By

Gail Percle,   Isabel Pierce Sem Elementary School

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Access to Healthy Foods

Eat Around the Rainbow was a new event this year held at Sem Elementary. The PTA partnered with the café to prepare and serve new fruits and vegetables to the students. Some examples include: jicama, sugar snap peas, peppers, grapes, grapefruit and mango. The presentation was very colorful to attract the students and encourage them to try something new. In PE class, many of the students talked about trying jicama and mango for the very first time. These students said they wanted to eat it more often because they loved it so much. Kids just need to have the opportunity to make healthier choices and many times they surprise us!

How did you accomplish your goals?

We accomplished our goal by getting the PTA parents and café staff working together to prepare fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors and textures. The teaching staff encouraged each class to choose at least one item they had never tried before.

What improvements have you seen at your school?

Our café staff continues to have a regular sample day for students to try new fruits and vegetables. The salad bar has become more popular with the students and the café staff has to restock the salad bar more often. Teaching staff at Sem Elementary have noticed healthier snacks being brought to school and less junk food.

How do you plan to make this Play last during the school year and beyond?

We hope to make this Play continue by offering students a variety of fruits and vegetables at school every day. Students will be allowed to choose as many fruits and vegetables are they would like to eat. The salad bar changes daily and that will encourage them to try new items. Teachers and staff will encourage and praise students for the healthy snack chooses they make. We hope that these ideas will help reduce the amount of junk food consumed at school.