The Superintendent established top Five Priorities for all grades throughout the district: Early Learning – Essential and the foundation for school readiness in developing literacy, numeracy skills, and social and emotional skills. College and Career Readiness – Students obtaining the academic and technical knowledge necessary for a career beyond the classroom. The Whole Child – Ensuring every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Attendance – Preventing and reducing chronic absenteeism. Family and Parent Engagement – Promoting positive and enduring change for children, families and community. Many APS students miss or struggle in school it is because there are other things going on in their lives including hunger, unemployment, poverty, illness, trauma, or lack of transportation. The Whole Child approach includes policies, practices, and relationships that ensure each child, in each school, in each community, is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. The FoodCorps program will help us connect students to healthy food and to school gardens to learn through experience about the cultivation of food. According to the Centers for Disease Control, healthy students are better learners! Poor nutrition, lack of physical activity and an overall unhealthy lifestyle can lead to poor academic achievement in children. Studies have shown that healthy children get better grades, attend school more often and behave better in class.

Hands-On Learning: The service member will plan and implement learning lessons appropriate to students ages and grade levels. He/she will utilize FoodCorps information and resources including trainings, lesson plans and support from the Program Manager and other service members. The service member, after delivering lessons, will reflect on what worked and what did not work and, if necessary, modify lesson plans. Whenever possible he/she will promote diversity within the lessons. Healthy School Meals. This year the Executive Director of the Food and Nutrition Services Department (FNSD) has agreed to recruit a full-time service member within her department. The Coordinated School Health Department Site Supervisor will introduce the service member to FNSD leadership and service member to build a positive working relationship between both departments. He/she will participate in the school health/wellness/garden and/or on the Community School Council meetings, if such teams exist. Some schools hold family events in the evenings and the service member will be encouraged to participate to provide healthy eating information, food tasting or other related activities.