Guidance Counselor Receives Disney Teacherrific Award

By Kim Hall

            Mickey Mouse, along with this year’s Walt Disney World ambassadors, Michael Kelley and Lowell Doringo, presented 20 Disney Teacherrific award statues to select outstanding teachers in Osceola County at the Feb. 6 school board meeting. Nona Noel, the K-4 guidance counselor at the Celebration K-8 School, was recognized for her efforts with the school’s Nutrition Advisory Committee, a student program which focused on adding healthier menu options to the school cafeteria, The Campus Grille.

            Mickey handed out the glove-shaped statues to all of the Osceola County teachers and teacher teams present that had been honored at the Disney Teacherrific Symposium and Awards ceremony in November. Assistant Principal Cheryl Cassano, who instituted the NAC program, accepted the award at the school board meeting on Noel’s behalf, as Noel had already scheduled a parent event that evening, which focused on test preparation for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

            “Nona really deserved this award,” Cassano said. “She came to every [NAC] meeting and helped motivate the kids at lunchtime. She made it a lot of fun.”

            Sixteen children from grades four through seven met before school once a week for four months last year to talk about the problems with school lunches. They discussed menu choices, reviewed the food pyramid and were involved in the selection of colors used in painting the cafeteria green and yellow.

            “Essentially, it was children taking control of their nutritional futures, and it was great fun,” Noel said.

            Students were also given the opportunity to go behind the scenes in the cafeteria and learn how the budget worked. They reviewed salaries, food choices and how the school gets its funding for the cafeteria.

            “We had to get some reality into their thoughts very early,” Cassano said. “That was a great way to start because the students really came in with some really elegant ideas.”

            Suggestions from students included more salad options and fresh fruit and the elimination of sugary drinks and certain desserts from menu options. About two thirds of the students’ list of requests has been implemented so far. Others are yet to come, Cassano added.

            “One thing we’ve had a hard time with is a soup of the day,” she said, explaining that soup, because of the sodium, tends to be difficult to incorporate into the Healthy Options for Public Schools menu, a program which was instituted at the school in September, partly as a result of NAC’s efforts.

            The HOPS program, which stems from the Agatson Research Institute in Miami, sets a standard healthy menu for schools. The program is currently used in 17 elementary schools throughout Miami-Dade and Osceola counties. The goal of the voluntary program is to show that healthy lunches can be provided on government funding.

            Pamela Brown, manager of cafeteria services for the school, was essential to incorporating the NAC and HOPS program ideas into the cafeteria menu, Cassano said. The Campus Grille now serves low fat cheese, whole wheat bread and pizza, sweet potato fries instead of regular French fries, and fresh sandwiches.

            “It’s easier for us,” Brown said, explaining that before the staff used to have to cook a lot more food, but now they prepare healthier selections like salads and turkey sandwiches. “I try to do whatever [the school] needs to be done. The purpose is to serve the children.”

            The HOPS program was intended for elementary age students, so instituting the program throughout the middle school grades as well was challenging. Some of the older students, who were more dependent on the old, less healthy foods and who looked forward to having a la carte items such as Chik-fil-A during lunch, are disappointed with the new menu, Brown said. The younger students, however, are not as affected.

            “The older kids miss it,” Cassano said. “The younger students have adapted beautifully.”

            This year the Disney Company awarded $250,000 to outstanding teachers and their schools in Osceola, Orange, Lake, Polk and Seminole counties. Only eight teachers or groups of teachers from Osceola County were selected. Noel was awarded $1,000 at the symposium for her efforts in the NAC program. An additional $500 was donated to the school on her behalf from Disney.

            Noel has been the guidance counselor for kindergarten through fourth grade at the school for the last year and a half and often works with children with learning disabilities or social problems. Prior to that, she worked as the counselor for grades five through eight and practiced law for 35 years. She has assisted with writing the district guidance plan and the school guidance plan and serves as the chairman of the faculty steering committee, which advises the principal. She also regularly institutes and facilitates additional programs in the school. Future programs include one on animal care and a hand washing campaign, using a black light to see what children miss when washing their hands.

            “This is much more fun than practicing law,” she said. “This has been something I always wanted to do.”