By

Luke Collins,   Bernard J Ward Elementary School

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Access to Healthy Foods

Each year, we host a Family Fitness Night to which students can bring their families to enjoy fun fitness activities.  This year, we decided to incorporate information about eating healthy. We had two booths set up with information on healthy food options. One booth was set up by the Will County Health Department titled "Rethink Your Drink." This booth was set up to illustrate how much sugar goes into various beverages. We also had a booth set up by the park district providing information about the nutrition in our food. Each booth had flyers for families to take home.

How did you accomplish your goals?

To accomplish our goals, we set out to get parents and families to attend Family Fitness Night. To encourage attendance, we put together flyers and made announcements about the dates of Family Fitness Night and what would be there.

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

One challenge we faced was the large number of bilingual families that we have in our district. Many parents don't speak English, so relaying information isn't always the easiest. To make sure information was relayed appropriately, we had to make sure the flyers were in both English and Spanish. However, one major problem we had was that the information packets and booths were only in English. To overcome this, we were able to utilize our students to help translate information to the parents.

What improvements have you seen at your school?

Walking through the lunch room, I have seen a conscious effort to make healthier choices from our students