Team Nutrition Training (TNT) Grants awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture provide funding for key projects in Illinois that support children's health and achievement.

TNT 2009

Whole Grains for Breakfast

This new initiative that will provide training and resources to school food service staff to help them increase the amount and variety of whole grain products offered to students in the school breakfast programs. Illinois Net Program will partner with the ISBE Nutrition Programs Division and the Whole Grains Council to plan and deliver training to food service staff throughout the state. Information on whole grain commodities and products will also be provided to prepare foodservice staff to successfully integrate whole grains into school meals and meet HealthierUS School Challenge criteria.

HealthierUs School Challenge Mini-grants for Illinois Elementary Schools

The Illinois Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program will award $3,500.00 in mini-grant funds to twenty Illinois elementary schools. These mini-grants will assist elementary schools in meeting the criteria of the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) through HUSSC training and technical assistance for elementary staff. The HUSSC is a national recognition program established by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service that recognizes those elementary schools that strive to improve their school environment and address childhood obesity by reaching for higher standards in nutrition education, physical activity, and healthy school meals.  

After-School Wellness Activities Initiative

This initiative will empower after-school staff to provide fun, interactive nutrition education and opportunities for physical activity for children and/or parents in their programs. Illinois Nutrition Education and Training Program will partner with the Illinois After-school Partnership to provide support through training, a web page, and 10 mini-grants of $2000.00 for after-school programs participating in the After-school Snack Program.

A link to the press release announcing the $350,000 - 2009 TNT grant to the Illinois State Board of Education can be found at www.isbe.state.il.us/.

TNT 2008

Color My Meals Healthy

The Illinois Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program partnered with the Illinois Association of Education for Young Children (IAEYC) and ISBE to complete the Color My Meals Healthy (CMMH) initiative. The CMMH initiative provided regional and onsite Color My Meals Healthier Training to child care administrators and food service staff that focused on planning and preparing healthy meals and snacks. Through the initiative the goal was to increase awareness and commitment of child care professionals to provide nutrition consistent with the recommendations of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Pertinent to achieving this goal:

• The Color My Meals Healthy training is available for conferences and individual child care sites.
• A Healthy Child Care web page has been developed to assist child care staff in locating key information, strategies and resources to help shape child care environments that actively promote the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Nutrition A3 (Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace)

The Illinois Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program will partner with The Collaboratory Project, a technology-and project-based learning initiative of Northwestern University, to empower secondary education students to make healthy food choices and be physically active. The initiative includes development of a series of six online technology-based nutrition education lessons that will engage students in fun, hands-on activities that challenge them to evaluate their own lifestyle habits, take steps to improve, and measure their successes.

An online Nutrition A3 e-Course will also be developed to improve instructor confidence in integrating the lessons into secondary education classrooms or afterschool curricula; the Illinois NET Program will partner with the Illinois Family and Consumer Science (FCS) Association to promote and field test the Nutrition A3 program; and, a stipend will be provided to an initial group of teachers willing to complete the Nutrition A3 training and field test the program at their school.

Move and Crunch Planning Guide

The Move and Crunch Planning Guide initiative will be a collaboration between the Illinois NET Program and Northeastern Illinois University Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics. This initiative is an expansion of the highly successful 2006 TNT role model project - Move and Crunch Challenge for Principals, a challenge which encourages principals to meet recommendations for daily physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption for one week, and encourages the school staff, parents and students to do the same. The 2008 expanded initiative will encourage parents, teachers/caregivers, foodservice staff, and others to serve as role models for students at school and at home. Additionally, it will provide school wellness policy leaders with step-by-step instruction on planning and implementing such events at the local level.

The students from Northeastern University will assist in the development of the planning guide as well as the promotional and marketing plan as part of a service-learning project.

TNT 2007

Step Up Illinois School Meals

The Illinois Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program coordinated this initiative to assist Illinois school food staff in implementing principles of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and MyPyramid into their reimbursable meal programs. Projects helped school foodservice staff:

• Understand what changes needed to be made and why by publishing a series of articles in the ISBE Outlook newsletter
• Learn new culinary skills by working with the National Food Service Management Institute to develop and implement online training for school foodservice staff
• Locate needed Dietary Guidelines resources, strategies and training and organize them for easy access on a one-stop website for school nutrition staff. Content is user driven by utilizing a stakeholder advisory council, user feedback survey and interactive web components.

These projects were completed with the assistance of NET partners including the Illinois School Nutrition Association, Action for Health Kids-Illinois, Illinois State Board of Education and National Food Service Management Institute.

Illinois Schools Can! (2006)

The Illinois Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program coordinated an Illinois Schools Can! initiative to assist elementary schools in taking the HealthierUS School Challenge.  Components of this two year initiative included an electronic newsletter, mini-grant opportunities that supported schools taking the HealthierUS School Challenge, and a statewide Principals Step & Crunch Challenge that enlisted principals, teachers, students, parents, and foodservice professionals to serve as role models for students in practicing healthy eating and being physically active.

Local Wellness Policy (2004)

This grant funded projects that supported a local wellness policy initiative in Illinois. The Illinois NET Program assembled a consensus group of stakeholders to draft a model wellness policy for Illinois.The wellness policy was distributed to all school principals, superintendents and regional offices of education along with a toolkit for wellness policy development, implementation and evaluation. In support of nutrition education goals in local wellness policies, an online course on nutrition education based on the USDA Team Nutrition curriculum was launched in Spring 2006. A workshop for child nutrition staff was also developed on how to build a healthier a la carte program.

Obesity Prevention Initiative (2003)

This grant funded a Summer Food Service Program to engage low-income children (6-12 years) in fun, interactive activities that promoted Team Nutrition messages. This project was a collaborative effort between the Illinois Nutrition Education and Training Program, The Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion and the Chicago Housing Authority.

It also funded a Teens Mentoring Kids Project which engaged the Illinois Family Career and Community Leaders of America in a cross-age nutrition education program aimed at teens promoting healthy eating and physical activity to younger children. The Illinois NET Program staff provided training and resources to IFCCLA peer educators and student advisors to enable IFCCLA chapters to plan and implement an engaging, experiential tour of the human body for Gr. 1-5 students called Body Walk. Students learned about the importance of smart food choices and an active lifestyle at various stations in the Body Walk exhibit.

Children At Risk: Working Together for Change (2002)

Nearly one in three children are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight. This grant funds projects that focus on prevention. In cooperation with the Illinois Department of Human Services, training is being provided to school nurses across the state on children's health issues and their role in improving the school health environment. A major exposition for children and families will service to raise awareness about children's health issues and foster positive change. A survey of foods available in Illinois schools will help us assess the current school environment and plan future programs that assist schools in planning for improvement.

Changing the Scene: Improving the School Health Environment (2001)

The goal of this project wa to help school board members and staff, as well as parents, take action to improve their school nutrition environment. Training and resources were provided through this project to school board members, parents and school staff in cooperation with the Illinois Association of School Boards, Illinois PTA and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. All superintendents and school board members in Illinois received a mailing about the current childhood obesity epidemic and what policymakers can do to make a difference for Illinois Children. Another mailing was sent to PTA presidents, providing information and resources on how parents and teachers can support this effort. A state conference on March 27, 2003 provided training and resources to school staff.