|
|
||
|
|
||
Meeting twice a month during their lunchtime, these students are part of a Nutrition Advisory Council (NAC) at the school, a program funded through the Network for a Healthy California.
Representatives from each of the fourth-grade classes were selected early in the school year to be peer educators for their classmates.
Touching on topics like MyPyramid and using hands-on lessons to learn how to make their meals and snacks more colorful and healthful with fruits and vegetables, these students also learned the importance of exercise through use of pedometers and nutrition-linked games.
The council students sponsored a noon Nutrition Olympics event for the school in April.
The students have also used the morning announcements and posters that they created to get nutrition messages out to the entire school.
A recent lesson had these students mixing up recipes for mystery beverages using club soda, 11 teaspoons of sugar or sugar substitute, orange flavoring and red and yellow food coloring.
Their eyes widened with surprise when they realized they had created the contents of a can of soda.
Healthy options were explored and the students were armed with the knowledge to take back to their classmates about better choices for quenching their thirst as the weather warms up.
Mrs. Kristie Hilton, Nutrition Advisory Council advisor at Canyon Springs, works with Sue Peak, R.D., Nutrition Educator with the Santa Clarita Valley School Food Services Agency to coordinate this program at the school.
The council's programs are also active at Wiley Canyon, Cedarcreek and Newhall elementary schools.
