Kids Invite Wayzata School Board to Lunch

So incredibly proud of this group's kids for presenting at the December 9 school board meeting! They spoke about what they'd like changed in school lunch and invited the school board members to have lunch with them to experience what the kids experience each day.

Culinary Express Seeks Ideas!

Culinary Express would ❤️ to hear your ideas for Try It Tuesday and Around the World Wednesday! If they can fit it into their budget and regulations they will try to replicate it! In January the high school's Ecology of Foods class will be coming up with the Try It Tuesday dish and Around the World Wednesday will feature Swedish Meatballs and Lefse. What ideas do YOU have? We'll be happy to pass them along!

Ingredient Lists Changing

This is what the old Chicken Noodle Soup ingredient list looked like. It will be phased out of the elementary schools by next month! Tomorrow, Oakwood, Birchview, and Sunset Hill will get the new and improved soup with an ingredient list that looks like this:

This month, Oakwood, Birchview, and Sunset Hill will get the new and improved soup with an ingredient list that looks like this: Water, Chicken Base: Cooked Organic Chicken (Organic Roasted Chicken, Organic Chicken Stock, Organic Chicken Fat) Sea Salt, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Chicken Flavor, Organic Cornstarch, Salt, Organic Onion Powder, Organic Vegetable Flavorings, Organic Gum Arabic and Organic Turmeric. Celery, carrots, leeks, onions, salt, pepper, Whole grain pasta (water, whole wheat durum flour, enriched durum wheat flour [durum wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], enriched semolina [semolina wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], oat fiber).

Recess at Sunset Hill

From a group member:

"My child is a 5th grader at Sunset Hill. The teacher shortens a student's recess by 5 minutes or more based on whether the student brings homework in on time. Why is this happening? Shouldn't the punishment be reflected in their grades instead of their recess time?"

This is a clear violation of Wayzata's wellness policy: "Schools will not withhold recess as a punishment."

Is this happening at other schools?

Lunch at Oakwood

Seanne Falconer for Wayzata School Board had lunch at Oakwood before Thanksgiving. This was her experience:

"11:08 - entered lunchroom with 1st graders. Came straight off the playground. Took off coats, hung on hooks in lunchroom.

11:09 - hand sanitizer

In line to get hot lunch (cheeseburger on wheat bun, potato wedges, salad, carrots, bananas and pineapple)

11:12 AM-Paid

11:13 - Beau and I sat down at a table and started to eat (after grabbing napkins and forks)

11:15 - all kids through the line

11:17 - announcement of one minute of quiet. Scramble for napkins and return to seats.

11:18 - One minute of silent chewing/and giggles.

(I thoroughly enjoyed my cheeseburger on a wheat bun, salad, skim milk, and cucumbers.)

11:25 - Done eating. Dumping trays. All kids at my table of 8 finished their lunches— and ALL had picked the cheeseburger hot lunch. I asked any w/ food on their trays if they were full- and they said yes.

11:29 - Kids lined up against the wall. Getting their stuff.

11:30- out of the lunchroom.

Oakwood lunch was awesome, organized, and the kids I ate with liked the food and ate their lunches."

Is this typical for Oakwood? If it is, should they be a model for the rest of the buildings? Were there hooks for every kid? Do other buildings have hooks?

December Elementary Lunch

The December Elementary Lunch Menu contained several surprises!

• New non-GMO Tofu Bites
• Persimmons
• Vegetable Potstickers
• Honey Sriracha Delicata Squash
• Some kitchens will have updated versions with no concerning ingredients while others are using up remaining ingredients and next month will have updated versions. These items are Lo Mein, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Turkey Gravy.

Happy to see Try It Tuesday and Around the World Wednesday!

On the other hand, unfortunately the number of elementary entrees without concerning ingredients dropped by 3 percentage points in December. But, we know 2 of the entrees (Chicken Noodle Soup and Turkey Gravy) are in transition, meaning some of the kitchens are ready with new, non-concerning ingredients while other kitchens are using up old ingredients. We also know the new culinary director is working on a new bread supplier, which would have a huge impact on the menu. 

Lunch at Sunset Hill

One of our Facebook group members wrote in about her son at Sunset Hill.  Remember that Sunset Hill's meals are made at Oakwood and transported to Sunset Hill:

"Thank you for all that you are doing to improve the food and health in our schools. My son has literally eaten hot lunch for the last 1.5 years. He made it his goal last year to never bring home lunch. 🙂 As of today, he said he’s pretty much done with hot lunch. 🙁 He is a 3rd grader at Sunset Hill and isn’t too much of a picky eater- so it speaks volumes that he would rather now have home lunch. He said the food isn’t good. The food isn’t even hot, it's dried out or mushy by the time he eats around 12:30. He gave an example of how the shredded cheese for burritos or walking taco type meal is being served frozen or is still in frozen chunks. They put it on top of lukewarm meat and he said it is just bad. I haven’t gone to eat with him this year because he said they have maybe 10 minutes to eat and they get called in late from outside frequently or have to stand in line outside for several minutes waiting to go in only to stand in line again. Waiting outside is just one more thing that chips away at actual eating time. We are fortunate enough to be able to send him with good home lunches, but so sad for those that get this as their one “good” meal each day. We previously lived in the Hopkins district, and the food was so much better! It has been a huge disappointment to us how Wayzata has dealt with the school lunches. Thank you again for taking this issue on!!!!"

Coming from Hopkins to Wayzata is definitely eye opening as Hopkins has an amazing farm to school lunch program! 

Lunch at Kimberly Lane

One of our Facebook group members had lunch at Kimberly Lane a few days ago.  This was the experience:
"I had lunch at Kimberly Lane today. My 2nd grader's lunch is from 11:12 to 11:32 and there were 4 classrooms in the cafeteria. Kids started trickling in at 11:13. My daughter's class was the last to come in. All children were in winter gear. She grabbed her water bottle from the bin set outside of the cafeteria and this did not seem to take more than a few seconds. We were in line and we sat down after 6 minutes of lunch started. The last kid got served 8 minutes after lunch started. There were fresh bananas and plums and some sort of canned pear, I believe. I noticed on our table that most (2/3) of kids that got school lunches did not finish what they put on their trays. There was an INSANE amount of food waste, primarily fruits and vegetables. Whole bananas were being thrown in the garbage. At this point, I called one of the lunch paras and she instructed the children to put whole fruit and unopened milk cartons in the bin on top of the island (by the trash bins). I saw one of my daughter's classmates frantically trying to finish her meal as her tray sat on this same island, which was disheartening. The lunch paras wiped the tables. They might have been told to stop eating about 2 minutes before the end of the period."

Another group member from Kimberly Lane wrote about the recess experience:

"Kimberly Lane has recess before lunch. The kids need to line up outside and be totally silent before being allowed to come in for lunch. If any kids are talking or being loud, the line is forced to wait outside until everyone is quiet. My daughter has several kids in her class who are regularly talking so even if her class is supposed to be first in the lunch line that day, because of the "silent requirement," they do not get to go first. This means that most days, she has 15 minutes or less to get her food, eat and clean up and lots of food goes to waste. She has asked her classroom teacher if she can bring her lunch back to the classroom to finish eating, but that is not allowed. Because she is so hungry in the afternoon, she is forced to bring a large amount of snacks everyday."

Meal Transportation Between Buildings

Our group members were curious: how does the prepared food transportation between school buildings work, as not all of our schools have kitchens?

Culinary Express responded with this information:

Oakwood makes and cooks hot entrees for Sunset Hill and Birchview. North Woods makes and cooks hot entrees for Greenwood. All other buildings have kitchens. The hot entrees are put into hot holding cabinets that are made for transport. Once the containers arrive at the satellite school, they are moved into the school and plugged in. Prior to serving, a temperature check is conducted to assure food safety. Only cold prep is done in the satellite kitchens as they are not built to handle more.

The hot carts for Greenwood get picked up at 8:20am (first lunch at 10:10) in the morning and the hot carts for Birchview (first lunch at 10:45) and Sunset Hill (first lunch at 10:45) get picked up at 9:00am. Cooking for these sites typically start 1-1 1/2 hours before the carts get picked up, depending on the menu item. After the hot carts are picked up for satellite sites, Oakwood and North Woods will then start prepping/cooking for the onsite portion. With onsite kitchens being able to do batch cooking, it is hard to give an exact time as to how much longer a food item could potentially be held in the warmers. For example, pizza is batch cooked by onsite kitchens. Pizza is a harder item to transport. The homemade pizza sticks do hold up better than a pizza slice or round. However, on like taco meat or spaghetti/alfredo sauce days, onsite kitchens will be making larger batches of these and holding them. Hope this helps clarify some of the timing portion.

Try It Tuesday

Yesterday was Try It Tuesday in the elementary schools, featuring honey mustard dill Brussels sprouts!  The kids really enjoyed them, and parents appreciated them, too:

"Great reviews from my Sunset Hill third grader.. and I can’t ever get her to eat brussel sprouts! She said I can make them at home and she’ll eat them now! Thank you, thank you for this!!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽""

It was also the second time the kids were offered real chicken drumsticks.  They received great reviews the first time around, and were a hit yesterday, too.

"Kids I've seen have really liked the new lunch items, especially the chicken legs - some kids didn't know how to eat them, so there was some teaching on my end for that item but once they got started, they liked them a lot."

Isn't that amazing feedback?  Culinary Express is having a wonderful new impact on our district's kids.

Many kids have said the drumsticks are too small and that they would like two of them.  We contacted Culinary Express about this and suggested they bulk up the side dishes on drumstick day.  Happily we learned they were already working on this, and were trying to perfect a side dish for the January menu.

If you'd like to try the sprouts for yourself, here is the recipe!

School Board Election Update

Thank you to all who voted!  Congratulations to Seanne Falconer and Linda Cohen, who have shown support for our mission.

Congratulations to the following four candidates who have been elected to serve four-year terms on the Wayzata School Board:
• Linda Cohen (1,425)
• Seanne Falconer (1,075)
• Bonita Lucky (1,133)
• Cheryl Polzin (1,441)

Newly-elected Board members will begin their terms at the January 13, 2020 organizational meeting. Wayzata School Board meetings are typically held the second Monday of the month at Wayzata City Hall at 7 p.m. The Board also conducts work sessions the fourth Monday of every month at 4 p.m. at the District Administration Building, located at 210 County Road 101 in Plymouth.

School Board Election Information: How to Vote

Question: As a first-time voter, can you explain how the election voting works?

There are 7 school board seats in addition to the superintendent. Some of these seats come up for election every two years. 4 seats are up for election this year. 3 existing school board members, called "incumbents" are seeking reelection: Linda Cohen, Bonita Lucky, and Cheryl Polzin.

When you go to your polling place on November 5, (you may find where to vote here: https://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/ ) you will be presented with a ballot that looks similar to this picture. You may vote for up to 4 candidates, but you DO NOT have to vote for 4. If you only support 1 or 2 candidates, you only need to vote for 1 or 2. In fact, it is a better idea to only vote for the candidates you truly support.

As a reminder, the candidates who showed true interest in our cause early in the campaign are: Linda Cohen, Seanne Falconer, Bindu Moram, and Sheila Prior. Of these, we believe the candidate who will represent us best is Seanne Falconer.

Early voting is still available through November 4 at the Wayzata Public Schools District Administration Building (210 County Road 101 N, Plymouth). Hours are M- F, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Residents of Minnetonka vote at Minnetonka City Hall Friday, September 20 through Monday, November 4.

School Board Candidate Information: Emily Fair

As mentioned last week, we invited the four candidates who expressed interest in and/or support for our group and goals to share their thoughts on our 47-page report, For the Health of Our Children, An Analysis of the Wayzata Public Schools Culinary Program and Wellness Policy, and how they would support our goals if elected. Those candidates were: Bindu Moram, Sheila Prior, Seanne Falconer, and Linda Cohen. Late last week Emily Fair contacted us and we offered her the opportunity to share her information with us. This is her response:

"First of all, I’d like to thank Healthy Food + Health Habits for Wayzata Schools for giving me this opportunity to make a contribution to the effort in raising the awareness of the importance of healthy food and healthy habits. As a school teacher, I have witnessed students' eating habits during lunch everyday at school. And as a parent of a Wayzata school student, I share the same feeling with other parents. So I will share a school teacher and a parent’s perspective and offer solutions to this issue.

Following are my proposals, if elected.

(1) Establish a dedicated procedure including a flowchart laying out a framework of responsibilities, frequency of the work and ways of communication among Wayzata schools and School Board. When the procedure and flowchart are well established, it will make it easier to timely detect and fix any problems in nutrient deficiency/imbalance and eating habits among the student body.

(2) Establish an open platform for sharing results and for receiving feedback directly from parents and all school staff.

(3) Seek and promote more creative ways to prepare nutritious and delicious foods that students will enjoy eating and finish. Seek ways for school to provide different portion sizes to accommodate different students' needs, reducing food waste by smaller students and on the other hand making sure bigger students are well fed.

(4) Invite principals, classroom teachers and parent volunteers once every other week to have school lunch with students, talk to students, observe students’ preferences, eating portions and habits, and record these observations using a simple checklist.

(5) Reinforce and promote healthy food and eating habits in health education.

(6) Start implementing the dedicated procedure in one or all the kindergarten classes for 3 months and adjust the procedure before applying to other grades.

(7) Invite school board members to visit and eat lunch with students once a month and provide feedback on a similar checklist.

About me? I’ve been a dedicated teacher for 20+ years in serving students and working with parents on a daily basis; therefore, I am very clear about the groundwork in education in all aspects. Wayzata district schools maintain a record of high academic achievements that I hope to continue to build upon. As a teacher and a parent, I am clearly aware that student’s performance can be affected by nutrient deficiencies. Therefore, I will work as a school board member to improve students’ health and wellbeing by ensuring the schools building a robust lunch program and providing tasty, nutritious and healthy food to all the students!"

School Board Candidate Information: Linda Cohen

As mentioned last week, we invited the four candidates who expressed interest in and/or support for our group and goals to share their thoughts on our 47-page report, For the Health of Our Children, An Analysis of the Wayzata Public Schools Culinary Program and Wellness Policy, and how they would support our goals if elected. Our fourth candidate is Linda Cohen. This is her response (comments in italics added by blog manager):

"I am quite excited in that I think we have some crucial pieces in place now to make headway on many of the recommendations of the quite impressive report, For the Health of Our Children. Thanks to all who worked so hard on it.

I, and Cheryl Polzin, met with Michelle Sagedahl, the new Director of Culinary Express, earlier this week and today (10/26/19) we met with the following 4 members of the Healthy Food + Healthy Habits group: Rochelle Dotzenrod, Karla Lemmon, Joel Spoonheim, and Lani Willis. Michelle used terms like “working collaboratively with parents, forming partnerships, communicating openly, and transparency.” In our meeting, Michelle seemed ready (in fact, perhaps already has to some degree) to work on reducing the “harmful” ingredients in some lunches, to consistently have 4 “Try It Tuesdays” (with some of our high school students helping—great collaboration!), as examples. Certainly the parent group is ready for a plan, and some action steps to be laid out and then pursued. The Board recently re-confirmed our Strategic Road Map for another 3 years. One of the 4 strategic directions (what we work on, pay close attention to) is Health and Well-Being. I, as a Board member, am interested in how we measure that, what we are going to measure, how we move forward on that area. The Board is going to discuss that topic THIS MON (10/28/19). At our work session (anyone can attend work sessions and observe).

Those 2 meetings give me a lot of hope and an expectation that many of the recommendations in the report will be addressed. The big questions will be an implementation plan, where do we start, what is emphasized first, what is measured, who is in charge. I am eager to be part of that conversation and as a sitting Board member (and I hope a re-elected one!!) will make sure it is on agendas.

Now for a little about me—please go to my website: https://www.reelectlindacohen.com/ for a lot more information. I’ve lived in the district for many, many years—all 3 kids went k-12 through Wayzata. My husband practiced medicine for a long time in Wayzata. I care about our community.

Education has been a life-long interest. I served on the University of MN Board of Regents for 12 years (2 as Chair), ending in May. I have been on the Wayzata Board for 20 years (5 years as Chair). I went to Wellesley College for a B.A. in chemistry, Harvard University for a Masters in the History of Science (on a Woodrow Wilson scholarship) and have a Ph.D in Educational Psychology from the University of MN. Had a Bush Summer Fellowship to study Organizational Leadership at Harvard. I care deeply that each of our students has great academic opportunities that fit for them—and that they are healthy!! (Physically and mentally).

It would be my great pleasure to use some of the expertise I believe I have gained to serve on the School Board for 4 more years."

School Board Candidate Information: Seanne Falconer

As mentioned last week, we invited the four candidates who expressed interest in and/or support for our group and goals to share their thoughts on our 47-page report, For the Health of Our Children, An Analysis of the Wayzata Public Schools Culinary Program and Wellness Policy, and how they would support our goals if elected. Our third candidate is Seanne Hanke Falconer. This is her response (comments in italics added by blog manager):

"I’m Seanne Falconer – and I want to be elected to the Wayzata School Board so that we can have a strong advocate for the goals of Healthy Foods & Healthy Habits for Wayzata Schools.

My family moved here five years ago from Boston when I was offered the opportunity to become the Executive Director of the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota. I jumped at the chance to raise my family in Minnesota and specifically enroll my kids in the Wayzata School District.

I want to be on the Wayzata School Board because I’m a mom of two 1st graders (twin boys who go to Oakwood Elementary) who are growing up in this rapidly changing and expanding school district.

My background working for both the U and Harvard, my financial and nonprofit management education earned via my Yale MBA, and my experience as a board member and organization influencer add up to a mom with skills and drive. And my career in academic medicine has taught me the value of evidence-based policy advocacy – that can change the minds of even the toughest skeptics. And my financial background means I’m used to big budgets, big questions, and finding big solutions.

I believe that our kids in the Wayzata Public Schools need better foods. We need the best foods to grow the best brains. But in addition to food, we need to look at the whole child including exercise, enough recess, and enough time to eat.

In July, as I was gathering information from our community before announcing my priorities - I sat down with the steering committee of Healthy Foods + Healthy Habits (they called themselves Wholesome Foods for Wayzata Schools) to hear about their research, concerns, and suggestions.

That conversation, and subsequent ones around recess timing / a la carte food / Try it Tuesday / new leadership at Culinary Express, informed my priorities -- and made improved nutrition and wellness one of my key themes around which I'll focus. (Falconer4Wayzata.org/Seannes-Priorities)

I support:

#1 (The district establish nutritional goals that exceed the minimum standards set by federal policy and then monitor compliance with the goals.) - Aiming for and achieving a standard of nutrition that is higher than the FLOOR. Metrics will be key - and that will require evaluation and accountability. This will drive progress on Recommendations #2, #3, and #4.

#2 (Consistent with the work of school districts in Minnesota and across the nation, move expeditiously to remove seven concerning ingredients (trans fats & hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, hormones & antibiotics, processed and artificial sweeteners, artificial colors and flavors, artificial preservatives, bleached flour) from foods available for purchase at all Wayzata Public Schools.) - Prioritize removing the 7 ingredients from foods prepared in our kitchens. Then prioritize ways to decrease / eliminate the sale of those foods in a la carte settings.

#3 (As part of a full review of food nutrition and meals provided to children, the district should reconsider the previous decision to not participate in Federal Programs at the high school level, and prepare a more accurate and sustainable budget and associated meal prices.) - Fully review all meals, financial structures, operational structures of the Culinary Express program - in close collaboration with the new Culinary Express Director. She is brand new, has signaled a fresh perspective and willingness to review everything and adjust long-standing initiatives. I look forward to working with her - but also in concert with the parents and experts on the Wellness Committee. Last week’s meeting was an amazingly encouraging sign that we may have found a partner in the Culinary Express Director!

#4 (Review and reconsider the role of the à la carte options. Consider elimination of à la carte options or replacement with foods consistent with nutritional standards.) - I would like to review and reconsider what options are sold a la carte.

#5 (Establish metrics with meaningful and more than annual measurement of each element of the wellness policy. Report on findings openly across schools to foster cross-school learning and sharing of best practices.) - Without metrics, we will never see change - or understand where we could improve - or where we've done a remarkable job. Across the board, I’ll be pursuing transparent and measurable metrics, with timely progress updates, in all areas of district concern including foods and wellness.

#6 (Hold Wellness Committee meetings monthly for the coming two years to accelerate implementation of best practices, rather than semi-annually. Consider establishing a working committee outside of the Wellness Committee in order to drive results forward. Designate at least one school official who will be operationally responsible for measuring implementation of the wellness policy as required and holding schools accountable to compliance of the policy per the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act of 2010 Section 204.9A(b)5(A).) – My #1 priority would be to convene a robust Wellness Committee. I'd want to see it meet monthly - and have sub-committees and task forces to dig into issues and report back to the bigger WC - which would then make recommendations and give frequent updates to the board. These task forces would be asked to look into the issues, find evidence-based solution, collaborate with district finance to make sure financial assumptions were accurate, and have authority to reach out to other districts to share best practices. I’d expect to have parents and administrators on these task forces – as well as Culinary Express staff, nutrition and education experts and advisors from other districts.

I have experience driving change in organizations and finding ways for organizations who were competitors to identify their shared priorities and see a path forward that was better together.

I've been told that as a board member I am only one of seven. Although I agree with that math, I see myself also as a megaphone for the parents of our district and as a person who can ensure that parents' concerns and ideas get before the board. To do this - I want to see many more task forces - formal groups who are looking into concerning issues and coming back with ideas that the board (and district staff) can consider on the record.

I’d be honored to leverage my education, career experience, natural extrovert mom skills and my familiarity with the district’s Legislative Action Committee and Citizens Finance Advisory Council – to serve as a Director of the Wayzata School Board.

Please reach out if there's anything else you'd like to know.

Falconer4Wayzata.org

Thank you,

Seanne Falconer

Mom

> And please vote on November 5, 2019.<

School Board Candidate Information: Sheila Prior

As mentioned last week, we invited the four candidates who expressed interest in and/or support for our group and goals to share their thoughts on our 47-page report, For the Health of Our Children, An Analysis of the Wayzata Public Schools Culinary Program and Wellness Policy, and how they would support our goals if elected. Our second candidate is Sheila Roberts Prior. This is her response:

"Hello Healthy Food & Healthy Habits group! I hope by now you know I am running for Wayzata School board and that I support the mission of this group. I believe the Wayzata lunch program should be as reputable as its academic program, but right now it falls short. I have three children in the district, so this issue hits close to home for me.

Healthy eating should be a priority in this district, as it impacts every child at the most basic level, affecting learning, behavior, and general well-being. Moreover, eating habits learned in school can stay with a child into adulthood; if our goal is to prepare students for life after graduation, we should be teaching them healthy eating habits. I am a scientist by training, and there is much data to support implementing the goals of this group.

The district has made strides toward providing healthier lunches, including hiring a new Director of Culinary Express, limiting chocolate milk to one day a week, and implementing “Try it Tuesdays” and “Around the World Wednesdays.” However, the district has failed to eliminate ingredients of concern, and it is promoting unhealthy habits with some of its à-la-carte and entrée offerings. Moreover, many parents report that their elementary aged children do not have time during the lunch period to finish their meals, and the district has not yet implemented a district-wide policy of scheduling recess before lunch.

I have read the report compiled by Rochelle Dotzenrod, Karla Lemmon, and others in this group, and I support its recommendations. There are many opportunities for the Wayzata District to improve its lunch program without raising prices and without over-burdening culinary staff. Other districts have paved the way in these areas.

If elected, I will engage administrators, parents, and culinary staff to find workable solutions for replacing current ingredients of concern and à-la-carte options with healthier versions. I will also investigate ways to add time to the lunch period, as well as ways to eliminate the need for students to wear their outdoor winter gear while eating. Other areas of action include reevaluating the district’s decision to withdraw from the federal high school lunch program, creating higher nutrition standards for the district, providing consistent oversight of the lunch program, and incorporating more environmentally friendly practices.

Making healthy habits a priority in the district will require support from multiple members of the school board plus buy-in from administrators, parents, and staff. I have experience driving change in my previous school district, Robbinsdale. I led my community in bringing back an elementary school to a vacant school in my old neighborhood. This involved working with the Robbinsdale school board and administration as well as with the Plymouth city council and Plymouth planning commission. The eventual solution that resulted in the FAIR Pilgrim Lane School now inhabiting the building in my old neighborhood was referred to informally in meetings as "The Sheila Prior Plan.”

In terms of my background, I have a bachelor of science in biology from Duke University, and I managed a Neurobiology lab at Duke until moving to Minnesota. I am currently a stay-at-home parent. Besides wanting to improve school lunches, I also have plans for managing district growth and eliminating the opportunity gap. If you would like to read more about me and where I stand on other issues, please visit my website, https://www.sheilaprior.com/.

I hope you will give me a chance to serve on the Wayzata school board. You'll find me to be a knowledgable and persistent ally in this group's mission to improve lunches in our district. Whether I'm giving voice to my community, advocating for my child with dyslexia, or ensuring my neighborhood's bus stop is on the safe side of the road, I am a tireless advocate who does not give up easily. I believe strongly that the Wayzata district should be doing more to provide healthy lunches for our students. I also believe that community input is extremely important, so please reach out to me in the comments with your suggestions, feedback, and questions!

For more information on how food affects health, I recommend reviewing the Promedica report on the social determinants of health (https://www.promedica.org/socialdeterminants/pages/default.aspx) or the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion on the same topic (https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-health/interventions-resources/food-insecurity)

Thank you for your consideration,

Sheila"

School Board Candidate Information: Bindu Moram

As mentioned last week, we invited the four candidates who expressed interest in and/or support for our group and goals to share their thoughts on our 47-page report, For the Health of Our Children, An Analysis of the Wayzata Public Schools Culinary Program and Wellness Policy, and how they would support our goals if elected. Our first candidate is Bindu Moram. This is her response (comments in parentheses added by blog manager:

"Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity again to present my views to the large group.

I have 2 adorable sons, elder one going to WHS and younger one to CMS. We as family living in Plymouth since 15 years. My kids have been in the district since age of early learning. I have been actively involved in various volunteering activities in school district during these years and well involved in school decisions. I am also a concerned parent when it comes to healthy eating and leading healthy lifestyle. After going through the Healthy Food + Habits for Wayzata schools report, following are my comments/opinion on the proposed recommendations in the report. If elected I would like to bring improvements in the culinary division of the school in phased approach. I would like to address Recommendations 1,2,4 and 6 as they will yield measurable results with minimum effort and start analysis and planning for 3 and 5 immediately to implement successfully.

Recommendation # 2 (Consistent with the work of school districts in Minnesota and across the nation, move expeditiously to remove seven concerning ingredients (trans fats & hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, hormones & antibiotics, processed and artificial sweeteners, artificial colors and flavors, artificial preservatives, bleached flour) from foods available for purchase at all Wayzata Public Schools.)

We should immediately work with school administration culinary lead to improve the menu in our schools where the ingredients like trans fats, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, hormones & antibiotics, processed artificial sweeteners & artificial colors, preservatives are removed.

Recommendation # 1 (The district establish nutritional goals that exceed the minimum standards set by federal policy and then monitor compliance with the goals.)

Looking at the district wellness policy section (II. A Food and Beverages), the policy states that the district should meet/exceed federal standards for the nutritional goals. I would like to have audit reporting and monitoring in place to make sure our district complies to the federal standards and find ways to raise the bar and exceed above the federal standards.

Recommendation # 4 (Review and reconsider the role of the à la carte options. Consider elimination of à la carte options or replacement with foods consistent with nutritional standards.)

a la carte items should be replaced with choice of foods/drinks consistent with nutritional standards.

Recommendation # 5 (Establish metrics with meaningful and more than annual measurement of each element of the wellness policy. Report on findings openly across schools to foster cross-school learning and sharing of best practices.)

We should openly look into the findings across schools to foster cross-school learning and sharing best practices. Meaningful measures need to be established and these should be made transparent and shared with all the district stakeholders.

Recommendation # 6 (Hold Wellness Committee meetings monthly for the coming two years to accelerate implementation of best practices, rather than semi-annually. Consider establishing a working committee outside of the Wellness Committee in order to drive results forward. Designate at least one school official who will be operationally responsible for measuring implementation of the wellness policy as required and holding schools accountable to compliance of the policy per the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act of 2010 Section 204.9A(b)5(A).)

We can definitely start with the monthly wellness committee meeting to accelerate the progress and efficient implementation to reach to our desired/planned goals.

Recommendation # 3 (As part of a full review of food nutrition and meals provided to children, the district should reconsider the previous decision to not participate in Federal Programs at the high school level, and prepare a more accurate and sustainable budget and associated meal prices.)

There should be detailed analysis to be performed and build strategy to implement effectively and efficiently. Board and Administration should look into option 3 and understand what was the reason why district is not participating in the federal program and work through the avenues of how the federal program can be leveraged for the improvement of the district wellness.

I am currently working in United Health Group as Director for Clinical Data Services, in my experience I have worked with various business teams implementing changes/enhancement to provision the supplemental data to NCQA (National Committee of Quality Assurance) for effective patient care.

If elected my plan of action to implement the changes would be:

1. Define the scope of the change

2. Identify various stakeholders impacted by the change, perform scope review with the stakeholders to identify issues/risks

3. Build the confidence within the team and stakeholders with positive approach

4. Build an implementation roadmap in phases so that change can be excepted with minimal impact

5. Review and measure the change periodically

6. Finally...celebrate the change :)

Thank you for reaching out to me to understand my point of view with the recommendations.

Looking forward to earn your vote on Nov 5th for Wayzata School Board. Please reach out to me if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Bindu Moram for Wayzata School Board"

Meeting with New Culinary Director - a Breath of Fresh Air!

Last week we had a very refreshing meeting with Culinary Express. Michelle Sagedahl, the new Director, and Anne Marie Milbert, Assistant Supervisor, were in attendance.

Michelle shared her food philosophy with us, which you can see in the attached pictures. We hope you'll like what you see!

A few highlights from our conversation:

• Michelle is currently analyzing Wayzata's program and wants to build a 3 year strategic plan. They plan to focus on the elementary and middle school menu and then push changes to the high school.
• One goal is to reduce waste and plastic. Reusable grab and go containers are being tested at East and West Middle Schools along with the upper grades at Meadow Ridge.
Try It Tuesday is being done by an Ecology of Food program at the high school with 30 students. They hope to use the class for a recipe competition for Try It Tuesday later in the year.
In the elementary schools the goal is to get students through the line in 7-8 minutes. Sometimes it has been up to 10-12 minutes due to various factors - students not knowing PINs, new staff not knowing efficiencies, classes showing up late, etc. They get called in when this happens to figure out how to solve the problem.
They know the bread is a problem (it's the reason for a lot of the "red light" entrees on the monthly menu review) and yes, the high school menu does have bleached flour. Michelle has talked to other suppliers and is working on options. There are frozen options but she doesn't have enough storage.
Michelle is personally interested in building more kitchens.
Michelle and Anne Marie both know Bertrand Weber from Minneapolis Schools as well as Barb Mechura from Hopkins Schools. They have been sharing best practices and in fact Bertrand gave them the supplier for the new chana masala spice blend.
Michelle wants to focus on the lunch tray first before addressing the a la carte menu. She wants to figure out how to make it better while still leaving the option in place.
Next steps: she will work with the district to for a parent advisory council for Culinary Express (all other departments have a parent advisory council except Culinary Express) and hopes to have this in place by the end of the calendar year.

We reinforced that we want to collaborate with them and they shared that thought. We made it clear that we are here to help them succeed and if there are things we can do on the wellness side to help them, we let them know we would. We look forward to working with them!