The Conway Board of Education discussed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm-to-School Grant the district received during its regular meeting Tuesday night.
The district received a planning grant to design a local food processing kitchen program in a centralized school kitchen facility that will allow schools to serve nutritious, local produce throughout the year.
The goal of the $5 million in grants, spanning 39 states, is to connect schools with local farmers and ranchers and to create healthier school meals, USDA officials said in a news release.
Board member Bill Clements asked Food Service Director Sharon Burgess what schools the gardens would be in. Burgess said they would start in the elementary schools.
“It’s going to be fantastic for the district,” Burgess said.
Burgess said they were one of 19 districts awarded the grant, which had 58 applicants.
“We decided to apply for the grant because we saw the opportunity to enrich our current food service program while providing economic opportunities for Conway and surrounding areas,” she said. “Research has shown farm-to-school programs actually do work. My hope is through this program we are able to influence students in Conway to set them up for a lifetime of healthy eating.”
Board members noted this would be a great learning experience for the children.
Congressman French Hill joined the meeting via a Facetime call just before he entered the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. for the State of the Union address.
“I’m glad to be in Conway virtually to celebrate this grant,” Hill said. “Thanks for inviting me to the meeting tonight. Good luck with the grant.”
Chloe Maxwell, special projects coordinator for Congressman Hill, said this is the first time they’ve successfully been able to Facetime into a meeting, but Congressman Hill has wanted to utlize technology more often.
Superintendent Greg Murry thanked everyone who helped in getting this grant. Also during the meeting, the board passed option one of the 2016 school calendar presented by Dianne Allen, director of personnel. Option one, similar to the 2015-2016 school calendar, included being out of school for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Veterans Day. Allen said this calendar wouldn’t cause an extended school year.
She said if they don’t have make up snow days at the end of the year, school should be out before Memorial Day.
Each year, the staff votes on the calendar. This year, option one won with 57 percent of the staff voting for it.
In other business, the school board:
•Approved one student transfer from Vilonia to Conway School District.
•Recognized Jillian Tang, Conway High School student who received a perfect score on her ACT.
•Recognized Donna Adoph and Haley Morris as National Board Certified Teachers, bringing the number to 72 National Board Certified Teachers within the district.
(Staff writer Hilary Andrews can be reached by email at hilary.andrews@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1215. To comment on this and other stories in the Log Cabin, log on to www.thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)