Montana School Meals Certificate

Montana Food for Montana Schools is a local procurement training and a meetup event for producers and schools. Montana Team Nutrition Program, Montana Office of Public Instruction, Abundant Montana, and partners will host two regional events in the Fall of 2023.

September 28 in Great Falls, MT 

October 25 in Missoula, MT

Find more information and register here. 

Chef Ann Foundation’s Professional Development  

Engaging online courses give participants the opportunity to learn how to transition school meal programs to scratch-cooked operations that provide real, healthy food to kids at school every day. 

Chef Ann Foundation offers two types of Professional Development: 

1. Free recorded webinars/training videos. Usethese video resources for your personal professional development and to inspire your team. Webinars are a great tool for staying up-to-date on the field of school food and scratch cooking. 
2. The School Food Institute- Courses which cost $99.00 - $149.00 to enroll.  (MSMC schools can use their sub grant funds to pay for this cost if needed). The School Food Institute gives child nutrition professionals the in-depth training, operational skills, and strategic vision necessary to make school food fresh, tasty and eye-appealing. 

Montana Farm to School Past Training & Webinars 

Visit the Montana Farm to School site and scroll down to view recorded trainings and webinars on topics including Beef to School, Harvest of the Month, and Montana Crunch Time. 

The John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition Trainings  

The Nuts & Bolts of School Nutrition Programs On Demand is an interactive online training series on fundamental topics in School Meal Programs. The Nuts and Bolts includes six modules with multiple lessons in each module. The following lessons are approved:  

• Module 1: Introduction to School Nutrition Programs  

• • Lesson 1: School Nutrition Programs Overview (26 min) 

• • Lesson 2: School Nutrition Program Requirements (13:30 min) 

• Module 2: USDA Foods 101 and Inventory Management  

• • Lesson 1: Role of USDA Foods in School Meal Programs (22 min) 

• Module 3: 

• • Lesson 1: Administrative Review Basics (9:44 min) 

• • Lesson 2: Meal Access and Reimbursement, Meal Pattern and Nutritional Quality (22:13 min) 
  • Lesson 3: Resource Management, General Program Compliance and Other Federal Program Reviews (23:13 min) 
  • Lesson 4: Administrative Review Process Summary (6:29 min) 

• Module 4: Resource Management  

• • Lesson 1: Financial Management and Budgeting (15:39 min) 

• • Lesson 2: Maintenance of the Nonprofit School Food Service Account (5:48 min) 
  • Lesson 3: Key Financial Reports (20:36 min) 
  • Lesson 4: Nonprogram Foods and Paid Lunch Equity (PLE) (17 min) 

• Module 5: Civil Rights for Child Nutrition Programs  

• • Civil Rights for Child Nutrition Programs (37:40 min) 

• Module 6: Food Allergies  

• • Lesson 1: Food Allergies (34:40 min) 

Institute of Child Nutrition Courses  

The Institute of Child Nutrition provides 88 free, online, self-paced courses to meet professional standards requirements. The Institute of Child Nutrition provides free professional development courses through iLearn.   

Instructions for accessing a training are listed below. Additional information and “how to” videos on navigating iLearn are available here.  

To register for a course, you will need to create an account. Here are the steps to create an account: 

1. Register by creating a user profile. 
2. Complete the user profile page. You will need to provide an email address and create a password.   
3. Complete the additional fields page. On the bottom right-hand side of page, click REGISTER.

Please select courses within these 4 areas: 

1. SN Administration 
2. SN Operations 
3. SN Communications 
4. SN Nutrition

Culinary Institute of Child Nutrition (CICN), a division of the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN) provides school nutrition professionals with in-depth, hands-on culinary training and resources that are foundational for scratch-based cooking and the creation of culinary-inspired school meals that are healthy, flavorful, and student-approved!

 

All of these online culinary trainings are free and easy to access. Find the trainings by clicking on the Resource and iBites Recipe Videos options within the green bar across the top of the page. Topics range from baking, batch cooking, knife skills, flavor enhancements, salad bars, and more!

USDA LEAD to SUCCEED Trainings (a training course within SNA)- LEAD to SUCCEED includes hours of workforce and training tools designed specifically for school nutrition professionals seeking to Learn, Educate, Advance, and Develop in the areas of Personnel Management and Communication, and Marketing and Customer Service. 

 

If completing LEAD to SUCCEED, choose one of the following training series:  

 

• Communications for Impact, Leadership Growth 

or 

• Adult Training Series 

 Click ‘start training’. The site will prompt you to create an account if you are not already signed in. 

 

School Nutrition Association 

The School Nutrition Association (SNA) is the national, nonprofit professional organization of school nutrition professionals. The state affiliate in Montana is the Montana School Nutrition Association (MT SNA). SNA offers a wide variety of online training.  An SNA membership is required to have full access to the trainings.  An SNA membership can be purchased with your Montana School Meals Certificate sub grant funds.  Questions? Contact the MT SNA membership chair Chandra Plakke [email protected] or 406-239-5751. 

Instructions for accessing a training: 

1. Visit the School Nutrition Association Professional Development webpage. 
2. In the top right corner, click member login. Sign into your account or click ‘member registration’ to create an accountwith your SNA ID.– located in the top right-hand corner 
3. Scroll down to ‘Training Zone’ and change the filters based on your preference 
4. Use the search and filter function to choose a training that is interesting and relevant to your program.

USDA Professional Standards Database  

The Professional Standards Training Database allows school nutrition professionals to search for training that meets their learning needs in one easy-to-use website. More than 500 free or low-cost training resources are available in a variety of formats and most trainings are free.  

Instructions for accessing trainings: 

• Click on ‘learn more’ under the ‘search for training’ section  
• The menu along the left-hand side allows for selection of free trainings.  
• Note the ‘format’ column and identify trainings that are either online, a webinar, or video. 
• Select the title of the training for more information, including the website link where you can access the training resource(s). 

CICN is a division of the Institute of Child Nutrition (ICN), providing school nutrition professionals with in-depth, hands-on culinary training and resources that are foundational for scratch-based cooking and the creation of culinary-inspired school meals that are healthy, flavorful, and student-approved! 

All of these online culinary trainings are free and easy to access. Find the trainings by clicking on the Resource and iBites Recipe Videos options within the green bar across the top of the page. Topics range from baking, batch cooking, knife skills, flavor enhancements, salad bars, and more! 

• Training resources on knife skills (1hr 17min)  
• Training videos on whole grain baking (15min) 

• Webinar: Batch Cooking Success Stories for Quality and Efficiency (needs registration, 1hr 14min) 
• Webinar: Speed-Scratch: Quick Preparations for High Impact Menu Items (needs registration, 1hr 5min) 
• Training videos on mise en place (11min) 
• Flavor enhancement and spices training videos (24min) 
• i-Bites Recipe Videos (24min) 

Click here to access Wisconsin Let's Cook! culinary trainings and scroll down to the ‘Quality Meal Improvement’ section where the ‘Let’s Cook’ trainings are housed. Start by watching the introduction and choose any additional trainings of interest. 

• Introduction (5 min) 
• Mise en Place, Knife Cuts, and Kitchen Equipment (30 min) 
• Knife cuts for fruits and vegetables (60 min) (WI Dept of Public Instruction) 

• Herbs and spices (45 min) 
• Stocks, soups, and sauces (30 min) 
• Grains (30 min) 
• Standardized recipes (15 min) 
• Menu planning (15 min) 

• How to make Overnight Black Forest Oats (3 min)
• How to make falafel (7 min)
• How to make a Zesty Oat, Corn, and Bean Salad (9 min)
• How to make a Citrus Whole Grain Breakfast Bowl (6 min) 

• How to make Brownie Batter Hummus (7 min) 
• How to make Roasted Chickpeas (6 min)
• How to make Homemade Pizza (7 min) 
• How to make a Southwest Steak Wrap (7 min) 
• How to make Pasta Bolognese (9 min) 

These School Food Institute Courses from the Chef Ann Foundation provide a dynamic online education experience with community discussion boards, interactive homework assignments graded by Chef Ann, and office hours with Chef Ann. The following courses have a strong culinary component:

• Recipes and Menu Development (2 hours)
• Ingredients for Healthier Kids (2 hours)
• Plant Forward (1.5 hours)

Please note: These courses do require a modest enrollment fee.  MSMC schools can use their subgrant funds to pay for these course.

This is a Youtube series with 13 short culinary videos perfect for schools.

Culinary Quick Bites Video (1 hour 10 min)

• Nourish Colorado knife skills series (2 hours)
• Training video on roasted root vegetables (needs registration, 13 min) 
• Training resources on blanching vegetables in school nutrition programs(1 min video, plus some reading)  
• Checking food temperature training video(3 min)