Join the Healthy Food Choices in Schools Community of Practice!
Membership
Help to build a one-stop, free online resource that provides eating behavior insights, interventions, and practical steps to encourage healthy food choices in school food environments.
As a member you have the opportunity to share your expertise with a nationwide audience of food service directors and staff, program leaders, teachers, parents and students. Membership also provides an avenue for professional networking with individuals across the county who are working to promote healthy food choices in schools. Your participation and contributions to the CoP are tracked and can be used in outreach reporting and resume building.
Participation
Being a participating member means that you attend group meetings and contribute to content development as often as possible. Members are also asked to get the word out about the CoP and its content. An optional opt-in opportunity is participation in the Ask an Expert feature. Membership can be flexible – the leadership team is happy to accommodate a level of participation that you are comfortable with.
Meeting Attendance– Group meetings are held remotely for half an hour at the same time each month. Members are expected to attend these meetings regularly. The purpose of these meetings is to keep communication within the group flowing and to brainstorm new content ideas.
Content Development – Content development consists of writing content (articles, tip-sheets, how-tos, testimonials), peer-reviewing content, presenting webinars, and/or developing educational videos. Members are expected to regularly participate in one or more of these activities.
Promotion and Recruitment – All members are expected to help get the word out about the tools and resources developed by the CoP. You can do this by sharing provided promotional materials at conferences and events, and by sharing CoP written content, webinars and videos on social media.
Getting Started
- Check out the FAQs below.
- To become a member, contact: Lori Johnson M.S., RD, LD/N, lorijohnson@ufl.edu
FAQs
How much time is a member expected to dedicate to the CoP?
While there is no specific time requirement, you are expected to attend a 30 minute remote brainstorming meeting each month, regularly contribute to the content development process and promote the CoP as appropriate.
Who leads the CoP?
Meet the leadership team here: http://articles.extension.org/pages/68882/leadership-team-for-healthy-food-choices-in-schools-community-of-practice
How does the CoP relate to the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement?
The CoP was originally created by members of the Smarter Lunchrooms National Office – some of whom continue to lead. The mission of the CoP aligns with Smarter Lunchrooms and the two entities often intermingle. The primary focus of the CoP is to disseminate tools and resources to its target audiences, many of which reference Smarter Lunchrooms directly. Members of the Smarter Lunchrooms community are invited to join as members and share their unique experience and expertise. However, the CoP is not exclusive to Smarter Lunchrooms. Those who are involved in programs related to school meals that do not focus on Smarter Lunchrooms are welcome to join and contribute too!
Who do I contact if I have more questions?
Questions can be directed to: Lori Johnson M.S., RD, LD/N, lorijohnson@ufl.edu