School Nutrition:
Montana Team Nutrition
The Montana Team Nutrition Program is the training arm for school nutrition programs and builds support for healthier school environments through food service training, nutrition education and implementation of the school wellness policy.
Our priority areas are:
- Nutrient-Rich School Meals and Snacks
- Farm to School
- Food Safety/HACCP
- Healthy School Award Programs
- Nutrition Education
- Peer Consultant Networks
- School Wellness
Montana Team Nutrition’s office is located at Montana State University in the Department of Health and Human Development. This enables staff to easily partner with faculty and other key state partners like Montana State University Extension and the Montana Nutrition and Physical Activity Program.
MT Team Nutrition Program Informational Brochure
Program Office Location: 
Montana State University, Department of Health and Human Development
P.O. Box 173370, 202 Romney Hall
Bozeman, MT 59717-3370
Phone: (406) 994-5641
Fax: (406) 994-7300
Staff Directory:
| Katie Bark, RD, LN | Project Director | 406.994.5641 |
| Molly Stenberg, RD, LN | School Nutrition Trainer/ Nutrition Educator | 406.994.7217 |
| Mary Ann Harris, RN | Administrative Assistant | 406.994.5397 |
| Aubree Roth, MS | Child Nutrition Education Coordinator | 406.994.5996 |
Food Safety/HACCP
Food safety is a number one priority for all of us when serving food, especially to children. Montana Team Nutrition provides training or technical assistance to help school staff in food safety and developing food safety plans, called School HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point).
Click here for more information on Food Safety and School HACCP.
Healthy School Award Programs
There are currently several challenges in place to reward schools that strive to create healthier school environment. Click on the links to following challenges on the left side of this pages:
- Healthier US School Challenge
- Healthier Montana Menu Challenge
- Montana's Healthy School Recipe Roundup
- Recipes for Healthy Kids Challenge
Click here for more information on Healthy School Award Programs and Recipe Contests.
Montana Team Nutrition encourages schools to participate in these challenges and offers assistance with the application process. Contact Molly Stenberg at 406.994.7217 or by e-mail at stenberg@montana.edu.
Nutrition Education
Check out a variety of grade-specific nutrition education resources and nutrition education partners at the following site: Nutrition Education Resources.
Peer Consultant Networks
The School Food Service Peer Consultant Network provides consultation services on a wide variety of food service management topics. Experienced school nutrition personnel offer free training, mentoring and technical assistance to other school nutrition staff in their region.
For a listing of the current mentors available around the state, check out our Peer Consultant Directory.
If you are interested in receiving assistance from a food service peer mentor, please contact us by phone or E-mail.
Coming Soon: School Wellness Coaches
These regional coaches will be available to assist schools in implementing their student wellness programs by helping them receive a healthy schools award, enhancing healthy menu planning, nutrition education, or physical activity efforts.Creating pleasant and positive mealtimes......
Recorded Webinar Training for Schools: Welcome to Our Comfortable Cafeteria on February 21, 2012
Recorded Webinar Training for Early Childhood Educators: Pass the Peaches Please on February 22, 2012
Who can use this information? school administrators, school food service professionals, paraprofessionals, teachers, parents; any adult supervising the school cafeteria
Why are school meals important?
The experiences which kids have now with food/meals will shape their future/life-long relationships with food. The goal is to develop healthy, capable and competent eaters.
Meals consumed at school are essential to the growth of healthy students- bodies, minds and behaviors.
It’s good for the bottom line; increased revenue to schools if more students participate in school meals programs (breakfast and lunch).
Why should schools strive to support pleasant and positive mealtimes vs. just getting the students fed?
- Mealtime should be a time for students to relax, socialize and nourish their bodies and minds. When the mealtime/cafeteria environment is pleasant, students eat better, do better in their academic coursework, and have fewer behavioral problems.
- Many kids are undernourished, even if they are overfed. School meals provide key nutrients for students to grow and learn to their full potential. School meals may be the only reliable meal of the day for some students.
- School meals help to develop healthy eating habits and acceptable meal time behaviors.
A Positive Feeding Approach requires effective teamwork and communication amongst administrators, teachers, aides, school food service staff, students and parents.
Sometimes, school cafeterias are not so inviting: students are pressured to eat, supervising adults are not trained in how to be supportive at mealtime, students are not allowed to talk during meals, and meals are consumed in a hurry to get outside. This training addresses a variety of mealtime scenarios and tips for positive meal time practices.
Comfortable School Cafeterias Resources and Ready to Use Training Materials
- Comfortable Cafeterias Video (If you use the video, please provide feedback via an evaluation. Thank you.)
- Poster for school cafeterias - 11x17 8x11
- Handouts
- PowerPoint Presentation
- Welcome to Our Comfortable Cafeterias Webinar Recording - This training is useful for any adult supervising the lunchroom including aides, teachers, administrators, and school foodservice staff.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Contact:
Montana Team Nutrition
P.O. Box 173370, MSU, Bozeman, MT 59717
Phone 406.994.5641
Fax 406.994.7300
Molly Stenberg, RD, stenberg@montana.edu
Katie Bark, RD, kbark@mt.gov
Who can use this information? Early childhood educators, child care programs, Head Start programs, paraprofessionals, teachers, parents; any adult supervising mealtimes with children.
Why are meals in child care programs important?
The experiences which young children have now with food/meals will shape their future/life-long relationships with food. The goal is to develop healthy, capable and competent eaters. Meals consumed at child care are essential to the growth of healthy children- their bodies, minds and behaviors.
Why should child care programs strive to support pleasant and positive mealtimes vs. just getting the children fed?
- Mealtime should be a time for young children to relax, socialize and nourish their bodies. When mealtimes are pleasant, children eat better and learn to try a variety of foods in a positive way.
- Many kids are undernourished, even if they are overfed. Meals provide key nutrients for children to grow and learn to their full potential.
- Meals consumed at child care may be the only reliable meal of the day for some children.
- Positive mealtimes teach healthy eating habits and acceptable meal time behaviors.
- A Positive Feeding Approach requires effective teamwork and communication amongst staff, children and parents.
Sometimes, mealtimes in child care programs are not so pleasant: children are pressured to eat, supervising adults are not trained in how to be supportive at mealtime, supervising staff do not eat or drink the same food as they serve the children, etc. This training addresses a variety of mealtime scenarios and tips for making mealtimes with children pleasant and enjoyable for both children and adults.
Pass the Peaches, Please Resources and Ready to Use Training Materials
- Pass the Peaches, Please Video (If you use the video, please provide feedback via an evaluation. Thank you.)
- Teaching outlines
- Poster for child care programs
- Handouts and Group Activities
- PowerPoint Presentation
- Pass the Peaches Please Webinar Recording - This training is helpful for early childhood educators
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
Contact:
Montana Team Nutrition
P.O. Box 173370, MSU, Bozeman, MT 59717
Phone 406.994.5641
Fax 406.994.7300
Molly Stenberg, RD, stenberg@montana.edu
Katie Bark, RD, kbark@mt.gov
School Wellness for Healthy Students
For assistance on implementing your school district’s student wellness policy, visit our School Wellness Resources site.
Look under the “Montana School Wellness Resources” tab for useful guides to topics like Wellness Policy Implementation, Recess Before Lunch, Nutrition Sen$e and many more.
Team Nutrition Resources
- Healthy Meals Resource System
Information for school nutrition personnel from USDA Team Nutrition – menu planning, nutrition education, food safety, etc. - Eat Smart. Play Hard.™ Cafeteria Toolkit
A Nutrition Education Toolkit to Connect the Cafeteria to the Classroom, Parents and to the Community. Also includes a cycle menu for Montana child care. - Healthy Classroom Party Ideas
- Healthy Habits Challenge
- Healthy Ideas for Student Rewards
- Healthy School Snacks
- Let's Eat at School Brochure
- Making it Balance and Kickin’ it Up- A Cycle Menu for Montana Childcare
- Montana’s Healthy School Recipe Roundup
- Nutrition Resources Order Form
- Pleasant and Positive Mealtimes
- Recess Before Lunch
- Traditional Foods of American Indians
- Traditional Food: Recipes
Overview
In Montana there are many stellar examples of schools that have made positive changes related to healthy eating, active living, and creating a healthier school environment.
To showcase examples of healthy change in schools, the Montana Team Nutrition Program called on youth to take part in the Focus on Health video competition. Through this video contest, Montana schools, organizations, or clubs had the opportunity to win a cash prize gain statewide recognition, and have their video featured at statewide conferences.
Examples of relevant topics include: improvements in the nutrition of foods available in school meals, healthy snack options (vending, concessions, student stores, etc.), Farm-to-School programs, increased opportunity for physical activity, expanded school breakfast programs and healthy school fundraising programs. Download the 2012 Final Report with sample documents. NEW
2012 Contest Winners
This winter Montana students from Kindergarten through 12th grade created short videos to submit to OPI's Focus on Health Youth Video Contest. Fifteen videos were submitted from across the state competing for the top three prizes and a People’s Choice Award. All the winning teams will be awarded cash prizes and part or all of their videos will be featured at statewide conferences and on the Montana Team Nutrition website. The 2012 winning teams are:
- Grand Prize: “You Are What You Eat” made by the Jefferson High School team.
- Second Place: Kalispell Middle School’s team
- Third Place: “The Curious Case of Our Food” by Red Lodge High School’s ProStart Class
- People’s Choice Award: Kalispell Middle School’s
Thank you to all the teams who participated in the contest! It is exciting to see such talent, creativity, ambition, and dedication to wellness.
Watch a compilation of the three award winning videos!
or more information, contact Aubree Roth, Child Nutrition Education Coordinator and Contest Organizer at aubree.roth@montana.edu or 406.994.5996
