety standards.

Nutrition Services recently upgraded its quality control inspection process with a new mobile application that allows for faster food-safety assessments. The new application helps quality control representatives inspect more schools and share more information with other departments.

“The application easily tracks scores for each school and we are able to send the reports directly to the operations team,” said Quality Assurance Manager Heather Kohn. “We can also attach pictures, giving a better understanding of the issues that need to be addressed.” Kohn added that Nutrition Services puts great emphasis on food safety and the prevention of foodborne illnesses in the district’s school kitchens.

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Students with food sensitivities get careful treatment from HISD’s Nutrition Services

Only about 700 — or less than one percent — of HISD students have special dietary needs that require restricted diets, but providing those children with healthy, nourishing food is all in a day’s work for HISD’s Nutrition Services department.

Dietitian Lindsay Smith works closely with nurses and kitchen staff to monitor students who need allergen-free meals, and HISD as a district eliminated all peanut and tree-nut products from its recipes two years ago as a precaution, to prevent accidental allergic reactions.

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Nutrition Services encourages culinary students to bake healthy recipes at home

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As a reward for cooking healthier at home, four Gregory Lincoln Education Center students received laptops for participating in a Nutrition Services department healthy recipe contest. Culinary arts students were challenged to bake the Nutrition Services’ sweet potato muffin recipe, which utilizes whole grain flour and real sweet potatoes.

Nutrition Services Education Dietitian Jennifer Lengyel and Gregory Lincoln’s Culinary Arts Teacher Kelly Karavias encouraged the students to integrate nutritious ingredients into a recipe that the whole family will enjoy. “Everybody likes a delicious, warm muffin,” Karavias said. “Parents like it, little kids like it.”

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Service Excellence team hosts first quarterly WOW! card drawing

If you recently received a WOW! card for Service Excellence, you may be a winner of a prize!

HISD’s Business Operations department and Service Excellence team hosted the first quarterly WOW! drawing at Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Wednesday, recognizing employees for going above and beyond in customer service.

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