By

Jean Erickson,   Lincoln Elementary School

Play:

Meet Your Inner Chef

Topics:

Student Leadership,  Teamwork

Every month we have Nutrition Day where we introduce a healthy food to all the classes at our elementary school. This year the theme is Mystery Ingredients. The volunteers from the nutrition committee and the school ambassadors take around a sample to each person and the students try to guess what the mystery ingredient is for the month. Then they teach them a mini lesson about the nutritional value of that ingredient. We have had things like zucchini in apple crisp, faux mashed potatoes from cauliflower, pudding made with chia seeds, and pumpkin muffins with white bean paste. The students are able to earn raffle tickets by making guesses for the mystery ingredient, being respectful to the volunteers, and by taking the recipe home to try with their families. Once a month we hold the raffle and about 2 students from each class win something from Fuel Up to Play 60. This has been a fun way to spread our message! This month for Nutrition Day we had a special visit from Mollie Milk Cow. The ambassadors who escorted her to the classes gave an additional message of thanks to the Farm Families and the Dairy Council who support and fund Fuel Up to Play 60. Thank you!

How did students and adults work together as a team?

As I mentioned, our PTO volunteers for the nutrition committee AND our student FUTP 60 ambassadors take the samples around to the classes and deliver the nutrition lesson. We also had help from our college intern, who was kind enough to be Mollie for us this year. The ambassadors LOVE to help on Nutrition Day. They also get the privilege of running our once a month Smoothie Day with the help from our college intern. They have learned some great leadership skills.

What improvements have you seen at your school?

Our student leaders are taking their role seriously and are great eyes and ears for the school. Every week I see my ambassadors in action with helping other students, picking up trash or recess equipment, or making suggestions of ways to improve the school. It is awesome to see them in action!