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Show "Always the children first! has been the personal motto upheld by Alene H. Jones for the past 13 years while she served as Director of School Food Services for the Davis County Schools. MRS. JONES, recently and reluctantly resigned her position posi-tion upon the advice of her doctor, following a heart attack at-tack last fall. She says that from the first day when she came into the office, January 1962, that the school lunch program has been a joy and a challenge and that there are still many goals to set and conquer. In 1962 there were 35 schools, 27 elementary and 8 secondary in Davis County, all with individual serving kitchens and cafeterias and the total number of children served at that time was 15,350 per day. Now during the 1974-75 school year, the program has grown to 51 schools, 36 elementary and 15 secondary and the daily plate count has risen to over 24,000. MANY CHANGES have taken place during the 13 year period and Mrs. Jones feels that strides have been made in nutrition education, but there is much yet to be done in this area. Mrs. Jones and her coordinators, Ethel Rae Monks and Maxine Reeves, have been ever willing and ever ready to make classroom presentations on nutrition whenever a teacher requested such help. "We have found" she said, "that although children love to eat, they often ignore the much needed fruits and vegetables vege-tables which provide impor-. impor-. tant minerals and vitamins necessary to normal growth and development." CHILDREN ARE entranced with anything magic and often, of-ten, Mrs. Jones has been able to entice little children to eat their fruits and vegetables by explaining that they had "magic powers" which could only be released when inside the tummy. The magic of fruits and vegetables would give them energy to have fun and make them prettier or stronger, with more shiny hair, clearer skin, besides the ability to think and study better. After such an explanation she says, the children would almost always al-ways eat their fruits and vegetables. . KIDS WANT to know what foods really do for them and not just be ordered to eat them. And of course protein rich foods are absolutely essential es-sential to the normal func- ( ! ' I A I - 1 ALENE H. JONES tioning of every cell in the body. Many visual presentations presenta-tions are available to teach the value of proper eating habits. The problem in secondary school, she feels, is the same and yet different. This age group still needs to know what different foods do for them. They are prone to go on dangerous FAD diets or fill up on "empty calories" and this means high calorie foods which are extremely low or even lacking in essential nutrients. nu-trients. STATISTICS show that this age group is the most poorly nourished in the United States today. THE secondary lunch program has been expanded during the past 10 years to offer more choices and popular "Burger Bars" have been added in every high school. The Burger Bar offers the "Drive In" type foods and yet a student must buy the complete meal which consists of at least five choices of hot sandwiches and French fries, plus a vitamin C rich food such as oranges, cole slaw, etc. and one-half pint of milk. THE sandwiches all contain at least two full ounces of cooked protein. The variety includes the ever popular hamburger, cheese burgers, fish burgers, pizza burgers and foot long hot dogs, often limes cold sandwiches are offered of-fered also. Some high schools also feature fea-ture a salad line which includes a choice of chef or fruit salad, 2 ozs. of protein, milk and hot rolls. All this in addition to the regular type A lunch which is a hot lunch and any one of the luncheon choices for only 45 cents. Shakes and soft drinks are also al-so available to lunch participating par-ticipating students for a nominal price. ALL MEALS in both elementary and secondary schools are designed to meet one-third of the student's minimum daily nutritional needs. It is not only the best food buy in the world today, it is also the most for your money. "Parents and PTA groups and teachers, should encourage en-courage students to participate par-ticipate in this economical and high standard food program for health's sake" said Mrs. Jones. PARENTS CAN be assured that their children eat only the highest quality food available. The Davis District has insisted insist-ed that all meat, produce and canned goods meet rigid specifications. More than once, full truckloads of canned fruits or vegetables have been returned to the distributor because the quality was less than that specified. All meat has had to meet rigid specifications, be federally inspected and certified. Mrs. Jones has been extremely active in both the Utah School Food Service Association As-sociation and the National American School Food Service Ser-vice Association. SHE HAS been a program participate in five National conventions, in Pittsburg, Pa.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Boston, Mass; Minneapolis, Minn, and Seattle, Wash. In addition she has served on a number of national committees, com-mittees, some of which were editorial advisory committees, commit-tees, national school lunch week committee where she was also chairman for one term. SHE HAS served on the National Na-tional Nutrition Education Committee which in 1973 planned and executed the first two day pre-conventton seminar on nutrition education. educa-tion. At the time of her resigna tion, she hi,n Pointed to i:)uslbte., Regale t0P American ScC ' VICe Associa ; Sf Psident.nrS nt''"-; j She also serwn Slate Rewu !v Boar1 of Dlre ,- Sate School FoZ1-sociation. FoZ1-sociation. wnic. j MRS- JONES has h. pest speaker ai . J' Visconstn conven,'., 'he was made a hf member of that assJ 1973. When sh ':' , 7, she was pn t time Honorary Si- ' izensh,pbyteg0l,;; i has also spoken , I Nevada, Colorado and"' several times. She has been im. times to participate w..' in Utah State comen',. workshops as well as,,", districts located ale, Wasatch front. IN 1970 she was ,. for instigating a te 1 surance program i(- benefit of all Utah Scl Service members w families. ,J in She has been a mer. ml the International Sot Delta Kappa Gamma ' T past ten years, a sf .,s women educators. In f. w, Kappa Chapter, jk served as vice preside- i president and been at ial to the Utah Stale - Legislative Council fe . years. SHE HAS also sens Tl office of memoersni: man for Utah ' Economics Associair I been active in comm'i- I church affairs, ham; I for a number of veap Farmington City PL Commission. Mrs. Jones was : Monticello, San Juan Utah where she rece early education completion of high k attended BYU and I . University whereshe-her whereshe-her degree in homeland homel-and secondary edua' has done post gradu. at Merrill-Palmer lr. Child Development v Mich.; Long Ber Collegeand UlahS:;. AFTER grade taught home ecor-three ecor-three and one-half Monticello High Sc just prior to her app. as food service d:r: Davis County, s teacher at Bouniil'u: , . High. "It has been i privilege and honort -the Davis School f ; under the able leaf .jj Superintendeni : Wrigley and the B Education" Mrs. ed. She also espf appreciation to Office Food Service have carried ihe ; while she was ill. 1 ' ; cipals, managers - others involved i-program i-program are truly P" J "THE Sllf- program has been a fort including w cooks, central olWs- j minisirators. P; secretaries. tea; maintenance stafl.P-warehouse stafl.P-warehouse drivers, h has iaW' make the prog"";-and prog"";-and I appreciate"' everyone" she a! j .., feel confide"1", j Jones said, "ita' Service will mo ;: under new c3fl although I deeply ,, being a part ofi ' I only hope tha j meals continue t,onallyadeq; 'a . j pealing but M will be served heap - Remember a'"-children a'"-children first j and the motne' |