DALLAS – Dallas ISD held an awards ceremony at Sam Tasby Middle School to honor the 65 schools to receive the 2013 HealthierUS School Challenge Award. The HUSSC award, sponsored by USDA Food and Child Nutrition Service (FNS), is a voluntary national certification initiative for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

The ceremony was hosted by School Zone Dallas student Kendell Long and included speakers Bill Ludwig, Regional Administrator-USDA Food Nutrition Services Southwest Region; Dallas ISD  Executive Director of Food and Child Nutrition Services Dora Rivas; Jeannine Rios- Healthy School Program Manager; Barbara Johnson Director of Dallas ISD Health and Physical Education Department; and fitness and health expert Larry North. In addition, each school sent a representative to receive their award. The Sam Tasby Leadership Cadet Corps drill team performed.

Thirty-four elementary and 31 middle schools received awards. To qualify, Dallas ISD schools worked hard to make changes to their school environment in order to (1) improve the quality of food served, (2) provide students with nutrition education, and (3) provide students with physical education and opportunities for physical activity.

The schools included:

Gold Level

Alex Sanger Elementary School                                      Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary School

Arcadia Park Elementary School                                    Maple Lawn Elementary School
Ascher Silberstein Elementary School                            Mark Twain Elementary School
Clinton P. Russell Elementary School                             Martha Turner Reilly Elementary School
Ebby Halliday Elementary School                                   Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School
Edna Rowe Elementary School                                       Mt. Auburn Elementary School
Edward Titche Elementary School                                  Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary School
Esperanza “Hope” Medrano Elementary School         Onesimo Hernandez Elementary School
Harrell Budd Elementary School                                      Paul L. Dunbar Elementary School
Herbert Marcus Elementary School                                 Preston Hollow Elementary School
Highland Meadows Elementary School                          San Jacinto Elementary School
Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary School                             Stephen C. Foster Elementary School
James S. Hogg Elementary School                                  Sudie L. Williams Elementary School
John Quincy Adams Elementary School                        T.G. Terry Elementary School
L.L. Hotchkiss Elementary School                                  Thomas Tolbert Elementary School

Urban Park Elementary School

Silver Level
Everette L. DeGolyer Elementary School                       J.N. Ervin Elementary School

Bronze Level
Alex W. Spence Middle School                                        Kennedy-Curry Middle School
Benjamin Franklin Middle School                                  Oliver W. Holmes Middle School
Billy E. Dade Middle School                                            Pearl C. Anderson Middle School
Boude Storey Middle School                                           Raul Quintanilla Sr. Middle School
Dallas Environmental Science Academy                      Robert T. Hill Middle School
E.B. Comstock Middle School                                        Sarah Zumwalt Middle School
E.D. Walker Middle School                                              Sam Tasby Middle School
Edward H. Cary Middle School                                       Seagoville Middle School
Francisco “Pancho” Medrano Middle School              T.W. Browne Middle School
Fred Florence Middle School                                           Thomas A. Edison Middle School
Hector Garcia Middle School                                           Thomas C. Marsh Middle School
Harold Wendell Lang Sr. Middle School                       Thomas J. Rusk Middle School
Henry W. Longfellow Middle School                             W.E. Greiner Middle School
John B. Hood Middle School                                           W.H. Atwell Middle School
J.L. Long Middle School                                                    W.H. Gaston Middle School
L.V. Stockard Middle School