Child Nutrition & Wellness

The Kansas State Board of Education vision is: Kansas leads the world in the success of each student. This vision for education calls for a more child-focused system that provides support and resources for individual success and will require everyone to work together to make it a reality.

The academic achievement and physical well-being of our students in Kansas today will impact the success of our communities, our state and the nation in the future. Research continues to demonstrate the positive correlation between health and learning. Good health that results from adequate nutrition and physical activity is a pre-requisite, perhaps the pre-requisite, for optimal learning. Students with health promoting behaviors perform better academically than those with poor health behaviors. Simply put healthy students are better students.

The purpose of the Kansans CAN Best Practice Awards is to encourage and reward outstanding practices in Child Nutrition & Wellness Programs in Kansas that support the Kansans Can vision. We encourage you and your staff to make nominations for outstanding and/or innovative practices for recognition of your efforts. Please see the attached nomination entry form and limit the categories of nominations to those included with this communication. A panel for each category will judge nominees on sustained excellence, innovation, impact, cost effectiveness, efficiency, transferability, and presentation.

Kansans CAN Provide Outstanding Customer Service. Kansas can provide excellence in customer service. This category includes the implementation of any event, program or service that improves participation; quality or delivery of program services; and creates greater relationships with participants, parents, and the community.

Kansans CAN Serve Local Foods. This category includes partnership efforts between Sponsors and local producers is the focus of this area; this includes cooperation with local farmers utilizing locally grown produce for child nutrition programs. Learning opportunities that expose participants to food produced in their geographical area. This could include nutrition education, field trips, taste testing, and gardens. In addition, efforts to increase student’s knowledge of healthy food and the farming industry could be included.

**Note- the Kansans Can Increase Access to Quality Child Care & Child Nutrition Programs is one I created this year. 

2023-24 Awardees:

Dina Hier, USD 292 Wheatland- Kansans Can Serve Local Foods

Melissa Hurley, USD 207 Ft. Leavenworth- Kansans Can Provide Outstanding Customer Service

Melissa Patterson,  Patterson Family Child Care Center- Kansans Can Increase Access to Quality Child Care & Child Nutrition Programs

Teresa Houston,  Envision Child Development Center- Kansans Can Impact Wellness & Kansans Can Serve Local Foods