Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Summer program for children and youth to address food insecurity Trisha Gedon OSU News
Oklahoma students get more than instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic at school – it’s also where they get a nutritious lunch. With the school year ending in a few weeks, families struggling with food insecurity will need to fill that gap. More than 208,000 students in Oklahoma are grappling with food insecurity. Confusion earlier in the year about what food programs will be available has left some families feeling anxious about providing nutritious meals this summer, said Jenni Klufa, associate state specialist for youth programs through Oklahoma State University Extension’s Community Nutrition Education Program. “The Summer Food Service Program has been available for many years with nutritious meals at participating sites across the state, and it will continue during summer 2024,” Klufa said. “This program enables organizations and youth programs in high-need areas to offer up to two free meals daily to children and teens age 18 and under throughout the summer.” Eligible sites must be situated in school service areas where at least 50% of students qualify for free or reducedprice school meals. A list of available sites can be found at Meals4KidsOK. org. Krista Neal, nutrition director with Stillwater Public Schools, said summer food programs are critical, especially for families facing food insecurity. “Through the Summer Food Service Program, we’re providing well-
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Summer lunch program helps families struggling with food insecurity. balanced meals that include fruits and It’s not based on financial need.” vegetables,” Neal said. “The meals are Klufa said children who are hot, include whole grains and have lim- impacted by hunger face multiple chalited sodium. Some of the rural sites may lenges. offer grab-and-go options that are avail“We see decreased academic able to anyone from 1 to 18 years of age. achievement in children who are hun-
gry,” she said. “Nutrient intake directly impacts cognitive function, memory and concentration. Studies show a positive correlation between healthy nutrition and academic success.” See Program on 6
Open Research Oklahoma launches Bonnie Cain-Wood information,” said Associate Dean of OSU News
OSU News
Drs. Matthew Cabeen (left) and Shelia Kennison were awarded 2024 Excellence in Research Mentoring awards.
CAS faculty awarded 2024 Excellence in Research Mentoring Award Erin Weaver OSU News
nominated by students and were honored at the 2024 OSU Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 16 for their commitment to mentorship and modeling successful performance. “Drs. Kennison, Cabeen and Three professors from OklaReichert are using their skills and homa State University’s College research experiences to prepare the of Arts and Sciences have been awarded the 2024 Excellence in Re- ideal graduate,” said Dr. Camelia search Mentoring Award by the Vice Knapp, CAS associate dean for research. “Their exceptional mentorPresident for Research. Drs. Shelia Kennison, Michael ship is preparing students for their Reichert and Matthew Cabeen were future careers. We are grateful for
their contributions to making OSU a conducive place to learn and grow.” Kennison and her students are researching a range of topics in psychology. She is mentoring students who are studying attitudes toward higher ed among members of the Zomi community in Tulsa, individual differences in second language acquisition, resilience among college students with concussions and gender differences in emoji use on social media. See CAS on 8
Library Operations Juliana Nykolaiszyn. “Platforms like Open Research Oklahoma Oklahoma serve State University the public good has migrated its by facilitating the institutional rebroad disseminapository to a new tion of research platform that will findings and rebetter serve the moving barriers to university and the access.” state. The new site, Currently, the Open Research repository houses Oklahoma, was content from OSUdeveloped with Stillwater and OSU’s land-grant OSU’s Center for mission in mind. Health Sciences, Open Reincluding a mix search Oklahoma of faculty publisupports OSU’s cations, digital research, teaching theses and disand outreach by sertations, underenhancing the visgraduate research, ibility and impact open educational of the university’s resources, and scholarly output. It more. However, the is freely available intention of Open worldwide at openResearch Oklaresearch.okstate. homa is to amplify edu. not only OSU’s “As a landscholarly work, but grant university, also contributions OSU recognizes across the state of and promotes the Oklahoma. importance of open access to scholarly See Research on 7