COBB, Calif. – Maybe it’s the healthy air up where Cobb Mountain Elementary School is located that has made the school a consistent award-winner in various programs.
Banners in the school auditorium with years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 connote Cobb Mountain Elementary’s “best of” in a variety of activities.
Most recently – Tuesday, to be specific – it was its serving of nutritious food that resulted in a Bronze Award in the HealthierUS School Challenge.
The award, presented by USDA Food and Nutrition Division Director Donna Rach at a school assembly, recognized Cobb Mountain Elementary’s excellence in the National School Lunch Program.
Coming during National Nutrition Month, the recognition was for “creating healthier school environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity.”
“It is a program in which schools can apply for different levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold,” Cindy Leonard, the school’s garden chair. “It actually took three applications before we met the criteria of nutrition and physical activity.”
Cobb Mountain Elementary principal Shelley Tan said that her school won the award because, “It went above and beyond the state Department of Education guidelines and recommendations for nutrition.”
Leonard credited the support the school receives from the Cobb Mountain community for its consistent excellence.
“We’ve had tremendous support from the community and parents and teachers,” she said. “We’re lucky. There’s really not much up here in Cobb. If you look at the town you wouldn’t think there is so much going on.”
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