President's Message

Dear Members,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As we embark on 2012 we continue to look at all that 2011 has brought us. We as an association and profession continue to sort out all the changes brought on by the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act and the current changes going on in Congress. We continue to anxiously await the final ruling on how our nutrition programs will need to operate for the remainder of the year and the New Year to come.

This is where our membership becomes that more valuable. SNAAZ has strived to bring you topics that will help you to be successful in your job. The information that is available through the websites and journals serve as valuable tools to help you promote the good that School Nutrition has to offer.

As we embark on the proposed regulations we continue to have questions on how we are going to implement them in our programs. SNAAZ continues to work on ways to provide the resources to our members on how we can all come out on top together. At this year's professional growth conference in Prescott, AZ on February 24-25, 2012 we will offer the Healthy Edge class and many other professional growth opportunities to help make you knowledgeable and successful in your positions. Debbie Gasiorek and Connie Parmeter have been working hard on setting up classes that will bring you value. We are working on having separate tracks for employees and director/supervisors. This same concept will be followed at the State conference in 2012. CNIC (Child Nutrition Industry Conference) will be June 4-5, 2012 in Sedona, Arizona and will also be a great opportunity to continue to build your professional portfolio and continue to stay abreast of all that is changing in our programs.

We continue to hear negative connotations on what are School Meals. WE all know WE are doing the best job for our students; it is time that WE start tooting our own horns. Many school districts in AZ are doing the RIGHT thing and we need to make sure others are aware of that. It is important that we are sharing our stories on www.TrayTalk.org, School Meals that Rock, Facebook and on local school newsletters. The SHI (School Health Index) is rolling out in school districts and is replacing the old Tobacco grants. There are sections for each area in the school; Food Service/Child Nutrition is an included area that the school will be focusing on. One question that is about the cafeteria manager and if they have a nutrition related degree and/or is certified through the School Nutrition Association. Level 1 certification is a very easy goal to reach. SNAAZ provides Serving it Safe through the Arizona Department of Education at the State Conference in September and Healthy Edge at the Professional Growth Conference in February then all you have to do is send in your paperwork and related fees to SNA to complete your certification.

Our past president, Kristin Soulsby provided this handy flow chart that shows you how to easy the road to certification is. I continue to challenge all of you to strive for Level 1 certification by next year!

I wish each of you much success in your commitments for 2012. I challenge you to put SNA Certification on your list.

Carol Weekly, RD, SNS