Member Spotlight
Our first award recipient is Shannon Garcia for Outstanding Dietetic Student. Shannon is a graduate student and dietetic intern from the UTHSCSA’s Nutrition program. Over the past few years, she has shown great leadership and dedication in her field of study and has become a role model to her fellow classmates. Shannon was President of the Dietetics’ Student Organization and an appointed member of the UTHSCSA Student Leadership Council. She is a member of the Behavioral Health Nutrition DPG, Sports Cardiovascular & Wellness DPG and the American College of Sports Medicine. Since 2008, Shannon has also been a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She participated in the 4 week South Texas Environmental Education and Research (STEER) program this year in Laredo where she learned about community-based research on the health and wellness of the people living in this area. Even while maintaining a heavy course load and the rigors of a demanding internship, Shannon was able to not only train for the Rock n Roll half marathon but finish it in under 2 hours, which is a true testament to her determination and drive which can be seen in everything she does. San Antonio is very lucky to have her become a part of our dietetic community and I know she has a very bright future ahead as a dietitian. Shannon Garcia, our SADA Outstanding Dietetic Student Award recipient.
Our next SADA award is the Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award (given to an RD under 35 yrs old who demonstrates concern for the H&W of the community and has shown great leadership in their field). Tonight this award is presented to Caroline Roffidal-Blanco. Caroline became the first dietitian hired for the Metropolitan Health District’s Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant, to work with community based initiatives as part of a $15.6 million dollar grant from the US government. The grant was used to fund the city's Find Your Balance campaign, which focuses on reducing the prevalence of obesity by increasing access to healthy foods and increasing physical activity through evidence-based policy, system, and environmental changes in schools, restaurants, and community settings. She is involved in the Por Vida healthy restaurants’ program, is the lead coordinator of the Healthy School Initiatives in collaboration with Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools” campaign (for which she wrote a great article recently about on the USDA website), Siclovia, the Mayor’s Fitness Council Healthy Schools Committee to name a few. Caroline’s ability to spearhead many of these initiatives, demonstrates her strong leadership skills and service to the community through promotion of nutritional health among a variety of groups: city government officials, public health department, educators, community leaders and advocates, citizens and dietetic colleagues. And if that wasn’t enough, she is also a doctoral student, mother to 1 ¾ children and a great wife (from what I hear). Therefore it is with great pleasure that I present the Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award to Caroline Roffidal-Blanco.
Our next SADA award is the Emerging Dietetic Leader Award presented to Dr. Jennifer Sides. She is a Health and Wellness dietitian at Randolph AFB. Jennifer is the recipient of 2 medals of appreciation from the Navy and Marine Corps’ Crews Into Shape Program for having the most participants enrolled in the entire Department of Defense, she received the Outstanding Dietitian of the Quarter from Air Force Health Promotion, was selected for the Texas Tech University TEACH Fellowship, and awarded the Air Force Health Promotion grant for "Fit Families' program. With SADA, Jennifer has served as Sponsorship Chair and organized a system of requesting and tracking sponsorships for SADA programs and initiatives. As VP, she has put together an exceptional SADA program for the year resulting in high attendance at general body meetings. SADA was recently deemed an Accredited Commission on Dietetic Registration CEU provider. Jennifer has organized and managed all aspects required to maintain this status. She started a SADA Twitter account and works to maintain frequent status updates to endorse Eatright San Antonio as the recognized source for sound nutrition information in S.A. Help me in congratulating Dr. Jennifer Sides for the Emerging Dietetic Leader Award!
Our next award is the Media Award being presented to Jan Tilley. Jan is the President and CEO of Jan Tilley and Associates, Inc where she not only does individual nutrition consultations but also markets food and nutrition through multimedia sources, serves as a spokesperson and resource for a variety of clients on the topic of food and nutrition such as Glaceau Vitamin Water, the Texas Beef Council, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, speaks to clients, civic groups, the dietetic community and corporations on topics relating to food, fitness, health and wellness including national speaking tours for Wells Fargo, Smith Barney and others. She also provides recipe development and nutritional analysis for retailers, restaurants, and wine suppliers. Her website boasts informative videos, JTA Nutrition and Wellness is on Facebook, Twitter and her weekly e-newsletters contain great recipes and clear and easy to understand tips on health and wellness. Jan is so good at her job because she truly does lead the type of lifestyle that she promotes. She is an avid runner and loves to cook and test her recipes for taste and nutritional value. Jan is the author of 7 books and numerous newspaper and magazine articles, marketing materials and presentations. She has been a staple on television from her days as Consumer Solutions director at United Supermarkets in Lubbock to here in San Antonio due to her wealth of knowledge and easy manner. Let’s give a big hand to our SADA Media Award winner Jan Tilley!
The Outstanding Dietetic Educator Award goes to Dr. Sue Cunningham. Sue is an associate professor of Coordinated Program in Nutrition and Dietetics at UTHSCSA. She started her illustrious career as a military dietitian eventually becoming chief of allied health services at the US Army Hospital which she did for many years before joining the health science center’s dental school department as a nutrition instructor. Sue is one of the principal investigators of a research study funded by the National Institutes of Health along with ADA Foundation sponsored research projects. She is also on the board of an ADA Practice Group and been a go-to-expert for the San Antonio media. I remember seeing her last year in a KENS 5 interview about a German study on the benefits of chocolate and her great responses to the interviewer’s questions. From just that interview, I could see why people are drawn to her. Dr. C, as she is called by her students, is highly respected and loved by all that have had the pleasure to be taught by her. Her ability to make tough courses interesting, approachable, and interactive as well as being available to answer questions and give her students advice and feedback has made her a very popular and in demand professor. She is the faculty advisor for the student dietetic association, mentoring them through the challenges of rigorous coursework, the internship or any other issues that always seem to come up. With educators like her in our field, we are assured that the future dietitians that she has taught and guided will be assets to our community. Please help me in congratulating Dr. Sue Cunningham for the SADA Outstanding Dietetic Educator Award.
Last but certainly not least, we have our Outstanding Nutrition Education Award recipient Rosalind Benner. Rosie has spent the last 44 years doing what she loves best: educating and teaching people about health and wellness. Her illustrious career encompasses being a clinical dietitian, food service director, independent consultant, entrepreneur, inventor, and chef as well as being a dietetic internship preceptor to 9 different educational institutions. Rosie has been with H-E-B Grocery Company since 1997 as their Nutrition and Culinary Specialist. She uses a variety of methods to educate on nutrition, whether it is a cooking demo at a professional exhibition, a community event or on TV; easy to follow recipes in print; family weight loss challenges in which Rosie taught meal planning, cooking skills and shopping techniques; or through training videos for food service workers and hospital personnel. Rosie clearly does it all when it comes to educating others on nutrition using print, media and in person education. Her education style is simple and relevant to her audience and that has been the key to her success as well as popularity. Everyone that I have ever met who knows Rosie has only glowing things to say about her and what she does. Although she is retiring this month, her impact on our community will continue thru new projects that she has created including bringing RDs to HEB stores as the nutrition experts to provide employees and customers with sound advice in making healthy choices while in the stores (which is very much in line with ADA’s mission and goals). Ladies and gentlemen, the SADA Outstanding Nutrition Education Award winner, Rosie Benner!
Nominate a SADA member for the next Member Spotlight to be featured at www.eatrightsa.org. Send nominee's name, contact information and brief explanation of why she/he should be our featured member to eatrightsa@gmail.com.
