SNF to Honor Five National 2018 School Nutrition Heroes

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Contact: Diane Pratt-Heavner

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media@schoolnutrition.org

SNF to Honor Five National 2018 School Nutrition Heroes

2018-01-16

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD – The non-profit School Nutrition Foundation (SNF) has announced the national recognition of five School Nutrition Heroes for their efforts as positive role models in their field in 2018. The Heroes were nominated by their peers and chosen by SNF because they epitomize the hardworking characteristics of those devoted to serving students and helping their communities.

The 2018 School Nutrition Heroes are making a difference in a variety of notable ways. Their efforts include working with homeless youth, creating school organized food pantries, implementing award-winning Farm to School programs and making sure that students and their families don’t go hungry after they leave school for the day.

The 2018 School Nutrition Heroes are:

• Paula Angelucci, Child Nutrition Director, Colonial School District, New Castle, DE
• Anthony Terrell, Culinary Specialist, Shelby County Schools, Memphis, TN
• April Laskey, SNS, Director of School Nutrition, Billerica Public Schools, Billerica, MA
• Lynne Shore, Food Service Director, Willamina School District, Willamina, OR
• Patricia Urbanczyk, Kitchen Manager, School City of Hammond, Hammond, IN

“This year’s School Nutrition Heroes truly exemplify the hard work, passion and dedication it takes to ensure successful school nutrition programs and a healthy community,” said School Nutrition Association CEO Patricia Montague, CAE. “Their exceptional efforts will have a lasting impact on the lives of their students and many members of the community for years to come.”

The recipients will be recognized at SNF’s Celebration of School Nutrition Heroes, during School Nutrition Association’s 46th Legislative Action Conference in Washington, D.C. on Monday, March 5, 2018. The annual Celebration is SNF’s signature and sole fundraising event to support the Foundation’s education, research and scholarships for school nutrition professionals.

Learn more about the 2018 School Nutrition Heroes:

Paula Angelucci
Child Nutrition Director, Colonial School District, New Castle, DE
In addition to her role at CSD, Paula strives to help those in need in her community as a member of the Food Bank of Delaware Anti-Hunger Coalition. She works tirelessly to ensure that local children and families never go hungry and serves as a steering committee member of the Anti-Hunger Coalition. The Food Bank of Delaware named Paula Advocate of the Year in 2016. Over the years, she has combined her commitment to local food banks with her dedicated work in school foodservice at CSD. Paula initiated six new school-based food banks – more than any other district in the state of Delaware. Through her efforts, CSD was one of the first districts in the state to implement mobile feeding in the Summer Food Service Program. The mobile “Colonial Care-A-Van” brings lunches to four apartment complexes and the local farmers’ market during the summer months when students are out of school.

Anthony Terrell
Culinary Specialist, Shelby County Schools, Memphis, TN
Chef T has become well known in the community, working with various groups to make his charitable efforts come to fruition. As a leader for an outreach ministry program for his home church, El-Shaddai Pentecostal Church of Christ, he rallies members of his local chapter of Tennessee School Nutrition Association (TSNA) and other industry associates to prepare care packages for 200 homeless people in Memphis. He combines his strong faith, culinary training and passion to help those in need, making sure these packages are delivered with a hot, healthy meal through a mission called Church Without Walls. He held a seat on Michelle Obama’s “Chefs Move To Schools” Advisory Board from 2014-2015 and was an Advisory Board member for Institute of Child Nutrition from 2014-2017. Chef T represented the USDA Southwest Region as a chef for the Annual White House “Garden Harvest” in Washington, D.C. in 2015 and has been a member of the Culinary Institute of America “Healthy Kids Collaborative” board since 2014.

April Laskey, SNS
Director of School Nutrition, Billerica Public Schools, Billerica, MA
Serving healthy school meals to Billerica Public Schools students for more than 12 years, April also strives to meet her students’ needs beyond the school doors. Seeing families with limited access to nutritious foods, her team partnered with the Greater Boston Food Bank to create the Billerica Public Schools Food Market. Approximately 450 families visit once a month and receive anywhere from 30 to 50 pounds of fresh produce and frozen and shelf-stable foods. During her time as the Director of School Nutrition, April has introduced many exciting programs to help increase the healthy options in her district’s cafeterias. She started a “Taste it Thursday” program, where new menu items are introduced and taste tested with students. She has also organized Harvest of the Month lessons and samples for elementary students, Chopped Challenge contests for middle and high school students and barbeques for elementary Back to School night, incoming high school freshmen and their families.

Lynne Shore
Food Service Director, Willamina School District, Willamina, OR
Lynne has dedicated more than 33 years to creating an overall healthy environment for her district’s students. She has held fundraisers to purchase bicycles and helmets for students to ride to and from school, coordinated costume drives for playtime in local children’s hospitals, and collected stuffed animal donations for the state police to help comfort children in traumatic situations. She has collected clothes and supplies for children in need. Serving as a Homeless Youth Liaison, she fills backpacks with family meal supplies for students to take home over the weekend. Lynne has also organized free spring and summer food box programs that have benefitted families of students in need of a healthy meal during break when school is out. On her days off, Lynne can often still be found in the school kitchen making meals for clubs and athletes. One of her traditions is to make breakfast for the district’s football players to help ensure their day starts off great, hopefully resulting in a win for the team. She thinks of the school and its students as its own community, where if one succeeds, they all succeed.

Patricia Urbanczyk
Kitchen Manager, School City of Hammond, Hammond, IN
In charge of filling her students’ stomachs with the healthiest school meals possible, Patty was instrumental in the success of Edison Elementary’s ‘backpack’ program last year to support students in need. She went above and beyond, ensuring that the students who received backpacks also received a holiday food basket along with a Christmas CD to bring these children and their families some holiday cheer. This past December alone, she handed out 168 baskets of food to members of the community who were in need. Her care and passion for her community reach outside the school too. Last year, a local family with six children lost their home to a fire. Despite making a very modest salary, Patty and her mother purchased brand new school uniforms for these children and started a clothing collection drive for the family. She called upon her church to help this family in need, which led to more donations of clothing, beds, dining room tables/chairs, other furniture and dishes and money to be raised for the family. She often accomplished these amazingly generous feats on her own time, with nothing but love of community and compassion for her fellow Hammondites pushing her to do it.

About the School Nutrition Foundation
As the philanthropic sister organization of the School Nutrition Association (SNA), the School Nutrition Foundation (SNF) is dedicated to securing financial resources for education, professional development, scholarships and research in school nutrition. SNF focuses on providing the resources that educate and empower SNA members to provide high-quality, low-cost meals to students across the nation to foster an environment where children achieve overall wellness and lifelong success.