{"id":13530,"date":"2022-10-20T19:11:32","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T19:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/indiana\/?p=13530"},"modified":"2025-04-04T16:42:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T16:42:32","slug":"celebrate-our-hoosier-hunger-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/indiana\/2022\/10\/20\/celebrate-our-hoosier-hunger-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrate Our Hoosier Hunger Heroes!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Principals Tackle Student Food Insecurity\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>

Principals across the nation work every day with one thing in their minds: the success of their students. They understand that a child\u2019s health and wellness is essential to their learning. For this reason, principals have always been a critical part of ending childhood hunger in America.<\/span><\/p>

Today, principals face an extraordinary set of challenges in the fallout of the pandemic. Learning gaps have grown, many students face additional social and emotional challenges, and staff shortages have impacted educators\u2019 ability to address all the needs of their students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

This Principal Appreciation Month, we\u2019re highlighting three school leaders who, in the face of these immense obstacles, continue to work hand in hand with their school nutrition team to ensure kids have the food they need.<\/span><\/p>

Michael Stills, Portage Township Schools<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>

Kelly Boersma, School Town of Munster<\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>

Amber Walters, Avon Community School<\/em> Corporation<\/b><\/span><\/p>

This month is a recognition of those leaders who are behind the scenes, making decisions to ensure all staff are safe, school meals are out the door and kids have the nutrition they need to do their best.<\/span><\/p>

As 1 in 7 kids in Indiana could be living with hunger, we thank school principals who understand the importance of school meals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Join us this Principal Appreciation Month by celebrating principals in your community<\/span><\/a> who have helped champion school meals and student health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

About our Hoosier Hunger Heroes<\/b><\/span><\/h2>

Michael Stills\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>

Michael Stills is the Hunger Hero of Portage High School. He understands the power that addressing hunger has on student achievement and supports the Food Service Department’s efforts to meet school nutrition goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

He has been instrumental in increasing student participation in the breakfast and lunch programs at Portage High School. He has assisted with the implementation of breakfast carts that are stationed throughout the school which provide students with a faster method of obtaining breakfast in the mornings. He also distributed a survey to all students at the high school that helped improve their breakfast and lunch menus and increased student participation.<\/span><\/p>

Every morning, Mr. Stills announces the lunch menu for the day and highlights any promotional items. His school’s guidance counselors and social workers assist students with filling out Free\/Reduced Lunch applications, and their department hosts a student food pantry to support students who need meals or snacks outside of the school day. Mr. Stills has truly been instrumental to the success of Portage High School\u2019s meals programs, and we thank him!<\/span><\/p>

Kelly Boersma<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>

Kelly Boersma has been instrumental in helping students when they come down for lunch. She explains the food options to them and checks on school nutrition staff to ensure they are good to go. She was a huge help last summer when her school was doing curbside pick up. She made sure all students were taking home a quality lunch when they left the building. She is a very positive motivator in providing not only a meal for the students, but promoting a positive atmosphere when the students are eating. Way to go, Principal Boersma!<\/span><\/p>

Amber Walters<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>

Amber Walters is very passionate about making sure students and families have access to food both inside and outside of school. She is an active supporter and volunteer of the Mary Lee Maier Community Pantry that supports students, families, and staff in the Avon Community School Corporation district. She has also volunteered with her school\u2019s food service team to serve meal packs to students when school was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amber is passionate and creative in finding ways to support the needs of her students and families. We salute you, Principal Walters!<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Principals Tackle Student Food Insecurity\u00a0 Principals across the nation work every day with one thing in their minds: the success of their students. They understand that a child\u2019s health and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":12517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13530","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrate Our Hoosier Hunger Heroes! - INDIANA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/indiana\/2022\/10\/20\/celebrate-our-hoosier-hunger-heroes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrate Our Hoosier Hunger Heroes! - INDIANA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Principals Tackle Student Food Insecurity\u00a0 Principals across the nation work every day with one thing in their minds: the success of their students. 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