SNAC Bites – April 2015 Welcome to the April 2015 issue of SNA Communication (SNAC) Bites! SNAC Bites highlights new SNA programs and provides content for your state association newsletters, chapter meetings, and social media. This issue includes: 1. Don’t Forget: ANC 2015 Pre-Conference Workshops 2. Celebrate Your Heroes on May 1 3. Upcoming SNA Webinars: CEP, Professional Standards, and More 4. Let’s Get Social Education Series 5. SNA Seeking Nominations for National Board and Standing Committees 6. Spring Membership Drive: Let’s Recruit and Win! 7. Calling All SNA Chapter Leaders: Attend Chapter Leadership Day 8. Nationwide School Cafeteria Challenges Map 9. Share your STEPS Success! 10. Come Socialize with SNA 11. New State and Grassroots Policy Resources 12. SNA Presents Oral Testimony to USDA and HHS on the Dietary Guidelines 13. Share with Students–Check Out My Plate Video Search 14. Every Member Campaign: Lighting the Way for 2015 15. School for Healthy Kids Issues RFP for School Breakfast Program Grants 1. Don’t Forget: ANC 2015 Pre-Conference Workshops Headed to Salt Lake City this summer for ANC 2015? Make sure to check out the Saturday pre-conference sessions. These deep-dive sessions give you the opportunity to get ahead of the curve with the latest information on critical school nutrition topics. As an added bonus, when you attend you’ll also earn extra CEUs! To browse the offerings, click here. 2. Celebrate Your Heroes on May 1 May 1, 2015 is School Lunch Hero Day! This special holiday is designated to honor and thank hardworking school nutrition employees like cashiers, cooks, and line workers. Get inspired to plan a special celebration online at www.schoolnutrition.org/heroday. 3. Upcoming SNA Webinars: CEP, Professional Standards, and More Learn about hot topics in school nutrition and earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) with SNA’s popular professional development webinars. Upcoming webinars include:  Wednesday, April 29 at 2:00pm EST: Social Media: Start Creating a Strategy!  Wednesday, May 13 at 3:00pm EST: Community Eligibility Provision: Beyond the Basics  Wednesday, May 27 at 2:00pm EST: How SNA’s Professional Development Programs Can Help You Meet Professional Standards Participation in each of these webinars is worth 1 SNA CEU. For a full listing of upcoming SNA webinars and an archive of previous SNA webinar recordings and presentations, please visit: www.schoolnutrition.org/webinars. 4. Let’s Get Social Education Series Are you looking to strengthen your program’s social media presence, or start a new page? SNA is offering a new education series created just for school nutrition social media! The series kicks off with a webinar in April 2015. Stay tuned for more education opportunities both online and at ANC 2015, NLC 2015, and more! SNAC Bites Newsletter April 2015 5. SNA Seeking Nominations for National Board and Standing Committees Serving on the SNA national board or on a SNA national committee offers exciting opportunities to grow professionally, develop new skills, work on issues from a national perspective and make a contribution to the school nutrition profession. The SNA Nominating Committee is currently seeking nominations for open Board of Directors and Nominating Committee positions for the 2015 election. To submit a nomination for one or more of the open positions, please complete the Potential Candidate Recommendation Form and submit it to SNA headquarters by May 30, 2015. For questions, please contact Jean Geraghty at [email protected] or (800) 877-8822, ext. 135. 6. Spring Membership Drive: Let’s Recruit and Win! We have the opportunity to win big this spring and boost our membership to strengthen our association! Our mission is to recruit as many new members and retain as many current members as possible to meet or exceed our 3% membership growth goal. Our state association could be the Membership Division Champion! Plus, if YOU recruit members, you can win, too! If you bring in 5 or more new members to SNA this year through the Annual Membership Campaign, you will be entered in a raffle to win an all-expenses paid spa day for two or 1 of 7 complimentary registrations to ANC 2016! For more information about the Annual Membership Campaign and how you can win big by recruiting, click here. 7. Calling All SNA Chapter Leaders: Attend Chapter Leadership Day! Need ideas to reinvigorate your chapter? Want to network with other chapter leaders from across the country? Chapter Leadership Day (CLD) is a unique event just for you! If you’re a local or state SNA chapter leader , don’t miss this annual interactive, informative and fun event led by JoAnne Robinett, MSA, SNS of America's Meal Child Nutrition Consulting and Training, and Kathy Burrill, SNS, Director of Food Service for Chisago Lakes Area Schools. CLD will take place on Saturday, July 11, from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm at SNA’s Annual National Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. It will feature topics such as developing a strong leadership team, planning effective and engaging meetings, building membership, and more. Registration is required. The cost is $25, which includes breakfast. 8. Nationwide School Cafeteria Challenges Map There’s a new tool on the School Nutrition Association website that allows you to see a breadth of samples of how schools have been affected by some of the requirements of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The “Cafeteria Challenges” map documents how schools in every region of the country have struggled with unintended negative consequences of USDA’s school food regulations. Examples extend from Oregon’s Portland Public Schools drastic participation decline all the way to the east coast where the Green Lake School District was backed into opting out of the National School Lunch altogether so that it could serve healthy meals that students will eat. 9. Share your STEPS Success! Enter the STEPS Challenge Small Victories Sweepstakes by telling us one health and wellness goal you’ve achieved. When you do, you’ll automatically be entered for an all-expenses paid trip for two to attend ANC 2015 in Salt Lake City*! Enter online today. *Void where prohibited or restricted by law. 10. Come Socialize with SNA SNA is now on Instagram! Follow us (SchoolNutritionAssoc) for school nutrition photos, stories, and fun. While you’re at it, don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well. SNAC Bites Newsletter April 2015 11. New State and Grassroots Policy Resources 2015 has been a busy year for state legislatures and to assist SNA members, new resources have been added to the State and Grassroots Advocacy Tools webpage. Check out a new PowerPoint template on State Advocacy, tips on grassroots outreach, and other helpful information! Is there something missing you’d like to see? Contact the Director of State Government Affairs at 301-686-3101 or email [email protected]. And keep checking back for additional resources and information in the coming months! 12. SNA Presents Oral Testimony to USDA and HHS on the Dietary Guidelines On March 24, 2015, Mary Klatko, a Maryland based operator with 40 years of experience running school nutrition programs spoke on behalf of SNA to a panel of government officials from USDA and HHS. She was one of 75 to provide oral testimony. SNA is in the process of developing written remarks in response to the recently released Scientific Report issued on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans that will go into further detail. Members had an opportunity to provide input to the Association and the remarks will be reviewed by the nutrition committee and approved by the board of directors. Once those are finalized, SNA will share those remarks as well. Click here for more about the Dietary Guidelines process. Click here for SNA’s oral testimony provided by Mary Klatko. 13. Share with Students–Check Out My Plate Video Search As part of SNA’s involvement with USDA’s MyPlate Strategic Partnership, we have jointly sponsored a video contest for kids! The Check Out MyPlate Video Search is challenging kids across the country to submit a short video (approximately 60 seconds or less) about how to eat healthy using MyPlate and get moving with their favorite physical activity. Entries are due by April 30, 2015. Please share this opportunity in your schools and school districts! Read up on the Video Contest here. You can find tools like flyers, newsletter language and promotional videos to promote the contest here. Email SNA Government Affairs Program Manager Sarah Murphy with any questions at [email protected]. 14. Every Member Campaign: Lighting the Way for 2015 Be a part of the “Every Member Campaign: Lighting The Way” by making a contribution to the 2015 Annual Fund. The contributions of SNA members are “Lighting The Way” to professional development, research to support “best practices”, and scholarships for educational programs, equipment and conference participation. Click here to give online. Watch for news on competition between the States for participation in the 2015 Annual Fund! 15. School for Healthy Kids Issues RFP for School Breakfast Program Grants Action for Healthy Kids combats childhood obesity, undernourishment, and physical inactivity by helping schools become healthier places so kids can live healthier lives. To that end, the organization has issued a Request for Proposals for its 2015-16 Breakfast for Healthy Kids program. The program will award grants of up to $2,500 to a thousand schools to support school breakfast and physical activity programs. Award amounts will be based on building enrollment, project type, potential impact, and a school’s ability to mobilize parents and students around school wellness initiatives. For complete program guidelines and application instructions, visit the Action for Healthy Kids website. Proposals are due by May 1, 2015. We hope SNAC Bites is a helpful tool for you as a state leader. For questions or feedback, contact [email protected]. SNAC Bites Newsletter April 2015