April 13, 2012 - Calling all school nutrition professionals! You know how much your students love your healthy, tasty cafeteria offerings. But how do they stack up against school meals served by your peers across the country? Enter Rachael Ray’s Yum-o! Healthy School Meals Contest to find out!
Presented by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Yum-o! and SNA, this competition is designed to spotlight creative meals from school nutritional professionals across the country. The Grand Prize winner will earn a trip to New York City for two, including airfare, hotel accommodations, tickets to the Rachael Ray Show and a meal stipend. The winner will also be featured in School Nutrition magazine and earn a free registration to ANC Kansas City in 2013.
The judges are searching for innovative, delicious, nutritious school lunches that appeal to students and can be easily replicated in school nutrition operations. Build your healthy tray, including a meat/meat alternate, bread/grain, vegetables and fruit. Visit www.healthiergeneration.org for the complete rules and requirements, but don’t delay; entries are due by June 15, 2012.
April 13, 2012 – A little bird recently delivered good news to SNA that it was recognized by Association Media & Publishing’s EXCEL Awards program with not one, but two prestigious awards. SNA’s flagship publication, School Nutrition, and the 2011 “Connect in Nashville” Annual National Conference (ANC) campaign were among the more than 1,000 entries submitted to the program this year—and both were honored with the highest award in their category, Gold!
School Nutrition received a Gold Award in the “Magazines: Feature Writing, circulation between 50,001-100,000” category for the June/July 2011 article, “The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship.” This article, written by School Nutrition editor Patricia Fitzgerald, provides simple steps for turning school nutrition critics into bona fide champions.
Likewise, SNA received a Gold Award in the “Promotional Publications: Convention Marketing Campaign” category for the ANC 2011 “Connect in Nashville” campaign, which included everything from the Program Preview and Program Guide pieces to the conference web presence, postcards, advertisements and more. These promotional materials helped to generate interest and enthusiasm for the event, which was held last July and had the second-highest ANC attendance in the Association’s history!
According to Association Media & Publishing, SNA’s submissions “displayed superior quality in design, writing and innovation.” To learn more about the EXCEL Awards program or to view the full list of winners, visit the Association Media & Publishing website.
April 12, 2012 – As SNA shared last week, there are a multitude of reasons why this summer’s 2012 Annual National Conference (ANC), July 15 to 18, is the place to be for professional development… but with a breathtakingly beautiful city at your disposal, you’re also encouraged to take time to discover some ‘Mile High’ fun while in town.
For starters, the Colorado Convention Center is one of the most walkable convention centers in the nation and it is located in the heart of downtown Denver. All seven of the official ANC hotels are a short walk to the Convention Center, and 300 restaurants are also within walking distance. Once inside the Convention Center, all ANC sessions and events are located in close proximity to one another, making it easy to get from one session to the next.
Photo: Colorado Convention Center
You could easily spend a month exploring Denver, but to help you hit the ground running, here is a guide to several of the city’s “must dos,” courtesy of VisitDenver.com:
Soak Up Some SunWith 300 days of sunshine annually (more annual hours of sun than San Diego or Miami Beach), Denver is the place to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. City Park, Denver’s own version of NYC’s Central Park, boasts 314 acres of outdoor fun, with panoramic views of the Denver skyline, and one of the most popular zoos in the country.
Head for the HillsNo other city has a backyard quite like Denver’s. Within an hour drive you can leave the high plains and enter the scenic and historic foothills of the Rocky Mountains. From a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park, to a trip to check out all the attractions nestled at the foot of Pikes Peak, there are countless adventures to be found. For high-altitude tips, click here.
Hug the Blue BearThe 40-foot high Blue Bear (officially known as “I See What You Mean” by local artist Lawrence Argent) in front of the Colorado Convention Center is just one of many public art sculptures to be discovered around town.
16th Street MallThis mile-long pedestrian promenade in the heart of Downtown Denver is lined with 200 trees, 50,000 flowers, public art, 28 outdoor cafes and a wide array of shopping options. Free shuttles leave either end as often as every 90 seconds, making everything in downtown easy to reach.
Take a Thrill RideDenver’s Elitch Gardens is the only downtown theme park in America and is really two parks in one: on one side, there are 48 thrill rides, while the other side offers a complete water theme park with tubes, waterslides and wavepools. Of course, you can also get your thrills by braving the rapids with a trip to nearby Idaho Springs for a whitewater rafting adventure.
Borrow a BikeDenver’s B-cycle is the first large-scale bike sharing program in the nation. 500 shiny red bikes are available at more than 50 stations around town. Swipe a credit card for a $6 daily pass and hop on board. All rides under 30 minutes are free; rides of one hour are just a dollar. Denver has 850 miles of paved, off-street bike trails.
Join the Mile High ClubClimb to the 13th step of the Colorado State Capital and you are 5,280 feet above sea level—one mile high! Or, cheer on the Colorado Rockies baseball team at Coors Field from the row of purple seats—the best “mile high” seats in the city.
These are just a few of the many sightseeing adventures and things to do in Denver. There’s so much more to see and discover! What will your individual ‘Mile High City’ experience entail? That’s up to you! For more ideas, visit Denver’s Convention & Visitors Bureau website at www.visitdenver.com.
To register for ANC 2012, or to learn more about the superior education programming and events that make ANC the school nutrition event of the year, visit www.schoolnutrition.org/anc.
Register for ANC
ANC 2012 Videos
Denver’s Convention & Visitors Bureau
50 Free Summer Activities in Denver