Goddard UDS dining staffers show off their Steps 2 Wellness shirts and pedometers.

A healthier foodservice staff is the goal of an initiative at Goddard (KS) USD 265, where the Nutrition Services Dept. has begun a wellness program aimed at its 58 employees. Developed by Foodservice Director Greg Kalina and Dietetic Intern Jenna Schippers from Kansas State University, the program provides staffers with educational materials, a long-sleeve shirt (with “Steps 2 Wellness” logo), tennis shoes, pedometers and an inservice where physical activities and nutrition education can be implemented.

“Providing nutrition education was one of the goals for this project,” Kalina says. “We handed out educational information regarding nutrition, provided a checklist to assess one's health, had a speaker and served a healthy meal and snacks at a special wellness inservice.”

The other goal, physical activity, was encouraged by the shirts, shoes and pedometers, which are intended to “raise their consciousness of how many steps they are taking and encourage them to set goals,” Kalina says.

At the inservice, physical activities hosted by physical education teachers were offered, and a voluntary daily afterwork walking program for staff was initiated.

The initiative was funded by a $2,500 grant awarded to the foodservice department for going trans-fat-free in 2006.