Pawtucket Schools

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was but by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.

—Norman MacLean

At Your Service

Special Info

An “Oscar” for Jenks!

Group and check A little bit of Hollywood glitz and glamour – not to mention filmmaking excellence – has come to Pawtucket thanks to the students of Joseph Jenks Junior High School. With the invaluable assistance of Shaylin Gruskin from the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for Performing and Visual Arts, the Jenks students created a film that was the Grand Prize winner in the National Dairy Counsel’s Healthy School Makeover competition.

Along with the honor of their entry being judged the best in New England, the Jenks auteurs took home $10,000 to be utilized in the makeover effort.

All of us at Sodexo are proud to have partnered with such talented and dedicated young people – who, by the way, had to write, shoot, and edit their film in just one week.

The prize money will be used to create a fitness room for students and teachers at Jenks, where the ancient advice – “a sound mind in a sound body” – resonates to this very day.

Congratulations to one and all!

Breakfast is Served

While we’re on the subject of Jenks, it must be noted that Fuel Up to Play’s “Breakfast Anytime, Anywhere” component is in full operation there. Both hard science and simple observation teach us that a healthy breakfast jumpstarts the day’s learning experience.

This program offers nutritious breakfast items in a “grab-n-go” format before classes begin, as well as a “last chance” breakfast – available to the entire school in the Home Education room – after first period.

Good Health Through the Arts

On October 30 last year, a Healthier US Schools Challenge Celebration was held at the Curvin McCabe Elementary School. Skits, songs and dances – all on a wellness theme – were created and performed.

Students from McCabe and the M.Virginia Cunningham Elementary School joined forces. Paul Zona, principal at Cunningham, brought posters that his students had created to express health and nutrition concepts in the language of the visual arts.

To best appreciate this achievement, you should know that both schools received the Gold Level Award. They are the only Rhode Island schools to do so, and are two of only 304 schools in the nation to be recognized so highly – out of 66,000 eligible institutions!

Sodexo was honored to participate by creating elaborate displays of fresh fruits and vegetable that students and dignitaries enjoyed as part of lunch.

And the media was out in force to cover the event, with representatives from the Pawtucket Times and Valley Breeze taking it all in.

Audrey Rowe of the USDA office in Washington, D.C. noted for the record that ours was simply the best celebration she’s ever attended.

News & Notes from the Schools Along the Blackstone

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grants have been awarded to eight Pawtucket Elementary Schools. Grant monies coming our way total – are you ready? -- $196,900! Foods being offered include pears, kiwi, bananas, and local apples, grapes, carrots and tangerines.
Pawtucket’s Annual Corn Shucking Party took place on September 21. Some 1600 ears of local corn were served to 3200 students in 11 city schools the next day.
For the fourth consecutive year, the HOT 106 Application Drive was held early in September at Shea and Tolman Senior High Schools. As usual, it was a mega-hit!
Sodexo managed its very first Summer Lunch Program in Pawtucket last year. We served 20,078 breakfasts and 29,319 lunches.
Sodexo proudly partnered with Jenks in its Fuel Up to Play Grant efforts. Together we ran a breakfast promotion designed to attract students to the NECAP testing. Each day students who joined us for breakfast were able to obtain a raffle ticket for a prize drawing (for a Wi Sport) that was held on October 30. Over the course of 14 days we served 1622 breakfasts – which represents an increase of 25%, or 28 meals per day.
The Farm to School Program is going strong. We continue to serve local zucchini, summer squash, corn on the cob, potatoes, apples, peaches, pears, and plums to students throughout our city’s public school system.
The Coats for Kids Program, originated by Sodexo at the Slater Junior High School in 1998, today has evolved into a system-wide success. To date we have purchased approximately 275 new coats for Pawtucket students.
Dress Down money collected in January is being donated to the Haiti relief effort. Initial efforts have raised $274, with more sure to come.

Upcoming Events

The nomination process for the Healthier US School Challenge continues as we put forward the eight remaining elementary schools. We are using the January 2010 menu and activities to represent our “best foot” put forward.

We have developed and currently are serving a menu that meets the Challenge award criteria. In addition, to be nominated the principals must ensure that their respective schools are Team Nutrition Schools, and they had to agree to let us bring nutrition and physical activity programs to their buildings during the month of January.

Nominated programs include Caught You Eating Healthy, Color My World, and Lift Off to Healthy Lunches.
Pawtucket schools will be eligible for “Power Up” Team Nutrition Grant monies as offered by the USDA and Kids First.

The Sodexo team is working with our Kids First representative to use grant monies to develop a new program that will bring cutting-edge nutrition education to the elementary schools and enhance our HUSSC application.

Lift Off to Healthy Lunches features Kids First chefs who will visit elementary schools during lunch to offer a taste testing of an extraordinary array of fresh veggies roasted with fresh ginger. The programs goals are to entice students to try more fresh vegetables and ultimately to incorporate them into their daily eating choices.

Finally, a Word About RINR

As you likely are aware, RINR – the acronym for Rhode Island Nutrition Requirements – became law in 2009. These regulations specify the types of foods that public schools must provide to students in breakfast, lunch, and after-school programs.

What you might not know is that Sodexo, working with Kids First and the Rhode Island Department of Education, implemented RINR standards long before they became law.

More whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables (including many grown right here in Rhode Island), and legumes, and less sodium are now standard fare at all of our state’s public schools.

Sodexo continues to work with parents to support the RINR program by helping children to embrace – and perhaps even love – varieties of food that previously had not been at the tips of their tongues when they were asked to name their favorites.

Yes, change can be daunting – even change that clearly is for the better. This is why we continue to work so hard to instill in our children eating habits that will last throughout their lives – and most likely make those lives longer, healthier, and all the more worth living.