On Sept. 4, 2019, the Food and Nutrition (FNS) awarded approximately $2.5 million in fiscal year (FY) 2019 Team Nutrition Training Grants for the E-STAR Training Program. This 4-year grant supports state agency implementation of a job-skills training program focused on addressing identified state and local needs pertaining to the quality of school meals.
The Team Nutrition E-STAR Training Grant provides funding for a state to train school nutrition managers using the E-STAR training program, an enhanced version of the Institute for Child Nutrition’s STAR (School Nutrition Strategies, Training, Action Plans, and Resources) training program that focuses on school meal quality. The E-STAR training is currently only available under this grant. For more information, please contact TeamNutrition@USDA.gov.
Recipient of the FY 2019 Team Nutrition E-STAR Training Grant:
Michigan
The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) has implemented the Institute of Child Nutrition’s E-STAR Training Program, which is assisting school nutrition managers in S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goal setting and implementing an action plan with strategies to improve school meal quality and students’ perception of school meal quality. Through E-STAR, MDE is providing extensive professional development training for school nutrition professionals and awarding sub-grants to school food authorities (SFAs) to implement strategies that improve meal quality. This comprehensive training program includes virtual training (in lieu of face-to-face training due to COVID-19), online learning, and mentoring for approximately 50 school nutrition managers. So far, 4 cohorts of managers have been trained and are working toward achieving their S.M.A.R.T. goals that will impact school meal quality. In addition, 7 mentors were trained in E-STAR to provide support to their assigned managers throughout the grant. Managers are providing training to their frontline staff to support the implementation of strategies to improve meal quality at the school level. Evaluation activities associated with this grant include an FNS evaluation of the E-STAR training program and a MDE-led evaluation of school implementation of meal quality improvement action plans.