By

Michele Kennedy,   Rimrock Elementary School

Play:

Topics:

Access to Healthy Foods,  Student Leadership

At our Fuel up to Play 60 Kickoff assembly, our FUTP 60 student leadership team introduced our Plays to the student body, including our Healthy Eating Play “Snack Smarter in School.” Since our school sells snacks every Friday, we wanted each student to suggest a healthy snack item that he/she would like to have sold. The FUTP 60 student leaders started the activity by explaining to the students what qualifies as a healthy snack and helping them recognize that delicious and healthy snacks come from all 5 food groups. We passed out paper and pencils to all the students so they could write down their suggestions. We then collected the papers, recorded the suggestions, and later coordinated the ideas with our Friday Snacks Sales committee for purchasing healthy snacks to sell. The best part was reviewing the wide variety of suggestions from the students! Their ideas included some common snacks such as apples and carrot sticks but also included huckleberries, plain lettuce, pomegranates, pickles, bell peppers and “ripe cherries.” We are excited to include some of these unique foods in our snack sales! At the conclusion of the assembly, our FUTP 60 student leaders distributed string cheese to each student as a reminder of a delicious, portable and nutritious snack to have during the day as well as the reminder to support the Dairy Council. It was a great success!

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

Because we already have a "Friday Snack Sales" program in place, we will be able to implement the students' healthy snack ideas all year long and into future school years.