WA-FACSE Teachers,

Today CDC released the 2018 State Action Guides on Fruits and Vegetables. These guides show how states are doing on important measures of access and affordability, and highlight ways to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.

Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of many leading causes of illness and death, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and obesity. Despite these benefits, about 1 in 10 U.S. adults eat the recommended amount of fruits or vegetables each day. Educating individuals about the benefits of fruits and vegetables is important, but these efforts are not enough. We need a collective approach that improves the convenience and affordability of healthy foods where Americans live, learn, work, and play.

The State Action Guides provide actionable steps to promote a healthy food environment. The guides can be used by public health practitioners, decision makers, and agriculture and food systems leaders to tailor interventions to their states and communities.

Please help us spread the word by sharing these important resources with your contacts. Thank you for the work you do to make healthy eating easy and affordable for all.

Sincerely,

Ruth Petersen, MD, MPH

Director, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddtpHtignn1BuDvvidb-em8cTARxbAu5xErDsFr6ptljfuvA/viewform?c=0&w=1 

The National Partnership to recruit, prepare, and support Family and Consumer Sciences Educators has been awarded a USDA Grant and matching funds from SUNY Oneonta, FCCLA, and AAFCS for a total of $936, 572. In addition, 14 FCS professional organizations and partners have agreed to work together to meet the goals of the grant. The main objectives of this project are to create resources to support FCS educator recruitment, prepare future FCS educators, to promote FCS careers, and to share preparation resources on a national level.

We need YOU! This work will need a focused group of leaders in every state to secure success.  We would like to invite you to join your State Action Team to help us move the Say Yes to FCS effort forward. State Action Teams will work to create state plans for recruiting FCS Educators and supporting FCS programs.

Please join your state’s State Action Team by completing the form found in the link below to help us gauge your interest.  We will then reach out to you to connect you to the other interested individuals in your state and ask your state team to select a leader (or two) and we will provide you with more information.

Link to Survey: https://goo.gl/forms/lDUgQswZhOlQc3kG3

If you have any questions please contact adviser@fcclainc.org or sayyes@aafcs.org

State Action Teams Description:

State Action Teams will be made up of Family and Consumer Sciences individuals, stake holders, and advocates. Each state will have at least one person serving in a leadership role as the project chair for their state. State Action Teams will work to create state plans for recruiting FCS Educators and supporting FCS programs.

National Action Team Meeting Description:

Members of State Action Teams, FCS students, and interested parties are encouraged to attend National Action Team meetings and events taking place though-out the United States at National FCS/FCCLA events. These meetings will be a valuable opportunity for State Action Teams to report on their successes, identify new interests, and gain ideas and motivation.

Robert Hand, a family and consumer sciences teacher at Mount Vernon High School, was selected as the 2019 Washington state Teacher of the Year. The announcement was made today by Chris Reykdal, Superintendent of Public Instruction, at a ceremony held at the Museum of Popular Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle.

“Each year we celebrate excellent teaching through the Teacher of the Year program,” Reykdal said. “These professionals are dedicated, hardworking, and passionate about the success and wellbeing of their students. Mr. Hand is an exceptional example of what great teaching means in Washington state.”

Hand has been teaching at Mount Vernon since 2013. He has taught Beginning Foods; Life After High School; and Careers in Education, Nutrition, and Leadership. He has also been an adviser for Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America and for the Social Justice Club.

A former student said Hand’s personal interest makes him a special teacher. The student noted that she lived in a low-income home, that English wasn’t her first language, and that she was undocumented. In addition, she said, “I got pregnant at 16. Any other teacher would have given up on me, but Mr. Hand loves to get to know all his students to try to facilitate and nourish their learning experience.

“Mr. Hand got to know my struggles and did what a lot of other teachers didn’t: He actually acknowledged them. After this, he didn’t lower his expectations of me because he knew I was as capable as any other student who had the privileges I didn’t. With Mr. Hand’s support, throughout high school I got to discover my true potential. When I enrolled in Skagit Valley College, I kept that, ‘I can do anything’ mindset that Mr. Hand taught me. I am about to transfer onto a 4-year university and pursue a career as an educator. None of this could have been possible without Mr. Hand always being by my side – no matter what.”

Reykdal was impressed by the balance Hand maintains. “Robert cares about his students as individuals,” Reykdal said. “He also makes sure his teaching goes beyond the classroom and relates to the community. As just one example, he led his class to display the flags and colors of 11 of the countries from which students at Mount Vernon High School come.”

Reykdal noted that the relationship to community is reflected in all of the Regional Teachers of the Year. “From engaging civic relationships, studying tribal watershed lands, and to starting an ethnic-studies curriculum, all of the teachers recognize that their work has value when students can relate it to their everyday lives.”

Hand also cares about building and strengthening the teaching profession. He was instrumental in helping to develop an online curriculum for the Recruiting Washington Teachers program for the Professional Educator Standards Board.

Next steps

As the state Teacher of the Year, Robert Hand will be considered for National Teacher of the Year, which is awarded by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The winner will be announced in a special ceremony at the White House in the spring.

More about Washington’s Teacher of the Year Program

The selection committee includes previous teachers of the year and representatives from the following organizations: the Professional Educator Standards Board, Washington Education Association, Washington State Legislative Youth Advisory Council, Black Education Strategy Roundtable, Washington State Parent Teacher Association, Ready Washington Coalition, and the Association of Washington School Principals.

Teacher of the Year is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious teacher award program. It is a project of CCSSO and is presented by VOYA Financial. Washington’s program is supported by educational service districts, school districts, education organizations, a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and our business and nonprofit partners:

• Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession
• The Charles Beresford Company
• PEMCO Insurance
• Inspirus Credit Union
• MoPOP

WHY JOIN AAFCS the WAFCS AFFLIATE?

1. Membership structure connects people across multiple practices
settings and content areas to share knowledge, research, and
experience.
2. Includes:
 Webinars/including archived ones
 Quarterly Journal of FCS
 Access to online Communities where you can connect with
other FCS Peers across the nation

AND THE BEST REASON TO JOIN IN OCTOBER:
The WAFCS AFFILIATE is offering a 50% discount on your
first year membership if you sign up at the WA FCS Annual
Conference, October 21-23, at Great Wolf Lodge. That
makes your cost just $50.00! Let WAFCS help you get
started.
 This offer goes to the first 20 new members who sign up
 Dues are non-refundable once paid online

flyer for FCS Conference