The Wellness Team at St. Joseph school in New Hampton has introduced a new After School Snack program. The purpose of the program is to provide a healthy snack for 5th to 8th grade students before they leave school for sporting practices, long bus rides or the walk/ride home. Continue reading
Northeast Iowa schools purchased over $64,000 in food from local farms in the 2016-17 school year. Fourteen school districts contributed numbers to the survey which is conducted annually by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach on behalf of the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative. Continue reading
August means evaluation time, and the FFI Operations Team has been reviewing the past year and comparing the progress to our benchmarks (or indicators). Continue reading
Spring has always been one of my favorite seasons. Everything smells fresh and new and it is finally warm enough to get outside for some nice, long walks. I do cooking clubs once a month, but I was itching to do something to get the kids outside and moving. At New Hampton Middle School, I started a walking club for 6th grade students, and at St. Joe’s for 3rd-4th graders. Each club will go for six weeks, meeting once a week. I will be keeping track of how many miles we walk as a club, and at the end of six weeks, we will have a party to celebrate our success! Continue reading
This month in cooking club, we focused on making healthy snacks. Previously, I had asked the kids what they wanted to make at the next cooking club. I presented them with a few options, one of my favorites being kale chips. To my surprise, a majority of the kids wanted to make kale chips. Some of the 4th graders at New Hampton remembered when I did a taste test in the beginning of the school and remembered enjoying them. Continue reading
Many kids know the phrase “Taste the Rainbow” from the skittles commercial, but on St. Patricks day, Kindergartners through 2nd graders at St. Joseph Community School were able to eat the rainbow by trying a variety of fruits and vegetables. 
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Two students from 7th grade on the wellness team at St. Joseph Community School decided they wanted to teach a lesson about healthy heart foods in the spirit of Valentine’s Day with pre-schoolers and 1st/2nd graders. They came up with lesson and ideas all on their own and arranged scheduling a time to go into the classrooms. Unfortunately, late starts and snow days prevented us from doing this closer to Valentine’s Day. Continue reading
For weeks, my cooking club students have been begging me to make cookies with them. So far we had done pita pizzas with vegetables, zucchini noodles, and smoothie bowls, but nothing from the baked goods category. I finally caved in and told them we would make cookies, but we were going to make them using some substitutions. Continue reading
For the month of January and February, students from New Hampton and St. Joe’s have been learning out the parts of plants and how they can eat all the parts of a plant by eating a variety of vegetables. Continue reading
As part of Catholic Schools week, students were asked to think about what it means to treat their body as temple. One way we can take care of ourselves is by putting good food into our body that nourishes and sustains us. On Wellness Tuesday I worked with students from Pre-School all the way up to 8th grade to make a healthy snack with them. Continue reading
