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The following guest blog is part of our Cafeteria Stories series, highlighting the efforts of hard working school nutrition professionals who are dedicated to making the healthy choice the easy choice at schools across the country.  We thank them for sharing their stories! To learn more about FNS nutrition assistance efforts, follow us on twitter at twitter.com/usdanutrition

The U.S. Forest Service honored the 2010 Engineer of the Year award recipients at a ceremony held in Washington D.C. Monday, April 4, highlighting the scope and scale of the contributions that engineers make to every program across the agency.

This year’s four recipients display a wide-ranging set of work assignments and responsibilities, and fulfill vital roles in their respective areas. Collectively, these four recipients are responsible for elements of construction, recreation and heritage, contracting and contract management, vehicle and fleet operations and administration, training and technical guidance in their respective assignments. The four recipients for 2010 are:

I had the pleasure of celebrating the top notch achievement of the Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School as USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon and District of Columbia State Superintendent of Education Hosanna Mahaley presented this great school with a HealthierUS School Challenge Gold Award of Distinction.  The award represents the highest honor a school can achieve in the Challenge and they couldn’t have done it without the committed leadership and staff at this special school.  This school is truly a role model and the award puts them on the map as the first school in the nation’s capital to earn the Gold Award of Distinction.  E.W. Stokes is a diverse pre-school and elementary school providing instruction in two languages.  Their unwavering commitment to sharing the benefits of physical activity and making good food choices is evident in everything they do!