First Lady Michelle Obama Hosts First-Ever Kids’ State Dinner
Click here for an alternate version of the video with an accessible player.
Cross-posted from the White House Blog.
Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the first-ever Kids’ “State Dinner” at the White House, welcoming 54 budding chefs to a formal luncheon in the East Room. The guests, all between the ages of 8 and 12, represent all U.S. states, three territories and the District of Columbia.
Each of the guests, along with their parents, submitted a healthy recipe as part of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, which invited families to create an original lunchtime recipe that is healthy, affordable and delicious, and follows the nutritional guidelines of MyPlate.
“Believe it or not, more than 1,200 kids submitted recipes for this challenge — 1,200. It’s a big competition,” the First Lady said. A panel of judges from the organizations that teamed up with Mrs. Obama on this initiative — Epicurious, the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture—tasted each of the recipes that made it to the final round of the competition and picked their favorites from each state, as Mrs. Obama explained.
And they spent hours trying to decide which ones were the healthiest and the tastiest and the most fun to cook and eat. And it wasn’t easy to choose one winner from every single state. You were the winner in your state — the whole state. You guys won! Cool!But you’re here because your recipes truly stood out, right? And that’s really saying something. You came up with dishes that were packed with nutritious, delicious ingredients; dishes that are good for you, but more importantly, they taste good, too. See? It can happen — healthy and tasty at the same time.
The junior chefs and their parents enjoyed several of the judges’ selections at lunch, including a Quinoa, Black Bean, and Corn Salad created by 11-year-old Haile Thomas of Arizona, Yummy Cabbage Sloppy Joes, created by 12-year-old Rori Coyne of Kansas. There was even dessert: a Strawberryana Smoothie, created by 11-year-old Stefani Shimomura-Sakamoto who came all the way from Hawaii.
Not one to be left out of all the fun, President Obama stopped by to surprise the guests, and told all the young people how proud he was of their hard work.
Look, let’s face it, I don’t cook that often these days. But I remember cooking and it’s not always easy to make something that people like to eat. Then for you guys to actually come up with recipes that are healthy and tasty, and to do it in a way that helps to contribute to spreading the word about healthy eating among your peers — that’s a really big deal.So we’re very proud of you. We’re very impressed with everything that you’ve done.
Click here to watch a video of the President’s remarks.
Recognizing “Champions of Change” School Turnaround Leaders
Earlier today the White House welcomed more than 100 state, district, and school leaders and educators to honor 12 distinguished school turnaround leaders as “Champions of Change.”
The educators were recognized for their roles in building a culture of high expectations, improving instruction, creating safe environments for learning, and fostering professional collaboration among many other notable efforts to elevate the quality of education in their schools.
Click here to see all the Champions of Change, or click on the names below:
The SIG program invests in locally driven efforts to turn around our nation’s persistently lowest-performing schools. These schools are characterized by consecutive years of low attendance rates, low student achievement, low graduation rates, as well as high rates of staff turnover and student disciplinary action.
Read more stories about SIG schools and the improvements they are making.
The educators were recognized for their roles in building a culture of high expectations, improving instruction, creating safe environments for learning, and fostering professional collaboration among many other notable efforts to elevate the quality of education in their schools.Click here to see all the Champions of Change, or click on the names below:
Brett Bernard, Kansas City, KS
David Cicarella, Northford, CT
Kevin Gay, Hyden, KY
Jessica Gogerty, Des Moines, IA
Tanya Green, Baltimore, MD
Kristen Hayes, Washington D.C.
Carren Poff, Ontario, OR
Lusia Requenes, Kansas City, KS
David Romick, Dayton, OH
Linda St. Andre, Lewiston, ME
Wendell Waukau, Menominee, WI
Edward Wiest, Pryor, MT
Today’s event gave local leaders the opportunity to share their stories with colleagues from across the country, and included a briefing on the transformative efforts underway in struggling schools nationwide through the federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program.The SIG program invests in locally driven efforts to turn around our nation’s persistently lowest-performing schools. These schools are characterized by consecutive years of low attendance rates, low student achievement, low graduation rates, as well as high rates of staff turnover and student disciplinary action.
Read more stories about SIG schools and the improvements they are making.