curnowc Posted February 3, 2010 Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCHOOL HEALTH ADVISORY COUNCIL School District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana December 1, 2009 The School Health Advisory Council met Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 4:00 pm in Room 219 of Lincoln Center. Virginia Mermel presided over the meeting. Attending were, Bernie Mason, Karen Dawson, Kay Schwartz, Eli Hovland, Beverly McHugh, Anne Nichols and Thomas Harper Introductions Virginia Mermel welcomed the committee and introduced Elizabeth Ciemins Director of Center for Clinical Transitional Research at the Billings Clinic and Krista Hertz, Executive Director of the Billings Education Foundation. BackPack Program Donations Krista Hertz , Executive Director of the Billings Education Foundation gave a report on the status of the fundraising for the BackPack Program. As of December 1st $18,368.20 has been raised. $6,560.00 of that amount has been received from 1st Interstate Bank (Double match program – part of Neighbors Feeding Neighbors initiative that is done in conjunction with the 1st Interstate employees. $6,883.20 has been received from the Soroptimist and the remaining amount from individual donations. BackPack Program and Fund Raising Efforts Ginny Mermel informed the committee that $100,000.00 is needed in order to continue the program next year. The Montana Food Bank Network originally said that the grant that they received from the National Food Bank Network stated that the Backpack meals could only go to children already enrolled in the free and reduced program attending Title I schools with 50% or greater enrollment in free and reduced meal program. The lowest participation in Title I schools is at Burlington School which has 40%. Montana Food Bank Network says that they will cover those children also. Requests have also been received from non-title schools who have children who are hungry. The Soroptimist are also holding a fund raiser in January, known as the “Wine and Roses Event.” A large portion of this money will go to the BackPack Program. The Soroptimists will also hold another Herberger’s Community Day Coupon Book sale in February. The actual Community Day Sale is scheduled for Saturday, Feb 27th. Ginny Mermel met with Tracy Neary, Director Office of Community Benefit at St. Vincent Hospital. Tracy is meeting with the St. Vincent Foundation to see if they can provide the BackPack program with $10,000 – $25,000 next year. Some funds may also be available from the employees at St. Vincent. Ginny has met with various foundations and organizations who are considering trying to help fund the BackPack program. Ginny Mermel, Karen Dawson, Dayle Hayes and Bernie Mason are trying to set up a Food Insecurity Summit for late January or early February to get the local Billings Food Bank, Family Services, Inc which gets food from the Montana Food Bank Network, the Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul and Boys and Girls Club to figure out ways to improve cooperation between the agencies that provide emergency food services. Dayle Hayes and Ginny Mermel, along with Barbara Sample from the Sample Foundation will meet with the above agencies. The meeting will take place at the College of Technology (COT). Karen Dawson talked about visiting with the Kiwanis and other organizations about fund raising for the backpack program. This could take place in the fall when some of the organizations make commitments. A discussion was held regarding a newsletter that could be sent home informing parents about what is happening in SHAC. Ginny would like to see one sent home with the elementary school students. Middle School Extra Curricular Activities Paul Manning from the YMCA was not present to give an update of the YMCA involvement in middle school extra curricular activities. Implementation of Assessment Form Although SHAC has developed, gained approval for, and posted numerous wellness policies on the SD-2 website, implementation is spotty. A discussion took place regarding healthy snacks in the schools. Kay Schwartz stressed the fact that the word is not getting to teachers about the policies and procedures that are in place regarding the sale and use of healthy foods in the schools. Thomas Harper thought it would be a good idea to keep the Board of Trustees up to date on the SHAC Committee policies and activities by sending out a report. Beverly McHugh stated that she would like to see wellness in general be incorporated into the Strategic Planning Steering Committee that is being conducted at this time. It was suggested that the committee contact Barbara Bryan, the chair of the committee. Elizabeth Ciemins from the Billings Clinic will check with her contacts at Billings Clinic regarding health care reform in the community and the status of a Blue Cross Blue Shield grant intended to support development of health messages. A discussion took place about using PIR days as an opportunity to train teachers about the SHAC policies and encourage them to support school wellness. Ginny Mermel developed a simple assessment tool to determine how each school is implementing the SHAC policies. It was decided that the committee go forward with the assessment. Upcoming Meetings Next SHAC meeting is scheduled for January 12, 2010 - Room 219 – Lincoln Center Respectfully submitted: __________________________ Virginia Mermel, Chair ____________________ Cindy Curnow, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.