Are You Certified?

If the answer is yes, congratulations and thank you. Becoming certified through SNA adds much needed credibility to your role as a child nutrition professional and partner in education. If you’re not yet certified or if you have staff members that are not yet certified, please read on and then take action and become certified and or have your staff become certified.

SNA, like most professional associations, has adopted certification as a means to recognize personal achievement. There are three levels of certification that enable the association to recognize personal achievement at all levels of education and all levels of the profession whether it be a school nutrition worker, assistant, manager or director.

The level of certification that an individual is granted depends on the following requirements:

• Academic and specialized training requirements
• Work experience
• Continued education

Every applicant, no matter what level is applied for must have completed the following specialized training courses:

• Serve Safe or similar approved sanitation certification course
• Healthy edge or similar approved course

Once the above requirements are met and verified through proper documentation, the individual is certified for a period of three years. To maintain certification, the individual must earn the required amount of CEU’s (continuing education units) in approved educational activities and programs. This is the fun part; you get to participate in workshops, conferences and meetings where you learn something new or reinforce something you already knew. You then get to take that information back to your district to enhance your job performance which means you have done something to make the lives of children a little better. How great is that?

Certification also provides a program for professional advancement. As you keep up your requirements to stay certified, you become more knowledgeable in your field and you are paving the way for personal advancement in your profession.

Directors, wouldn’t it be great if all our staff were members and were all certified? Think of the credibility you would gain with your district’s administration and your community. You would most definitely be looked at and respected as the experts when it came to child nutrition issues.

The level of certification you attain also doesn’t have anything to do with your level of education. The level you are granted just depends on the documentation that you provide. If you become certified at level 1, you can move up to level 2 and then level 3 as you advance your training, education and work experience. Becoming certified means that you care enough to want to bring your level of professionalism to a higher level of standards.
 
NEW Certification Program Update
 
• The SNA Board has approved the recommendations for SNA's Certification Program! To view the program changes that will take effect beginning August 1, 2011, visit Certification Program Changes(doc). Note that the Certification Guide will be updated and available for download on SNA's website next month.
 
NEW Certification and Credentialing Fee Update
 
Individuals applying for Initial Certification will pay the following fees beginning August 1, 2011:
 

Printing Certificates & Certification Letters from MySNA
 
SNA certified members can easily access and print out their own Certification certificate, certification verification letter, and a letter for the School District Director at any time by visiting MySNA. This feature is not available to non-members. Note that SNA is no longer mailing certificates and cards for certification.
 
• Visit SNA's website at www.schoolnutrition.org and login to MySNA. If they don't already have a username and password, they will need to create one.
• Click on "Member Service" and select "Member Certification Record."
• Look on the top right hand corner of the page to view a listing of documents they can print.
 
When certified members renew their SNA membership, their membership card will include their certification expiration date.

Congratulations in advance for raising your bar of professionalism a notch.
 
To get a certification application and list of requirements, call SNA of Mass office 617-734-8822 or 800-351-3139.

Certified SNA of Mass. members January 2012

Debbie Abdon
Robin Adams
Crystal Andrade
Janet Arsenault
Michelle Aubuchon
Kathren Baptista
Sheila Batchelder
Doreen Batchelor
Lisa Beaudin
Ramona Blanchard
Berniece Bligh
Sharon Bolduc
Linda Bottari
Julie Bradley
Joan Brigham
Kerry Bryan
Paula Caffery
Melinda Carey
Laurie Cascione
Patricia Casey
Connie Catinella
Rob Clickstein
Christine Clifford
Deborah Clifford
Bridget Collins
Heidi Conley
Janet Cormier
Patrick Van Cott
Marianne Crooks
Patricia Croteau
Maura Crowley
Shari Dennis-Belding
Diane Desmond
Jackie Dillenback
Georgine Diorio
Colleen Domiano
Diane Dore
Rory Douglas
Deborah Doyle
Victoria Dube
Juana Emery
Jennifer Evans
Kathleen Farrar
Brenda Farulla
Dianne Ferguson
Annemarie Foley
Vicky Fox
Cheryl Frederick
Nancy Glendye
Rose Goddard
Cindy Goodwin
Nora Goonan
Kara Gorrie
Lynne Gorrie
Dorinda Gorski
Lisa Greeley
Angela Gregoire
Melody Gustafson
Eileen Haley
Ashley Hall
Karen Hannifin
Linda Hartbarger
Nancy Hasselmann
Elisa Heath
Kathleen Hepburn
Sharon Hickey
Susan Hudson
Sandra Iandosca
Doreen Iovanna
Diane Jeffers
Suzanne Joos
Barbara Kaczenski
Lisa Keagan
Shirley Kenney
Bob Kinch
Bonnie Kitsakos
Mary Klueber
Debra Korzec
Gail Koutroubas
Susan Lacasse
Dawn LaValle
Nancy Learned
Joanne Lennon
Mary Leslie
Cecile Leufstedt
Jane Lewicki-MacIsaac
Linda Lorusso-King