Welcome!
This blog is dedicated to our progress
with the LEAF Grant, which has allowed us to pursue better fitness and nutrition
for our students at Carpinteria Middle School.
You Can’t Make This
Up!
"I want to know what are you having for lunch?" I asked a bright, sunny middle school student.
She pushed forward the food that she had gathered, a bag of popcorn, a sugar soda, a cookie, and a fruit wrap, naming each one and smiling proudly.
"So, how many days a week do you have stuff like that?" I asked.
"A lot of days," she answered, "I dunno, almost every day."
"But, I bet it tastes good, huh?" I said.
She shook her head in agreement and said, in a more serious voice, "But it's unhealthy, so we need a salad bar or something."
"If you want to know our kids...," you just need to start a conversation....
Last October, we began a long conversation with our students, our parents, our teachers, and our community. We began a series of changes at Carpinteria Middle School to implement the goals of better nutrition and better fitness for our students. And, to our surprise, we found that the kids already had a sense that we could be doing a better job.
The easiest part of our job has been to provide kids with a variety of healthy, California-grown fruits and vegetables in a pleasant environment. We changed the food offerings in the lunchroom, offering a daily salad bar; we began a school garden; we started a circuit training component in our physical education classes; and we involved teachers in building curriculum that kept health and fitness in our daily routines. We have made strides to developing a District nutrition policy that makes sense.
We are thankful, here at Carpinteria Middle School, to have had the opportunity to be supported in doing the right thing. We thank the California Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Education for the opportunity that they have given us to listen to our kids, and common sense, in changing the conversation here at the middle school.
We see good things for our kids.
Carpinteria Middle School Leaf Team
"I want to know what are you having for lunch?" I asked a bright, sunny middle school student.
She pushed forward the food that she had gathered, a bag of popcorn, a sugar soda, a cookie, and a fruit wrap, naming each one and smiling proudly.
"So, how many days a week do you have stuff like that?" I asked.
"A lot of days," she answered, "I dunno, almost every day."
"But, I bet it tastes good, huh?" I said.
She shook her head in agreement and said, in a more serious voice, "But it's unhealthy, so we need a salad bar or something."
"If you want to know our kids...," you just need to start a conversation....
Last October, we began a long conversation with our students, our parents, our teachers, and our community. We began a series of changes at Carpinteria Middle School to implement the goals of better nutrition and better fitness for our students. And, to our surprise, we found that the kids already had a sense that we could be doing a better job.
The easiest part of our job has been to provide kids with a variety of healthy, California-grown fruits and vegetables in a pleasant environment. We changed the food offerings in the lunchroom, offering a daily salad bar; we began a school garden; we started a circuit training component in our physical education classes; and we involved teachers in building curriculum that kept health and fitness in our daily routines. We have made strides to developing a District nutrition policy that makes sense.
We are thankful, here at Carpinteria Middle School, to have had the opportunity to be supported in doing the right thing. We thank the California Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Education for the opportunity that they have given us to listen to our kids, and common sense, in changing the conversation here at the middle school.
We see good things for our kids.
Carpinteria Middle School Leaf Team
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Published On: Apr 21, 2004 11:38 AM
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Published On: Apr 21, 2004 11:38 AM