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Awards
Jane Sullivan from Walnut Grove won the prestigious
Heart of the Program Award.
Williamson County was recognized as a District of
Excellence
Linda Jones, Chapter President received the
Thelma Flanagan Gold Achievement Award.
Judy Fitzgerald, Franklin High School graduated from
the Leadership Academy.
Williamson County
had the highest number of newly certified members
with 61 listed.
What is Keys to Excellence?
Keys to Excellence in School Food and Nutrition
Programs is a self-assessment tool that allows
you to evaluate your program in four "key" areas:
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Administration
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Communications & Marketing
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Nutrition and Nutrition Education
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Operations
Who Should Use Keys?
The individual overseeing a district's foodservice
program should complete the Keys. He or she
may ask staff to assist in completing the
interviews, but only one person per district should
create a Keys record.
How Does Keys Help My Foodservice Program?
Completing Keys allows you to benchmark your
school nutrition program's quality. Once you've
determined your strong and weak points, you can
develop a plan to strengthen your program. Doing so
demonstrates your child nutrition program's
commitment to excellence and can win you respect and
recognition from your peers, employees and the
school community. Motivating these important
stakeholders strengthens your program's support
network which can benefit you in many ways.
Who Developed Keys?
A multi-disciplinary committee of foodservice
district directors, foodservice managers, federal
and state agency representatives, university
instructors and SNA/Child Nutrition Foundation staff
members developed the Keys. [Acknowledgements
]
What is a District of Excellence in Child Nutrition?
A child nutrition program (or district) that
demonstrates its knowledge and fulfillment of
superior performance in providing nutritious food
and a healthy educational environment for all
students. Districts of Excellence in Child Nutrition
embody "nutrition integrity" throughout the school
environment. They benchmark their quality,
demonstrate and validate commitment to excellence
and win respect from others in the school community.
[View
List of Districts of Excellence]
How Does My District Become a District of
Excellence?
Your district must complete Keys Express and score
80 percent or higher in all four "key" areas. After
you have met this requirement, you must provide
documentation to the Child Nutrition Foundation to
verify Best Practices.
The verification
process to become a District of Excellence is under
revision. Complete directions will be coming soon.
Why Should My District Become a District of
Excellence?
Districts should attain this new status to serve as
examples to other districts and child nutrition
programs. This designation demonstrates your child
nutrition program's quality.
Districts of
Excellence also receive a recognition package
consisting of
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Congratulatory letter sent to the district
superintendent or other selected school official
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Congratulatory letter sent to the chief state
education officer
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Congratulatory letter sent to the President of
your state School Nutrition Association (SNA)
affiliate
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Certificate of Excellence suitable for framing
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Press release that can be customized and
published in your area
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Recognition on the SNA website
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An electronic version of the Keys logo to be
used on the district website, menus,
correspondence and marketing materials
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