Category Archives: Nutrition Services

Budding artists surprised as winners of Blast Off with a Healthy School Breakfast art contest

First-grader Nidarshani Chinthagunta gasped and her eyes widened as a bright turquoise bike adorned with white balloons was wheeled into the T.H. Rogers conference room where she stood sandwiched between her mother and school principal.

Grabbing the 20-inch Titan Tomcat by the seat and handlebars, she carefully eyed the new bike as she whispered a shy, “thank you.”

Nidarshani was one of two grand prize winners in the district’s “Blast Off with a Healthy School Breakfast” art contest held in honor of National School Breakfast Week in March.

More than 60 students submitted original artwork using the breakfast theme. A panel of judges from the district’s Nutrition Services and Fine Arts departments selected the top winners at the elementary and secondary levels.

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Nutrition classes at Attucks MS, Worthing HS set up students for success

As students begin to think about the future, Nutrition Services Culinary Educator Brittany Jones is working to ensure they’re equipped with a key ingredient for success — the basics of cooking.

Chef Jones is one of two educators who teach “Get Growing Houston” classes at Attucks Middle School and Worthing Early College High School. The 10-week classes were piloted at the schools to help students learn the importance of good nutrition and the fundamentals of cooking.

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HISD delivers meals directly to students through apartment complex distribution program

A steady wind churned gray clouds across the sky as dozens of HISD families lined up Thursday outside the Chestnut Hill Apartments office, waiting to pick up student meals for their children.

HISD’s Nutrition Services regularly delivers to this Southwest Houston apartment complex — and 24 others — to provide meals to virtual learning students whose families can’t get to curbside distributions.

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National School Breakfast Week shines light on food insecurity

Stationed in the hallway near the cafeteria, Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center junior Christopher Nazario ate his favorite breakfast cereal while going over the previous night’s homework on his laptop.  

Like many across the country, the Nazario family budget took a recent hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Having access to a healthy school breakfast served at no charge was a big help.

“Eating breakfast here helps my family, and it helps me because I can use the time in the morning to do homework,” Nazario said. “I know they offer a lot of different items for breakfast each morning. I hope they will serve pancakes sometime soon.”

National School Breakfast Week kicks off today (Monday, March 8) with the theme Blast Off with a Healthy School Breakfast. Nutrition Services is celebrating the week by shining a light on the role school breakfast plays in student success.

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HISD Nutrition Services honored for efforts to feed students

The Houston Independent School District was ranked No. 4 among the state’s top large school districts for its outstanding child nutrition program, according to the 2021 Kroger School Food Rankings released Tuesday.

Established by Children At Risk in partnership with Kroger, the rankings recognize top-performing school food programs that go above and beyond to ensure low-income students have access to healthy food.

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Community food distributions planned to help with winter storm recovery

The Houston Independent School District is partnering with Houston Food Bank to host community food distributions over the next three days to ensure Houston families have access to food as they recover from the winter storm.

The community distributions will be held it three different locations over the next three days — Barnett Stadium on Saturday, NRG on Sunday, and Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Monday.

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New HISD Neighborhood Supersite opening at Butler Stadium

The Houston Independent School District is opening a sixth Neighborhood Supersite at Butler Stadium in Southwest Houston to better serve families across the city.

The move is part of an ongoing effort to streamline student meals and community distribution efforts and focus food and resources at sites where the need is greatest.

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HISD streamlining Spring 2021 distribution efforts for student meals and community food and supplies

The Houston Independent School District is streamlining its student meals and community distribution efforts for the Spring 2021 semester.

After reviewing data through the fall, Nutrition Services is closing a dozen curbside student meal pick up locations with extremely low-to-no participation. The move is designed to allow the department to focus food and resources at the most populated sites were the need is greatest.

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HISD Neighborhood Supersites to resume weekly community distributions

With students back in class after winter break, Nutrition Services is re-starting its weekly Neighborhood Supersite community distribution program to ensure HISD students and families have continued access to good food.

The January supersites will kick off on Wednesday, Jan 6, at Barnett Stadium from 2 to 6 p.m. Another three supersites will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9 at Hattie Mae White and Hexser T. Holliday Food Services support centers and Sugar Grove Academy.

All sites provide seven days’ worth of student meals and family food boxes from the Houston Food Bank.

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HISD, No Kid Hungry join forces to distribute food and spread holiday cheer

Hundreds of cars idled under a grey sky with trunks ajar on Saturday as Nutrition Services worked to load them full of bags, heavy with holiday turkeys, groceries, and other household supplies.

Jessie Eagle was among those in line. She spent hours snaking through the parking lot, using the time to knit a scarf — a handmade holiday present — out of forest green yarn.

The mom of three said she was laid off earlier this year due to the pandemic, so she came to HISD’s Neighborhood Supersite at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Saturday for help.

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