Graham gets healthy schools award

Obesity rates in Clarendon School District 2 have decreased by three percent in the last several years, thanks largely in part to the efforts of Food Services Director, Mary E. Graham.

Graham recently received a national healthy schools program award, for her work in creating a wellness plan for the district.

In 2005 the Student Health and Fitness Act was adopted by the South Carolina General Assembly, with a goal to establish physical education, school health services and nutritional standards in elementary schools, according to the statehouse website.

CSD2 Superintendent John Tindal gave Graham the responsibility of creating a district wellness policy. She recruited a diverse team made up of a school nurse, PE teacher, principals, and community health leaders, and others, and together they created a wellness policy that was adopted by the school board in July 2006.

In her role as director of student nutrition services, Graham ensures that school meals include healthy and appealing choices. She established a student menu advisory team of students grades 4-8 to give feedback on school meals and has instituted suggestion boxes in individual cafeterias. She has encouraged schools to apply for the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant and has recommended to district administration that a healthy snack become part of the school day for grades K-4.

Through a grant that Graham applied for, every student at the Manning Early Childhood Center was able to receive a free fruit or vegetable everyday.

“Mary Graham promotes healthy eating habits at our school through various presentations and workshops to both teachers and students. She’s always willing to explain everything, and is not one to ever say no,” Principal Betty Harrington said.

Harrington said that they’ve had some difficulties convincing students to eat fruits that weren’t as popular, such as plums, and Graham was always willing to help.

“She would come in and do a workshop, they would try the fruit and everything was OK then,” Harrington said.

To increase interest in a school breakfast program, she convinced principals to serve breakfast in individual classrooms instead of the cafeteria.

Graham ensured that the district wellness policy also put an emphasis on physical activity opportunities. Under her leadership, PE teachers receive Fitnessgram software to assess students’ fitness. In the future, she hopes to coordinate these results with BMI (Body Mass Index) data reported by the school nurses. She advocated for a new outdoor fitness trail used by staff, students and the community. Graham also coordinates the annual health screening for district employees through the S.C. Employee Insurance Program’s wellness initiative, “Prevention Partners.”

Graham has been with the district since December 1994. She has worked in food service for a total of 34 years in Richland School District One, Lexington District Two, and in Kannapolis City Schools in Kannapolis, North Carolina. She is Past-President of the South Carolina School Nutrition Association and received her degree from Winthrop University in 1976 in Home Economics Education.

Graham was one of 10 school wellness leaders from across the country to receive this award. She was nominated by Jill Owens, a teacher at Manning Elementary School.

“Mary Graham continues to identify ways to engage diverse school and community stakeholders in building a platform for health throughout the district. As a result of her leadership, we have seen a reduction in the rate of obesity in our students, increased participation in school meal programs and an increase in physical activity during the school day,” Owens said.