SHIP stories
The Statewide Health Improvement Program
(SHIP) works to improve health through better
nutrition, increased physical activity and
decreased commercial tobacco use and exposure.
Schools are one of the areas in which the SHIP
works to improve health. As of June 2011:
• In collaboration with the MDH program
Great Trays, school nutrition staff from 75
percent of eligible districts throughout the
state have been trained in menu planning
and procurement strategies to serve healthy
meals.
Alternative school students win
with porcupine sliders
“It started with a seed,” says a South Education
Center Alternative (SECA) teacher. With the support
of SHIP, one year earlier she and her students started
a school garden at the alternative high school in
Richfield. Students planted seeds near sunny windows
as a symbol of opportunity. As they nurtured growing
seedlings, interest and support for the garden grew.
When students first brought their harvest to the school’s
kitchen they faced a wary food service supervisor.
She fast became one of their biggest champions, and
at summer’s end, she helped them prepare a harvest
banquet for administrators and supporters. It seemed a
fitting finale, but SECA was just beginning.
When a SHIP staff person alerted them to the First
Lady’s “Recipes for Healthy Kids Contest,” it caught
the attention of the teacher and her four Planting
Seeds students. They went on to win with their spicedup turkey burgers—Porcupine Sliders—beating 240
other entries and winning $4,500 for their school
lunch program. According to the students, they won
www.health.state.mn.us/divs/oshii
much more: the experience of being part of a group,
being leaders working on a common project and
new vocation ideas. One student described it as a
“Cinderella story;” a small alternative school achieving
this through dedication and hard work. “We are
winners, not losers,” she said.
Are the students sold? Yes. 400 students at SECA
devoured 300 sliders when served for lunch one
day. One student says she’s helping revolutionize
school lunches. “I feel like I’m doing my part. It’s
really exciting.” It started with a seed, but the “seed”
changed the students, changed the school lunches, and
made the community take notice.
***
SHIP is working to make the healthy choice the easy
choice for Minnesota. Find out how at
www.health.state.mn.us/ship