2024 Conference Registration

2024 Conference Hotels

2024 Agenda

Get ready to swing into action as the Georgia School Nutrition Association (GSNA) invites you to join us in Augusta from April 18th to April 20th for an unforgettable celebration of school nutrition!

Mark your calendars and prepare for an experience on par with the GSNA conferences of the past. Our 2024 Annual Conference promises to be a hole-in-one with a lineup of dynamic speakers, informative educational sessions, and a wide variety of exhibits to explore. 

Plus, we're bringing the fun factor with plenty of exciting surprises in store!

Why Attend?
Engaging Speakers
Informative Educational Sessions
Diverse Exhibits
Networking Opportunities
Culinary Demo

And much more!

At our opening General Session we will shout out our 2023-24 Executive Board, Industry Advisory Board & our 2023-24 sponsors and feature the following:

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATES
Our Leadership Academy graduates will get their time in the spotlight as we applaud the accomplishments as they take the stage to mark the culmination of their transformative journey.

CULINARY ARTS AWARDS
We will honor the creativity, skill, and passion of culinary artisans with our prestigious Culinary Arts awards. These individuals exemplify excellence in their craft, inspiring us all with their culinary mastery.

SCHOLARSHIP & GRANT-IN-AID
The GSN Foundation will award our Spring 2024 scholarships and grants-in-aid and recognize the Fall and Winter recipients.

NAC AWARDS
We will also recognize student's participation in school nutrition with the NAC of the Year award and NAC Art awards.

At our Awards General Session we will honor the members that worked to excel in their profession and make a difference every day.
The following awards will be presented at this session:
Ann C. Smith Award
Beyond the Plate sponsored by The Hansen Group
Central Office Support
Director of the Year
Employee of the Year
Dr. Josephine Martin Award of Excellence
Manager of the Year
Media Award

This Keynote leave you with invaluable insight, and real world implementation applications to take what you have gleaned from conference and put it to work immediately when you return to your districts. This session will be filled with laugh out loud moments, deep intentional discussions, wrapped around numerous self inventory opportunities to grow and evolve into amazing school nutrition professionals.

This will be an uplifting, engaging, spirited look at who we really are, who we think we are, and who others see we are. Hang on because this will be a swing of a lifetime.

You will leave ready to take on your roles as Keepers of the Greens!

AWARDS:
A.L.I.R.T. Awards
President’s Awards
Scroll Awards

Kickoff your 2024 GSNA conference experience with a pre-conference session. Go on a "Farm Crawl" , learn how to improve your meal participation with dairy, or join other New Directors for an informative session. We have it ALL!

All pre-conference sessions will be on Thursday, April 18th.

The Dairy Alliance Academy
$50 per person
Maximum 30 Attendees

Do you want to improve student and staff health? Do you want to improve your meal participation? The Dairy Academy is for school nutrition staff (directors, cafeteria managers, cafeteria staff) to learn about the nutritional and health benefits of including dairy products as part of a balanced diet.
Participants will learn about Lactose Intolerance vs. Milk Allergies. Why Chocolate Milk? Participants will learn ways to promote dairy nutrition and enhance school menu options. Recipes for school cafeterias will be demonstrated. School nutrition peers will present best practices. Participants will leave with recipes and resources. Learn about available funding for dairy-focused meal enhancements, too!

Join us to Re-Discover Dairy at the Dairy Academy!

Farm Crawl
$75 per person - Includes transportation & lunch
Maximum 30 Attendees

Join us for a farm tour like no other!

Augusta is rich in agricultural life and culture. Join us as we tour three farms around the Augusta area that are working together to feed our students. All these farms are a part of the CSRA Black Farmer Cooperative whose mission is to educate minority farmers in sustainability, organic growing, and business. These farms also provide fruit and vegetables to several farmers' markets in the area and several school districts. This tour is part history, part agriculture, and all fun.

This Pre-Conference session will help you understand where our food comes from, why it is important to buy local and support our farmers, and the health benefits of fresh produce in our school menus.

 As always we strive to give our attendees what they are asking for and we hope that you will find a learning session to fit your needs.
Here is a tentative list of sessions that we will offer during the conference. LEARNING SESSION SCHEDULE & DESCRIPTIONS

• Tin Cup: You Can do WHAT with a #10 Can?
• What is Your Hole in One - Your Why?
• Secrets to Social Media
• Emergency Meals: Successfully Navigating Food Safety and Operational Challenges to Maintain Culinary Excellence during Emergency Meals
• Mastering Balance in the Kitchen
• Employee Off Par?
• Saying No to Sub Par Customer Service
• M.I.TEE! - Creating a M.I.T. Program in your District
• Be a WINner with Autism Speaks
• Swinging into Success: The E.P.I.C. Formula for an Effective, Precise, Intelligent, and Calm Performance on your Administrative Review
• Farm to School: Growing Strong with Community Connections
• Communication that Leads to Conversation
• Fore! Administrators Get out of the Office & Get into the Kitchens
• What I want my Manager/Assistant to know about Maintenance
• Secrets of the Green Jacket: A Director's Panel
• Headed Down the Fairway with Wellness Policy's and Special Diets
• Reimbursa-WHAT? How to Train Your Staff on Reimbursable Meals
• What I want my Director to know about Maintenance
• How to Support School Staff - Central Office

Rep your GSNA District with your conference t-shirt. Each district will have matching colored t-shirts to wear at the Saturday, April 20th Awards General Session. T-shirts are included with each conference registration. Registrations received after March 31st cannot be guaranteed to include a Conference T-shirt.

DISTRICT T-SHIRT COLORS
District 1 (Blue) District 2 (Red) District 3 (Purple) District 4/5 (White) District 6 (Lavender) District 7 (Yellow) District 8 (Orange)
District 9 (Light Blue) District 10 (Black) Industry Partners (Gray)

ROLLIN ON THE RIVER RETRO CELEBRATION sponsored by CAFETERIA REDEFINED
Friday, April 19th 
7:00 PM

Step back in time and join us for a night of nostalgic fun at our Retro Celebration!

Dust off your bell-bottoms, grab your neon leg warmers, and get ready to groove to the beats of the past.

So get ready to strut your stuff on the dance floor as our DJ spins the biggest hits from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. From funky soul tunes to classic rock anthems and everything in between, there's something for everyone to boogie down to.

And there will be PRIZES!

We will pick the BEST costume from each decade!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION - GSN FOUNDATION GOLF TOURNAMENT
GSN Foundation Golf Tournament - Wednesday, April 17th - 12:00 Noon

It's “Par-Tee -Time!” on the golf course at the 2024 Georgia School Nutrition Foundation Golf Tournament.

We are going with a RETRO VIBE for the 2024 Golf Tournament and want you to come dressed in your retro golf gear.

The GSN Foundation Golf tournament is a chance to make new connections and friends or catch up with your old ones! You can register as a team or individually. To register CLICK HERE: 2024 GSN Foundation Golf Tournament

Play golf in style! Get your GSN Foundation Golf Visor to sport on the golf course. You are in the golf capitol of the world...look the part! To order your visor CLICK HERE: 2024 GSN Foundation Golf Visor

VOLUNTEER
Want to Volunteer for the 2024 Conference? CLICK HERE: GSNA Conference Volunteers
DONATE!
To donate an item for the 2024 Silent Auction CLICK HERE: GSNA Conference Silent Auction