Success Stories - Teachers & Schools
PTA Leads the Way on Healthy Food in Virginia School
Ed. Note: This blog was cross-posted from the US Department of Agriculture blog
Matoaka Elementary School isn’t the biggest school, or the oldest. But it does have a Parent Teacher Association that takes student health very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that one committee is completely devoted to helping kids and families develop Healthy Lifestyles!
Girl Scout Earns Highest Achievement, Inspired by Let's Move!
Everywhere I turned, I saw the great problem of childhood obesity. Things had changed over the short time from my childhood. Today's children were not getting the physical activity or food they needed. I was going to change that with the use of my Girl Scouts Gold Award. I was inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let's Move! initiative and by my younger cousin DJ, who is obese. I have a great love of sports and knew there had to be something to tie healthy living together with sports. Then the idea was born.
Kicking Off EDs Lets Read! Lets Move! Summer Series
“Reading is a way to travel in your mind,” said Cornell McClellan, the First Family’s Nutrition and Fitness Trainer, to over 130 students from DC area schools, camps, and youth programs at the first of ED’s four part Let’s Read! Let’s Move! series.
McClellan joined Secretary Arne Duncan and Sam Kass, assistant chef and senior policy advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives at the White House, to read and talk to more than 100 local children about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and learning over the summer. Students Jaden McDowell and Kylie Peterson, from DC’s United Planning Organization, had the honor of introducing the secretary and his guests to kick off the activities.
From the Archives: "Move Your Body" Flash Workout
Ed. Note: This is cross-posted from the White House blog.
How do you get kids all around the country to get moving, jumping, and doing the dougie in unison? Beyonce, natch.
On May 3 last year—at 1: 42 p.m. to be exact—nearly 600 schools from coast to coast participated in a flash workout, dancing together to Beyonce’s “Move Your Body.” First Lady Michelle Obama even got in on the fun, joining students at Alice Deal Middle School in Washington, D.C. for their rendition of the “Move Your Body” dance. Check it out.
USDA Announces New Farm to School Program to Improve the Health and Nutrition of Kids Receiving School Meals
Last week USDA released a new farm to school grant program designed to help give children a sense of where their food comes from and increase the availability of local foods in schools. Joined by students at Southern High School in Harwood, MD, as well as school and elected officials, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan made the announcement in an on-campus greenhouse.
One of the first things she noticed when she walked into the greenhouse was the Abe Lincoln tomato seedlings. President Abraham Lincoln created the United States Department of Agriculture 150 years ago. At the time, there were farmers everywhere, but today that is no longer true. In fact, young children, increasingly removed from agriculture, are more likely to recognize corporate logos than carrot tops growing from the soil.
Students in Indian Country Love Fruits and Vegetables from Salad Bars
A’ni (strawberry), adalonige gado galadisgi (carrot), gagama gagvmi (cucumber), gvgisdi (watermelon), and svkta (apple) -- Cherokee words for some of the favorite salad bar items for kids in Sequoyah Schools in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
Angelia Dowty is the food service director for Sequoyah Schools, which includes an elementary Cherokee language immersion school and a Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) high school. These schools provide food to more than 500 Native American students and staff. Angelia serves all of these kids a variety of fruits and vegetables from salad bars every day. Angelia said, “When I took over the food service program 3 years ago, there were some sweet treats on the salad bars, like puddings. I took all of those out and now only serve fruits and vegetables on my bars.”
Salad Bars in Los Angeles Schools: How Can You Follow Their Lead?
Imagine it is lunchtime and kids are running on empty. They rush into the lunch line, but instead of reaching for chicken nuggets and pizza, students are decorating their trays with brightly colored vegetables and fruits like red cherry tomatoes, green broccoli, black beans, and oranges. This isn’t just a dream, it is actually happening in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
High school students from LAUSD’s Los Angeles High School of the Arts teach elementary and middle school kids how to correctly and safely use a salad bar through a skit called Salad Bar Manners.
LAUSD, the second largest school district in the United States, serves as a great example for how to integrate healthy eating habits into everyday school routines. With the help of Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools (LMSB2S), the salad bar program at LAUSD shows what can happen when students and parents take initiative to support healthy eating in school cafeterias. Are you inspired by LAUSD? Take a look at how you can help make this a reality within schools in your community.
Champions of Change Get Their Communities Moving
Today, the White House honored twelve Americans who are who are living the goals of Let’s Move! everyday as Champions of Change. Each of the invitees is an example of what First Lady Michelle Obama called the founding purpose of Let’s Move! – community leaders, teachers and health professsionals who have found creative ways to keep our children active and healthy and get their communities moving!
During the event, the Champions each talked about the program they developed or introduced to their community and together they spoke about how small changes can yield tremendous wins in the lives of their students, area children and families.
New Hampshire Puts Let's Move into Practice
First Lady Michelle Obama last week visited New Hampshire where she applauded that state's great work in making healthier kids a priority and recognized their success at tailoring the Let’s Move! goals to meet community-specific needs.
Mrs. Obama stressed that programs encouraging kids to stay active before and after school and to take part in growing their own fruits and vegetables in a community center garden are demonstrate exactly how Let's Move! can and should work on the ground:
