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High schoolers help cook up“ got veggies?” wellness efforts
District staff teamed up with high schoolers to encourage healthy meal choices in the school lunch line, and at home.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION
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Champlin Park High School student leaders developed an educational wellness campaign with district staff.
Champlin Park High School( CPHS) students served up vegetables in the form of harvest sampler salads to students at Oxbow Creek Elementary School while asking their younger peers if they“ got veggies?” on their plate. Their presence and conversation at the lunch table was really just a taste of a new educational wellness campaign, designed to inspire students to make healthy choices in the school lunch line, and at home.
A recipe for success
“ We have always offered a lot of fruits and vegetables in our schools, but we wanted to send a message that spoke directly to our students, that while fruits and vegetables may not be their favorite, they can be a fun and tasty part of their meal,” school district child nutrition director, Noah Atlas, explained. The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 made fruits and vegetables a mandatory addition to each student’ s school meal. While Anoka-Hennepin Schools offers students as many fruits and vegetables as they care to eat, when it became mandatory Atlas says that his staff saw more fruits and vegetables on trays, but also significantly more that went uneaten – which provide no nutritional value.“ We felt that with a program like this, we could find a way to speak to our students in a way that they wanted to be spoken to.”
Oxbow Creek Elementary students sampled harvest salads in celebration of the poster unveiling Oct. 25.
Atlas and Jen Gilbert, district wellness coordinator, knew that students learn more than just academics in school. They also learn about health, wellness and how food fuels their bodies to help them learn and grow. Students don’ t just learn this through lesson plans— but also through role modeling and looking at what is served every day for breakfast, snack and at lunch.
Gilbert pitched a role modeling idea to the Hennepin County SHIP office, and grant dollars through the Statewide Health Improvement Program( SHIP) brought the campaign to life.
Cooking up a creative campaign
Child nutrition, wellness and communication teams at Anoka-Hennepin Schools worked with CPHS to cook up the“ got veggies?” campaign by conducting focus groups with student leaders involved in athletics, theater, debate and other extracurricular activities.
As part of the focus groups, the high school students met and reviewed the statistics and the number of students that were selecting and eating fresh vegetables during school lunch. " The numbers were kind of crazy, and the whole group thought it would be a great to get involved," Erin Magner, a theater student and student council president, recalled.
The students worked together to brainstorm catchy phrases and envision how the groups could pose for photos to be used on posters reminiscent of the famous“ got milk?” ad campaign launched in the 90s.
Posters feature Bennett Otto, a tenth-grade football player donning his Rebels uniform with an eggplant rather than a ball; and Izzy Ashburn, a tenth-grade volleyball player, bumping a head of lettuce to her teammates. " We thought it was a fun and cute idea- without being too serious," Ashburn said. Feeding the conversation
The posters are now on display in the cafeterias of Champlin-Brooklyn Park Academy, Dayton, Evergreen Park, Oxbow Creek, and Monroe Elementary Schools; Jackson Middle School; and CPHS, starring the very students that helped develop the campaign.
By including the high school students in the launch event, they were able to see its impact come full circle- all the way around the lunch table. " It ' s cool to see that the elementary school students are super excited and engaged,” Magner said.“ Now that we are here as role models, we can see that what we say can really make a difference.”
“ I love talking to the kids. They are telling me what their favorite vegetables are, why they chose them and what they know about each one,” Chloe Fisher, twelfth-grade student council vice president and member of the school senate and link crew, said.
Atlas and Gilbert are now in the process of working to develop similar campaigns for other high schools and their feeder schools across the district.“ It’ s a pilot program,” Gilbert said.“ If the students are excited about it, we hope to continue working with student leaders to expand the‘ got veggies?’ effort to all of our schools.” ■
Winter classes and activities!
View our new catalogs and classes beginning in December.
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Tutoring available through Community Education
Don ' t wait until the end of the trimester to catch up – or offer your child the extra boost that they need to speed ahead!
The district tutoring program, Tutor Connect, offers quality academic services at competitive prices. We provide families with regular progress updates and can meet with your child ' s teachers to understand where a student is at and what areas would be best to focus on in the sessions. Tutors adjust activities to meet the needs of each student.
Learn more at anoka. k12. mn. us / tutorconnect or call 763-506-1265.
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Community Education offers private pool rentals for parties and groups, swimming lessons, aquatic exercise and open swim all winter long. Visit anoka. k12. mn. us / aquatics to view all offerings or call 763-506-5980.