HHA in the News
White House Chef Sam Kass Visits HHA’s Organic Garden
and Stays for Lunch
9.24.2009
Everyone knows how important good food is to being ready for
school. Hampstead Hill hosted White House Assistant Chef and
Food Initiative Director Sam is Michelle Obama’s go-to person
for healthy eating. Not only does he prepare meals for the First
Family, he also planted the White House organic garden and works
with policymakers and schools to improve the quality of school
lunches. Mr. Kass and an entourage arrived to tour HHA’s organic
garden and have lunch in our cafeteria. Student ambassadors -
including Aaron Vanya, Deboreah Ross and Bianca Rivera - served
as tour guides. Mr. Kass was overheard saying that his garden
didn’t have the herbs, peppers and vegetables that ours does. He
was very impressed. Next, it was on to Ms. Carlson’s Food for
Life class where Mr. Kass saw students preparing a tasty dip
from our homegrown eggplant, peppers and carrots. Again, he
loved talking with our students about food and tasting the
fruits of their labor. Finally, Sam and company sat down for a
balanced lunch of French bread pizza, black bean and cheese
nachos, homegrown salad, and a whole apple. We were thrilled to
have such a high profile guest with us. We made certain that Mr.
Kass knew how much we would love to have the President and
especially the First Lady over for lunch, too. Stay tuned.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bal-md.gr.lunch24sep24,0,2342398,full.story
HHA Honored by Visit from Secretary of Education, Arne
Duncan, Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton
11.14.2009
HHA’s outstanding student performance attracted a national
spotlight as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Speaker
of the House, Newt Gingrich, and the Reverend Al Sharpton
brought their “listening tour” to our school. We were proud to
host dozens of neighborhood, philanthropic, political, public
education and faith community leaders who came to tell our
visitors what Baltimore needs and thinks. Honored guests
included State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick and City Schools
CEO Andres Alonso. A few days later, HHA was spotted on NBC’s
Meet the Press. You can see the clip here:
http://hha47.org/calendar/events/edtour/.
HHA Meets Mrs. O at the White
House
4.7.2010
Hampstead Hill sets the standard for integrating food education
and nutrition programming in school. We have Chrissa Carlson, our
full-time Food Educator, daily Food for Life classes in a kitchen
classroom, an organic garden, garden club, culinary arts club,
community dinners prepared by guest chefs working with our kids, and
healthy food at every staff and parent meeting. In recognition of
our commitment to healthy eating, First Lady Michelle Obama invited
30 Hampstead Hill students to a special CNN event at the White
House. The event was televised live to more than 35,000 classrooms
nationwide. It highlighted the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” initiative
to end childhood obesity and featured student questions from the
audience and from around the country.
Links to media coverage of the event.