MEXICO – The women who are often the first faces some SAD 43 children see in the morning were honored Tuesday afternoon with a goodie-filled tea and locally grown flowers.

It was a thank-you for their part in the district’s top prize for excellence in coordinated health and nutrition, awarded by the state.

“We wanted to recognize everyone,” said Jeanne Lapointe, director of the SAD 43 nutrition program. “Only a few of us could attend the award ceremony at the Hall of Flags last month. We appreciate those who stayed behind to feed the kids.”

Heidi Heath, a 10-year employee of the nutrition program who works at Rumford Elementary School, said she believed at least part of the reason the district was honored was because of the food service workers’ relationship with students.

“We’re not just lunch ladies. We’re very personal with the kids. We know them. Kids trust us,” she said.

The award, which carried a $2,000 grant, was the sixth the district has received for health and wellness programs, said Kathy Sutton, the district’s wellness director and grant writer. Others have included awards and grants for health education, and student and staff wellness programs.

Lapointe said the grant will be used to expand the Mountain Valley Middle School breakfast program.

Students in all district schools are offered breakfast in their respective cafeterias. The middle school will offer breakfast in classrooms.

Lapointe and the food service program are involved in not only providing nutritious foods that come from local farms as often as possible, but also offer a Harvest Day in the schools and take part in the Rumford Agricultural Commission.

David McKivergan, a former school board member who has supported health and nutrition in the schools, said the local program is an excellent one.

“Everyone is more aware today about living healthfully,” he said.

Lapointe said her program has also benefited from support from administrators and the school board.

“We’re serving health, one student at a time,” she said.

Eighteen nutrition workers and several substitutes provide food services in the district’s four schools.