New Bloomfield R-3 receives $2,000 for wellness initiatives

NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The New Bloomfield school district will have $2,000 to spend on health and wellness initiatives in the district after receiving an award this week.

The Midwest Dairy Council, The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and The Missouri Food Bank Association awarded the district with second place and a $2,000 prize in the School Breakfast Challenge.

Missouri public, charter and private school districts participating in the national school lunch program were automatically entered in the challenge. The School Breakfast Challenge divides districts into one of four tiers based on enrollment. The top school districts in each of the four tiers with at least a 20 percent increase in breakfast participation won the challenge.

New Bloomfield Superintendent David Tramel announced the award at Tuesday's school board meeting.

Also at the meeting, the board discussed technology updates that will be in place before school starts next month. Tramel said summer technology updates include adding another mobile lab in the high school and replacing older computers in the district.

The school board and superintendent also welcomed Megan Haas to the board at the meeting. In April, Haas tied with former board president Gracia Backer for a position on the board. Haas received about 52 percent of the votes from the runoff election on July 15.

"It was interesting to see the small details of how the board operates," Haas said.

The board also elected Terri Sweeten as president and Shawn Cockrum as vice president. Sweeten has served on the New Bloomfield board since 2008 and Cockrum just entered his sixth term as a member of the school board.