Spring 2010 Update at East
Project Healthy Schools (PHS) has been a part of Mr. Lewis’ sixth grade health/PE classes this year. Thank you, Mr. Lewis! Every student has had the opportunity to compare their school lunch to MyPyramid, make and taste fruit and veggie salsa, and develop a healthier fast food meal after seeing that a common fast food meal provides most of the calories a person needs in a day! This is just a little bit of what was covered but all ten of the activities emphasize one or more of the Project Healthy Schools goals:
- Eat more fruits and veggies.
- Include less mindless screen time.
- Make wise beverage choices (milk, water and 100% juice)
- Get at least 30 minutes of activity most days.
- Eat less fast and fatty foods.
The second quarter students enjoyed four empowerment lessons in addition to the 10 PHS activities. Students moved from a ‘me’ frame of mind to ‘we’ and thought about how they could make the world at East a healthier place to be. With limited time available they made and displayed posters of healthy eating and activity behaviors.
In March, students whose parents consented in the fall, participated in their second health screening. It included cholesterol, blood pressure, and fitness tests. Parents of these students should expect a results letter from Project Healthy Schools in June.
Mrs. Churchwell worked with students in the cafeteria to increase the number of fruits and veggies students were eating at lunch time. Thanks, Mrs. Churchwell, for supporting the PHS goal: Eat more fruits and veggies.
Seed2Plate, an after-school club, continues to attract 15-18 students weekly. They cook and eat tasty, nutritious foods and garden together plus a field trip to Growing Hope’s hoop house was a hit.
Plans are being made for ending the year on an active note!
Make this the summer you continue the PHS goals at your home!
Yours in health,
Cathy Fitzgerald
PHS coordinator at East and West
Ypsilanti - East Middle School
Project Healthy Schools challenges 6th grade students to learn why and how healthy eating and being more active can make them healthier today and in the future. During health class students’ activities include learning about MyPyramid while sampling a hot lunch selection, making fruit and veggie salsa (recipe below), comparing their heart rate after sitting and running, and identifying activities they can do other than spend time in front of a screen and making a Bingo game out of it. This quarter students for the first time are charged with using their talents and skills to complete a project they identify to make East a healthier place to be.
In mid-January all sixth grade students will participate in a special PE activity. Aerobic movement using jump ropes, strength training using loops and bands, and stretching and flexibility through basic yoga poses will be explored.
Is your East student interested in cooking or gardening? Seed2Plate, an after school group, is starting in February. Watch for flyers and announcements for details.
Here’s a healthy snack if you just include a few chips. Try this salsa with blue corn chips to have a rainbow of color. Feel free to substitute whatever fruits and veggies are in your refrigerator.
A Rainbow of Color Salsa Recipe (makes 20 small portions)
-1 quart bag frozen peaches
-½ quart bag of frozen cherries
-Large can pineapple tidbits in juice
-2-3 green onions
-½ red pepper
-1 lime
-1 kiwi
-Chopped parsley
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 spice packet
-Spice Packet Recipe
-¼ tsp of the following:
-Ground Cumin
-Kosher Salt
-Black Pepper
-Dried Cilantro
Notes: Chop ingredients into small pieces and combine all, stirring in the spice packet last. Serve with blue corn chips to make a rainbow of color! Makes about 5 cups. Create your own salsa changing the amount of an item or using different fruits or vegetables, including as many locally grown foods as possible.
If you have questions please contact Cathy Fitzgerald, 975-3060 or cfitz@umich.edu
June, 2009
What’s Happening at East Middle School?
- ACTIVITIES: All 6th graders participated in 10 Project Healthy Schools activities in health class. These hands-on activities focused on:
- Overview of what will happen with PHS this year
- My Lunch, My pyramid (How does that lunch tray compare to the Food Guide Pyramid?)
- Better Beverages
- Get the Beat! (get active most days of the week to make your heart healthier)
- Rainbow of Color (making fruit & veggie salsa)
- Assessing Advertising
- Facts on Fat (Making better choices at fast food places)
- Supersized (Portions are so large we overeat without realizing it)
- Reducing Screen Time
- ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ with PHS questions
- LARGE GROUP ACTIVITES
- All 6th graders took part in two special physical education activities
- In the spring students got active in a boot camp experience that had lots of exercises and fun music
- Last fall students in small groups took part in strength training, aerobic and flexibility exercises
- All 6th graders learned about the importance of healthy eating and activity at the PHS kickoff assembly. Several students participated in skits.
- HEART HEALTHY SCREENINGS: In the spring and last fall 6th graders and 7th graders with their parent’s consent took part in a heart healthy screenings. Parents received results letters that shared their student’s blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
- AFTERSCHOOL GROUPS:
- Seed2Plate is a gardening and cooking group that met weekly from March through the end of school with 3-8 students attending. Vegetables and flowers were planted, tended in the greenhouses and sent home with students, plant fundamentals were learned, snacks and easy dinners were prepared using recipes and eaten as a group.
- Walking Club: PHS provided snacks and adult participation for this Wellness Center group
- INCREASED COMMUNICATION: Parents, staff and students were targeted.
- Parents: The school newsletter PHS article included updates, nutrition tips, recipes and web resources.
- Staff: PHS attended a staff meeting and shared PHS goals. Staff indicated their areas of interest on a survey and PHS provided information, including:
- non food rewards in the classroom
- healthy lifestyles curriculum tie-ins
- blood pressure
- cholesterol
- staff interested in walking or joining an exercise class
- Students: A bulletin board by the cafeteria changed monthly and featured interactive displays and photos of students. A fun new addition included milk moustache photos this year.
- LIVING WHAT YOU LEARN: 6th grade students tracked what fruit and veggies they ate at lunch, the beverage they chose and their outside-of-school activity minutes in the spring. Ms Hurst’s classroom competed to see which hour earned the most points. Students who reached a certain point level were entered in a drawing for prizes, too.
Coming Next Year!
- Support PHS and get more activity! Register for the Big House Big Heart run/walk. You finish in the Big House (UM stadium) on the 50 yard line! Choose between a 1 mile, 5K or 10K run or walk. Volunteer before race day and $30 will be paid towards your race fee!
- Get a team together for the Big House Big Heart run/walk and raise money for PHS! Visit the Big House Big Heart website for details
- Come to a Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, October 3 from 9am till noon at the Big House Big Heart Expo at Pioneer High School. Children under 5 are free. Reduced price family tickets will be available. More details soon.
Enjoy the summer by eating lots of fresh, locally produced foods and getting lots of activity!
February - March, 2009
Cafeteria
- New posters highlighting activity and healthy eating habits are on display.
Academic classrooms
- 6th graders completed their Food and Fitness Trackers. During week 1 students got points for choosing milk, water or juice at lunch, week 2 they tracked their minutes of activity and week three students recorded the fruits and vegetables they ate at lunch. Soon everyone will know which of Ms Hurst’s classes earned the most points and gets to keep the trophy, receive pedometers and have a party. Individuals, too, who met a certain level of points, will be entered in a drawing for an iPod or frisbies.
- We’re finding out the most popular vegetable among 6th graders! Check the wall outside Ms Shelton’s room, closest to the cafeteria to see the results.
Health Class
- The 10 Project Healthy school hands-on activities that show students the importance of making better beverage choices, eating less fast and fatty food, eating more fruits and veggies, including at least 30 minutes of activity most days of the week and reducing screen time are scheduled for 6th graders at the end of February or end of March
After-school
- It’s time to GARDEN! What? A new after school club, Seed2Plate is forming for any interested East student. Come to Ms Shelton’s room (close to cafeteria, room #107) Wednesdays after school. What’s there to do now?
- Plant a variety of seeds under grow lights and in the greenhouse soon.
- Greenhouse can be made ready.
- Make and eat healthy snacks!
- Seeds and Smoothies is Wednesday, March 4!
January, 2009
Has your 6th grader had health class? If s/he has ask them to talk to you about new healthy eating or activity habits they are working on now. Through 10 Project Healthy Schools activities all health students find out how to eat less fast and fatty foods, make better beverage choices by including more water, milk and 100% juice, eat more fruits and veggies, get 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week and to reduce time spent in front of a TV, game or computer screen.
What can you do to help your student continue to follow these habits after health class ends? Have plenty of fruits and veggies at home and available every day. Get active with your student. Walk the dog or go for a walk together. it's a great time to talk. Cut back on the pop or energy drinks you buy. These drinks supply lots of calories and most of us get too many calories already. Limit your child's fun time on the computer and set up limits for TV watching, too. Limit your trips to fast food. When you do go share fries, get a single hamburger and ask for diet pop or water.
If your 6th grade student hasn't had health class yet they will be fore the end of the year. All 6th graders get health class. You can still work in the tips above to get a jump start on living a healthy lifestyle.
Make 2009 a healthier year at your house. Check out the Parents' Page for ideas on how to do that.
Have questions about Project Healthy Schools? Just want to find out more? Contact Cathy Fitzgerald East's coordinator at 734-975-3060 or email her at cfitz@umich.edu.
Project Healthy Schools is busy working with sixth graders at Ypsilanti - East Middle School to increase physical activity and healthy food choices. Students learn new skills and build habits that make them healthier today and tomorrow. Sixth grade students participate in:
- a heart healthy screening, with a parent or guardian’s consent (see below)
- 10 hands-on activities that are part of health class this year
- physical activity add-on classes to expose students to different activities that get everyone moving
- extra activities to encourage healthy eating and more physical activity
Heart Healthy Screening
Sixth Graders:
All sixth graders have the opportunity to participate in a heart healthy screening this fall. Please contact Cathy, the wellness coordinator for East, by the end of September to sign your sixth grader up if you haven’t signed a form yet. The screening include:
- a fitness test
- height and weight
- a blood pressure check
- a cholesterol check
The results are not shared with the students but you get a letter with your child’s blood pressure and cholesterol results. Students are screened in the fall and spring this school year and then at the end of seventh, eighth, ninth and possible 10th grade. Letters with your child’s results and suggested action steps will be mailed home after each screening.
Seventh Graders:
All the students who took part in the screening last year as sixth graders:
- will be screened in the spring of 2009. Results letters will be mailed home after the screening.
- can sign up to be screened at the end of eighth, ninth and 10th grade. Look for more information later this year or contact Cathy to sign up today.
Questions about Project Healthy Schools? Contact Cathy Fitzgerald, MA, RD; Project Healthy Schools Wellness Coordinator, 734-975-3060 or cfitz@umich.edu.
