 Message From the President
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the School Nutrition Association of WI’s 50th President. I am honored to be following a long line of very successful association leaders, many of whom were able to join us for SNA-WI’s 50th birthday celebration. I thank them for their many years of service and dedication to shaping WSFSA, as it was known for so many years. Their passion has made this association what it is today.
I would like to thank Doreen Treuden and the many members of the Steering Committee for giving SNA-WI a fantastic 50th birthday party. It was fun looking back over the past 50 years to see how the association has grown over the years. Looking back shows how things have changed. Meals may no longer be prepared primarily using stock pots on a range but they still provide the nutrition students need to grow and learn.
Looking back also shows what has stayed the same - providing nutritious meals to children. This is reflected in the current SNA-WI Mission and Vision Statements:
Mission: We advocate quality nutrition to children
through education and support for our members.
Vision: Our communities embrace the role of nutrition
in developing the full potential of all children.
We all know the benefits to offering breakfast and lunch programs – decreased tardiness, increased attendance, and improved test scores because hungry children can’t learn. Our passion for our profession and this association remains the same – doing what’s right to provide nutritious meals to our future generation.
Let’s look ahead now into a crystal ball - what will the members attending the 75th Birthday party have to say about us? Some of you “youngsters” will still be around in 2032 and may be part of planning that celebration.
What will our legacy be? What successes will the association have over the next 25 years? Will we see the elimination of reduced price meals or better yet universal free meals for all students? Will administrators, parents and community really see the school nutrition team as vital members of education team? Will students be given enough time to eat?
As the 50th SNA-WI President, the legacy I hope to build on - with a lot of help from the Executive Board and Committees - addresses three major areas:
- Membership – Without new and renewing members there is no association.
- Chapters – Our chapters are facing many challenges. Chapter leaders
will receive additional guidance and assistance to strengthen their chapters making them an even stronger building blocks
of a healthy state association, and
- Education – Educational opportunities must be available to meet
the needs of all members.
These may seem to be three separate areas, but really they all go together. People today
have lots of activities competing for their time and attention. Offering educational programs that school nutrition professionals see as appropriate and beneficial to
them in performing their jobs may help them see the benefits of the association
and convince them to become members and in turn, chapter members and potential chapter and state leaders.
The legacy for the next 25 years starts today and you are all involved in writing it. Some of you may not know it yet, or have thought it possible, but some day you will be writing the President’s Message as SNA-WI’s 55th or 75th State President. While you may not want to think about that yet, your involvement as members and leaders of this association for 2007-08 will influence what the association looks like in 2012 or 2032.
I challenge all of you to help write the legacy of SNA-WI. I encourage you to take the first step by getting involved. Maybe it is simply inviting a co-worker to attend a chapter meeting with you or perhaps offering to host a chapter meeting. Maybe it is serving on a state committee or maybe it is being willing to run for a leadership position. You as members will impact the future. Together, let’s start building the foundation of an even greater legacy to leave over the next 25 years of SNA-WI.
Wishing you all a successful start
to the 2007-08 school year.
Cynthia Loechler, RD, SFAS
SNA-WI President
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