Alexa Pavon, from left, and Paola Perez, Cooper Elementary fourth graders, enjoy creating and tasting fresh fruit kabobs on the Spring ISD Child Nutrition Go, Glow and Grow bus.
Photo Album: Cooper Elementary students party on the Spring ISD Go, Glow, and Grow Bus
HOUSTON – May 6, 2016 – Spring ISD’s Child Nutrition Department proved they will go to great lengths to encourage students to indulge in the healthiest meal of the day – breakfast – including an “usie” photo contest.
Teachers and students at the six elementary schools that are part of the Breakfast in a Classroom program were challenged to produce their most creative photo while wearing fruit smiley faces. Classroom teachers submitted their students’ best shot for the opportunity to win a Wild Fruit Party on the Go, Glow and Grow child nutrition bus. Each participating BIC school has a classroom winner.
Roberto Soracco’s fourth-grade class at Cooper Elementary School took top honors at their school and celebrated their win when the Go, Glow and Grow bus visited their school loaded with a variety of fresh fruit for the students to sample.
With safety always a top priority, students put on plastic food service gloves before boarding the bus where an array of fresh fruit was waiting along with skewers for creating their own fruit kabobs. Once they had made their selections, they sat on the floor of the bus and watched video on the large screen TV about healthy meal choices.
Spring ISD Child Nutrition Director, Shelly Copeland, said the bus regularly serves as a traveling nutritional classroom. The bus, which is brand new to the district, has only four seats to allow room for nutrition education activities, food-tasting events and delivery of summer meals.
The Breakfast in a Classroom program was funded in Spring ISD with a grant from the American Association of School Administrators. The grant – valued at $197,750 – was made possible through a partnership between AASA and the Walmart Foundation that expands the school breakfast program. Six Spring ISD elementary schools – Beneke, Burchett, Cooper, Reynolds, Smith and Thompson – participate in the program that makes breakfast convenient and accessible.
Copeland said there are many benefits to the program, including improved academic performance, student behavior and attendance.