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Wellness report: North Attleboro expands tower gardens, share cart and school menu testing
Summary
District wellness co‑chairs presented the annual "State of the Plate" report describing tower gardens in every school, a share cart to reduce waste, student taste tests and three priority goals: increase seat time, grow committee membership and expand farm‑to‑school connections.
Nurse leader Missy Badger and Director of School Nutrition Heather Burrell presented the wellness committee's annual "State of the Plate" report at the June 9 meeting, describing programs that link classroom learning and cafeteria menus.
Burrell said the district secured a grant from the John Stalker Institute to fund a coach who helped update the district wellness policy. The nutrition department maintains tower gardens in every school and provides seedlings and classroom activities so students can harvest produce and see it served in lunches. "We actually have tower gardens in all of our schools," Burrell said.
The committee runs a share cart so students can place unwanted portions for others to take, and the nutrition staff held a middle‑school taste‑test with several new menu items — including a Tikka Masala and a Sicilian‑style pizza — to collect student feedback for next year's menu planning. The wellness committee also piloted a "Harvest of the Month" classroom box with activities tied to a monthly food item.
Committee leaders identified three priority goals for next year: improving students' seat time during lunch (time spent eating rather than entering/leaving the cafeteria); recruiting more parents, staff and student volunteers to reconstitute the pre‑COVID committee; and expanding the farm‑to‑school program to integrate more classroom activities. Burrell said roughly 38 to 42 teachers across the district currently participate in classroom menu activities, and both the Tower Garden sign‑up and Harvest programs are open to additional classrooms.
Committee members praised the nutrition team for rapid support during a recent town shelter response and noted the district was recognized as a school wellness champion by the John Stalker Institute for the second year running.
The committee invited members who want to serve on the wellness committee to sign up; leaders said they will meet four times next year and continue virtual options for participation.
