Grand Prize Winner Named In Land O'Lakes/Midwest Dairy Council Cheesy Challenge Contest

Morton East High School, has been named the Grand Prize winner of the Land O’Lakes/Midwest Dairy Council Hero’s Cheesy Challenge contest.

The Hero’s Cheesy Challenge is an interactive contest which is open to all schools who sign up for Fuel Up To Play with the Midwest Dairy Council. The Midwest Dairy Council partnered with Land O' Lakes to reward Illinois students for working with their school's nutrition director or adult advisors to create a video of a cheesy meal or snack celebrating a local hero. The hero could be anyone who deserves recognition in the community – such as a teacher, firefighter, war veteran, dairy farmer, mayor, etc.

The submitted videos where evaluated based upon the use of reduced fat/reduced sodium cheese, creativity of the snack, use of a local hero and creativity of the video by an expert panel of judges which included dietitians, a chef and a dairy farmer representative.

Morton East students, with the help of Elvira Michalek, Director of Nutritional Program District 201, and Betty Tinken, Food Service Manager at Morton East, developed a number of healthy snacks and recipes which included a bean dip, jalapeño poppers, quesadillas, taco salad, guacamole and cheese and fruit platters. The students selected local artist Victor Montañez, who painted the murals at Morton East, as their hero.

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