First Lady Brings Education Message To City
October 08, 2018
By MEGAN WILLIAMS
Daily News-Record 10/6/18
HARRISONBURG — Virginia’s first lady, Pamela Northam, sat in the cafeteria of Waterman Elementary School on Friday trying to eat a salad of locally sourced fruits and vegetables, but kept being interrupted by kids coming over to say hi.
Not that she minded.
“I used to be a teacher,” Northam said to one girl. “Now I’m married to the governor, which is like the principal of the whole state.”
Northam was scheduled to visit a number of Harrisonburg schools in September, but Hurricane Florence’s approach caused her trip to be rescheduled.
She started her day at Elon Rhodes Early Learning Center at Smithland Elementary as part of her “Back to School” tour across Virginia to raise awareness of the importance of high-quality early childhood care and education.
While at Waterman, Northam’s second stop on her city visit, she ate lunch and participated in the Farm to School event “Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth.” Participants across the state simultaneously took a bite out of a locally sourced apple as part of an initiative to increase awareness of Virginia Farm to School programs. She also visited the school’s garden during her stop.
Lastly, the first lady visited the Head Start program at Stone Spring Elementary School.
“We’ve traveled 2,000 miles on the back-to-school tour to celebrate students and what I call superhero teachers,” Northam, wife of Gov. Ralph Northam, said. “I like to highlight the innovators, the ones pushing the envelope of education.”
She said it’s important to showcase the work being done by school divisions to show others that they can do that kind of work, too.
Waterman Elementary was chosen by Harrisonburg City Public Schools because the school has passionate teachers, students and staff when it comes to sourcing local food, gardening and composting, said Andrea Early, director of nutrition services for the school division.
“Waterman in particular has been really good just at the ground level and they’ve really spearheaded the effort,” Early said. “You’ve got to have that passion at the ground level.”
Harrisonburg schools use local produce and meat in every meal, Early
said. It’s something the division was recently recognized for with the Dorothy S. McAuliffe School Nutrition Award.
Friday’s menu included spaghetti with locally sourced ground beef, rolls with whole wheat from Nelson County and salads using local lettuce.
Between the 2014 and 2016 school years the use of local produce doubled in schools in Virginia, said Trista Grisby, the farm to school specialist for the Virginia Department of Education.
This is the 10th anniversary of the state’s Farm to School week.
“It’s to celebrate the community and the students having real food from the community,” Grisby said of the purpose of Farm to School week.
Daily News-Record 10/6/18
HARRISONBURG — Virginia’s first lady, Pamela Northam, sat in the cafeteria of Waterman Elementary School on Friday trying to eat a salad of locally sourced fruits and vegetables, but kept being interrupted by kids coming over to say hi.
Not that she minded.
“I used to be a teacher,” Northam said to one girl. “Now I’m married to the governor, which is like the principal of the whole state.”
Northam was scheduled to visit a number of Harrisonburg schools in September, but Hurricane Florence’s approach caused her trip to be rescheduled.
She started her day at Elon Rhodes Early Learning Center at Smithland Elementary as part of her “Back to School” tour across Virginia to raise awareness of the importance of high-quality early childhood care and education.
While at Waterman, Northam’s second stop on her city visit, she ate lunch and participated in the Farm to School event “Crunch Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth.” Participants across the state simultaneously took a bite out of a locally sourced apple as part of an initiative to increase awareness of Virginia Farm to School programs. She also visited the school’s garden during her stop.
Lastly, the first lady visited the Head Start program at Stone Spring Elementary School.
“We’ve traveled 2,000 miles on the back-to-school tour to celebrate students and what I call superhero teachers,” Northam, wife of Gov. Ralph Northam, said. “I like to highlight the innovators, the ones pushing the envelope of education.”
She said it’s important to showcase the work being done by school divisions to show others that they can do that kind of work, too.
Waterman Elementary was chosen by Harrisonburg City Public Schools because the school has passionate teachers, students and staff when it comes to sourcing local food, gardening and composting, said Andrea Early, director of nutrition services for the school division.
“Waterman in particular has been really good just at the ground level and they’ve really spearheaded the effort,” Early said. “You’ve got to have that passion at the ground level.”
Harrisonburg schools use local produce and meat in every meal, Early
said. It’s something the division was recently recognized for with the Dorothy S. McAuliffe School Nutrition Award.
Friday’s menu included spaghetti with locally sourced ground beef, rolls with whole wheat from Nelson County and salads using local lettuce.
Between the 2014 and 2016 school years the use of local produce doubled in schools in Virginia, said Trista Grisby, the farm to school specialist for the Virginia Department of Education.
This is the 10th anniversary of the state’s Farm to School week.
“It’s to celebrate the community and the students having real food from the community,” Grisby said of the purpose of Farm to School week.
