By

Kier Bard,   Shelton Elementary School

Play:

Topics:

Access to Healthy Foods,  Success with Funds

At Shelton Elementary, the student-led wellness team ("Health Heroes") led our initiative to Snack Smarter. They began by completing the School Wellness Investigation, and realized that while the snack cart in the lunchroom met the federal guidelines, a lot of the snacks were not actually very healthy! As part of "National Nutrition Month" in March, the Health Heroes invited the cafeteria manager to their monthly meeting. The cafeteria manager brought a list of all the items available on the snack cart. The Health Heroes taste tested all the snacks, and discussed how much sugar, sodium, cholesterol, and protein was in each snack. They used the "MyPlate" tool as their guideline. Ultimately, the team decided that a lot of the snacks didn't even taste that good! So, they shared their information with Shelton's Health and Wellness Team Leaders, who will be meeting with the principal and cafeteria manager to select which items will remain available for sale. Although some popular items will still be available to purchase, the Health Heroes will develop flyers and stickers detailing nutritional value of all the items. The Heroes will also serve as role models for healthy snacking by showing their peers how snacks can be healthy AND nutritious.

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

The assessments and investigations were completed this school year, and the nutritional education/ information has begun, but will continue into the fall when students return to school.

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

Getting students to try foods that may not look as appetizing but are actually delicious AND nutritious!