The Alleghany Highlands Public Schools Division’s food services staff was recently honored by the Virginia School Boards Association with a Healthy School Meals Award. From left are Mary Donnan, executive director of The Alleghany Foundation, and Debra Buckner, child nutrition supervisor. AHPS won the award as part of the VSBA’s Food for Thought competition.
AHPS Wins State Award for Providing Healthy, Tasty Meals
LOW MOOR — Alleghany Highlands Public Schools is among five school divisions that received top honors in the 2024 Virginia School Boards Association Food for Thought Competition.
The recognitions were recently announced at a VSBA Conference on Education held in the Richmond area. Established in 2012, the VSBA Food for Thought Competition aims to educate, engage, and empower school leaders in addressing childhood hunger and ensure healthier, more nutritious school meals for all students in Virginia.
Alleghany Highlands Public Schools won the Healthy School Meals category for school divisions with a student population below 10,000. AHPS has approximately 2,700 students.
Debra Buckner, who serves as child nutrition supervisor for AHPS, was on hand to receive the recognition for the school division. She was joined by AHPS leaders Kim Halterman and Melinda Snead-Johnson, and Mary Donnan, executive director of the Alleghany Foundation.
“I am very proud of our school nutrition team for the dedication they put into the work they do. They make our students feel welcome in our cafeterias by taking the time to not just serve them meals but listen and encourage them in many ways,” Buckner said.
In the fall of 2023, AHPS began offering healthy, made-from-scratch meals to students at Covington Middle School and Alleghany High Schools whenever practical. The initiative placed heavy emphasis on providing students with tasty meals that contain fresh fruits and vegetables.
Several new recipes using home-grown potatoes were on the menu at Alleghany High School this past school year — there were even freshly sliced french fries. The feedback from students and staff was very positive.
“One of the many interesting facts about our food service team’s hard work this year is their commitment to using fresh fruits and vegetables and presenting them attractively,” said Halterman and Snead-Johnson.
The initiative was assisted with a grant from The Alleghany Foundation. The foundation grant was used to purchase kitchen equipment that helps the food services staff efficiently prepare healthy meals.
“That grant from the foundation enabled us to purchase slicers and dicers for the AHS and CMS cafeterias,” Buckner said. “The slicers and dicers allow us to prepare the made-from-scratch recipes with fresh fruits and vegetables and reduce the use of processed fruits and vegetables.”
Studies show that fresh fruits and vegetables are good sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and they can help students maintain a healthy diet. That’s why AHPS staff works to offer students fresh fruits and vegetables in all of its cafeterias.
“I am proud that almost every day, we have fresh fruits and vegetables in all of our schools as a menu option,” Buckner said.
“Our food service team works hard to provide a variety of fruits and vegetables to our students and staff,” said Chris Jones, principal of Sharon Elementary School. “We ask parents to encourage their students to take the opportunity to try the different fruits and vegetables we offer. We think they will enjoy them and quickly discover what their favorites are.”
AHPS schools open Aug. 14 for the 2024-2025 school year and Halterman and Snead-Johnson said they are excited over the prospect of celebrating even more success stories for the school division.
“We know many of our team members are servant leaders no matter their role in our organization, and we want to see them appreciated,” Halterman and Snead-Johnson said. “We believe it is important for others to know about the achievements of AHPS to help encourage the students and staff. What our community says about our schools affects our student focus on success, our staff morale, and even our area’s economic development.”
AHPS has been recognized by multiple regional and state honors since its formation approximately two years ago. The division has even earned national recognition for its communications efforts.
With approximately 2,700 students, AHPS was created when Alleghany County Public Schools, Covington City Public Schools, and Jackson River Technical Center merged in July 2022. The school division is jointly funded by Alleghany County and the City of Covington.
AHPS news and events are regularly updated on Facebook at AHPublicSchools and Instagram at ahpublicschools. Information is also available at www.ahps.k12.va.us.
As a member of the Virginia School Boards Association, AHPS is part of a voluntary, nonpartisan organization of Virginia school boards that promotes excellence in public education through advocacy, training, and services. The VSBA offers conferences, information, training, and counseling designed to meet the needs of the Commonwealth’s educational leaders and routinely supports efforts to provide for local control of schools.