Super FOODPLAY Family Night in Tewksbury!

A great Fun Food Family Night was had by all! Hats off to the amazing Deb Mugford, School Food Service Director for Tewksbury Public Schools, who created a fabulous community event last night!

The parking lot at the Tewksbury High School was filled, kids and their families excitedly coming out to take part of this amazing night. Kids and their families loved seeing the FOODPLAY performance, and it was so neat to see them participating along with their parents – answering questions, getting up and dancing, and then calling out answers for our game show, Family Food! Boy, these kids were nutrition-smart!

Next, families got to meet and applaud Deb and her terrific staff of school nutrition employees who work so hard putting delicious and nutritious food on the table for school breakfast and lunch! Several movers and shakers, working together to make Tewksbury a leader in health and wellness, came out to participate in the event, including Tewksbury superintendent, Dr. John O’Connor, Katie Millett, Executive Director, MA DOE Nutrition, Health, and Safety, and even the wonderful farmer who works so hard growing much of the vegetables that Tewksbury schools get to incorporate into their meals.

After the FOODPLAY performance, families got to meet and greet many community groups showcasing their products and services. We all got to sample an array of delicious and nutritious new meal offerings that Deb’s team serves up in the cafeteria everyday. From crunchy kale chips, to the most delicious quinoa salad, this school food service team ROCKS!

A special thanks to Michael Devlin, Community Service Program Manager for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, who provided the funding for this event. It was great to have Molly Tarleton of Hannaford Supermarkets on hand who sponsored distribution of FOODPLAY’s Fruit and Veggie Tracker Bands for every one who attended.

Sorry if we missed anything or anybody, but Kudos to Deb Mugford and her amazing staff for being a super example of how school food service can make incredible impact in the community, growing healthy kids!

I hope every school in the country takes some inspiration from this event – a great way to connect the dots of a healthy school cafeteria with growing healthy families at home!