Addison, a Kindergarten student at Matoaka Elementary School, makes friends with a new vegetable on Asparagus Day.

Matoaka Elementary School isn’t the biggest school, or the oldest. But it does have a Parent Teacher Association that takes student health very seriously.  So seriously, in fact, that one committee is completely devoted to helping kids and families develop Healthy Lifestyles!

“There were a few PTA parents who started talking about how our school could be healthier,” said Tryna Fitzpatrick, “and we decided to survey families and find out what other parents were thinking.” Read more »

Fall has finally arrived. For many this is a busy time at home, at work and especially in the garden where there are crops to harvest, prepare and preserve; seeds to save; weeds to pull; debris to collect and compost; cover crops to plant and the list goes on. To help you save time, money and space, USDA’s People’s Garden Initiative has invited experts to share advice in its 2011 Fall Webinar Series.

Master the Art of Home Canning, Seed Saving, Bee Keeping, SNAP Gardening and Season Extension

A series of five hour-long trainings will broadcast live on Wed. Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26 and Nov. 2 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. They are free for anyone to watch online. To join the training, register at www.extension.iastate.edu/broadcasts/emg/. Read more »

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack helps students with their lunch at the Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Care Center in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010. Secretary Vilsack is assisted by (L to R) Melkam Mekuria, Center Director and Freida Phiffer, Teacher Assistant. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were at the facility to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA). Photo by Chris Smith

When I first stepped into my role as Secretary of Agriculture, President Obama and I highlighted healthier school meals as a top priority; and today, we made great strides toward that goal with the passage of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. Read more »

Groundbreaking: From left to right: Rural Development Manager Janell Telin, Norman Perko – Council Member, Michael McCafferty – Dakota Nation Housing Development Authority, Winfred Rondell – Council Member, Joyce Country – Council Member, Rural Development Area Director Bruce Jones, Dale Bouer – Architect, Dave Red Thunder – Council Member, Steve Laughlin – primary designer on this project, Ed Red Owl – Chairman’s Attendant, Michael Selvage – Tribal Chairman for the Sisseton Whapeton Oyate, Jesse Larsen – Tribal Facility Manager, Rural Development State Director Elsie M. Meeks, Tonya Peterson – Senator Johnson’s Staff, Terri Larsen – Council Member, Garryl Rousseau – Vice Chairman for the Sisseton Whapeton Oyate, Connie Williams – Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s Staff, and Judy Vrchota – Senator John Thune’s Staff.

In the mid-1970’s, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (Sioux Tribe) relocated from a small tribal office building in Sisseton, SD, to establish a new tribal government at the Old Agency Dakota community in Agency Village, SD.  Since then, the tribe has grown immensely in population and in services provided to tribal members, who presently have to travel long distances in order to get needed services from tribal programs at various locations throughout northeastern South Dakota.  Today, the vision of providing needed services to its members in one central location is soon to become a reality, thus fulfilling the dream of decades ago with the move to Agency Village. Read more »