By

Kristie Kuhse,   Waverly-shell Rock Middle School

Play:

Topics:

Community Involvement, Student Leadership,  Teamwork

Once a month, Fuel Up to Play 60 Team Members plan and prepare mini-lessons to 65 children at the after-care program at a local elementary school. Students research nutrition information to teach children about Choose My Plate, apples, vegetables, dairy and other healthy food choices. The middle school leaders incorporate physical activity into their mini-lessons to also promote the importance of 60 minutes of exercise each day.

How did students and adults work together as a team?

Students work together to plan the mini-lesson ideas. They work with their Program Advisor to purchase the healthy food items for the children to taste test. The adviser sets up the monthly lessons with the local after-school care program.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

Transportation is an issue in our school district. It is very costly to get a school bus and transport students. The after-care program is held at a nearby elementary school. Team members walk to the after-care program. The Program Advisor loads the heavy backpacks and musical instruments in her car, so students do no have to carry them so far. Parents pick up their students from the elementary building that we are teaching the mini-lessons at to help save money on transportation cost.

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

The team members love teaching younger children. We will continue planning and teaching mini-lessons next school year even after funding has ended. There are many lessons that we can teach that would not cost money or would be very low cost. We could work with our food service director to see if she has any government commodities that she could share with us taste testing.