Conference Keynotes and Professional Trainings

How to Make it COOL to Eat at SCHOOL...and Put the Spotlight on School Nutrition!

Now that you’re meeting the guidelines, how are you getting your kids to go for the healthy foods served? How can you put the spotlight on school nutrition and trigger school-wide excitement for your programs? You’re working so hard to put healthy food on the table, but are your students going for it?

Join Emmy Award-winning nutritionist (and juggler!) as she showcases dozens of innovative ways to bring joy back to your cafeteria, connect with your customers, market your program, build stakeholder support, and get kids to go for the healthy foods you’re serving! She’ll present a variety of innovative approaches that food service personnel, from directors to front line staff, can use to increase school breakfast and lunch participation and get kids to go for the healthy foods served – especially fruits and veggies, all in a spirit of fun and celebration!

Take home a lightning round of best practices gathered from years of presenting live nutrition theater shows to schools across the country – to increase participation, connect cafeteria with classroom learning, build team spirit among your staff, and build school-wide excitement for your programs.  Simple things mean a lot, so let’s have some fun with 10 Strategies to Turn Kids on to Healthy Eating! You don’t have to dress like a carrot, but it sure helps to bring some creative excitement to the table! With so much on your plate, you may even even learn how to juggle! But, just remember to laugh when you drop!

The session will help participants ignite their own creativity, build stakeholder support, try new things, and enthusiastically bring what they’ve learned back to their schools. She will facilitate several interactive activities where participants will brainstorm practical and creative solutions to common issues taking place in their cafeteria settings. She’ll also showcase simple techniques to leverage social media and technology to their best advantage, given limited resources, time, staff, and energy.

Barbara brings over 35 years of creative nutrition education, marketing, and media experience to help food service staff spotlight their programs, add sparkle to their cafeteria, boost creativity, increase effectiveness, and bring some fun back to their hectic jobs!  Attendees LOVE this presentation, have rated it with top honors, and report that they’ve been able to bring much of what they’ve learned back to their jobs!

A Crash Course in Creativity: How to Make Nutrition Come Alive!

Barbara has created this special Creativity Training to help students and educators be more effective communicators and bring creativity into the fields of health and nutrition! 

Learn how to be a dynamic, inspiring, and memorable speaker, whether you’re presenting for a class of pre-schoolers or an auditorium filled with hundreds of  health professionals! Help students and educators harness their true passions and use creativity to enhance their effectiveness – in teaching, counseling, public speaking, leading, and coaching. 

Through hands-on learning and dynamic activities, participants will learn effective strategies from the creative arts to deeply engage, motivate, and inspire children and adults to improve health habits. They’ll learn how to translate scientific concepts in a way that connects with their audience and helps motivate behavior change. 

Bringing best practices from theater, improvisation, puppetry, storytelling, circus arts, and public speaking, participants will discover a new set of tools to communicate food, nutrition, and health information in a fun-filled, non-threatening way. And, with so much on their plates, they’ll even learn how to juggle! Let Barbara help you think outside the box and INNOVATE!

Options Include: One Session, Half-Day, Full-Day, and Residencies 

Hands-On Nutrition: Strategies to Turn Kids on to Healthy Habits!

Join Barbara as she demonstrates how to make nutrition come alive. Recipient of a host of awards, Barbara brings over 35 years of creative nutrition education and media expertise to help educators put sparkle into their programs, boost creativity, increase effectiveness, and bring fun back to their jobs. Barbara will share her 10 Strategies to Turn Kids on to Healthy Habits and demonstrate a variety of innovative approaches using theater arts and interactive media to speak to children in their language and motivate them to improve their eating and exercise habits.

How to Make Good Eating and Active Living…GREAT FUN!

If you’re a teacher or work in school food service – you’re already performing amazing feats of juggling! But, why not learn how to really juggle, without dropping the balls? Join Barbara as she demonstrates how to make good eating great fun – for the kids and YOU!

She’ll share dozens of fun and exciting ways to make nutrition come alive in the classroom and cafeteria. Help market your healthy food offerings, making fruits, veggies, and whole grains, the go-to choice for kids, increase school breakfast and lunch participation, and put the spotlight on school nutrition. Barbara will showcase dynamic activities and lesson plans to help educators integrate nutrition into core subject areas and meet the new Common Core Standards. Use a variety of approaches that speak to children in their language including puppetry, storytelling, circus arts, social media, theater, and arts integration techniques. Learn how to trigger school-wide excitement to get all stakeholders on board – kids, teachers, parents, and administrators, to support School Nutrition and work together to create effective wellness policies and healthier schools.