Desert Sierra
Regional Award Winner
Regional Award Winner
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Agua Caliente Elementary submitted the following three essays for consideration of the Governor's Challenge Competition Grand Prize: Essay 1 - Commitment to Promoting Healthy Eating on Campus The nutrition and health component of a physically fit student is important at our school. The majority of our students come from low income homes and all, but eleven students, qualify for the free or reduced lunch program, which ensures that our students have the opportunity to receive two healthy well-balanced meals each day, with little or no cost to their families. Our cafeteria personnel work hard to guarantee that the meals served comply with the health and nutrition requirements. Teachers also provide healthy snacks for their students throughout the day. Students are encouraged to have a water bottle at school and it is the only item sold in our cafeteria vending machine. Students are taught health, human anatomy , and nutrition in their physical education class. Teachers incorporate health topics during classroom instruction, being creative with games like carrot toss, where the teacher tosses baby carrots and the kids try to catch them in their mouths, or singing about the body systems. Community organizations,i.e., Slow Food and Hidden Harvest help students, parents, and staff by building a greenhouse and planting vegetables on campus. The project’s goal is to educate students about growing healthy food and making healthy choices. Desert Hospital presents health and safety lessons. The Sunshine Factory, provides free dental care and the Lions Club and Rotary Club supplies free glasses and clothing. Nutrition and health activities continue in our after school program. The Boys and Girls Club, along with F.I.N.D. and Vons, provide health, fitness and nutrition lessons and distribute groceries and personal hygiene supplies on long weekends for students and their families. Our school community works diligently to ensure that our students’ health needs are met and to educate them on the importance of eating healthy, being healthy, and staying healthy. Essay 2 - Support of Students’ Physical Activity and Fitness The physical education program at our school incorporates cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and flexibility, and individual/class fitness goals. These weekly lessons build on individual students’ strengths and physical abilities. Students learn that physical fitness can be accomplished in many different ways and that being physically active can be both fun and rewarding. With physically fit students as our goal, we offered them many opportunities to participate in school time activities, i.e., a school wide track meet where winners competed in a district track meet on a Saturday. We had 85% of the 5th grade students actively involved in a flag football and soccer league during their lunch recess. The third graders played a 5-week long class T-ball tournament during their recess time and the 1st and 2nd grade students had the opportunity to play organized games. Students had the chance to participate in a Hip Hop dance class during recess and after school. Each week the amount of students participating in these events increased and often when an event ended students were quick to respond with statements like “What are we going to play next?” and “Can we play for 5 minutes longer, please?” Students extended their desire to be physically active even after school hours and on the weekends. When we took the Governor’s Challenge this year, we made a pact school wide to try our hardest to be physically active, not just three days for the 28 days of the challenge, but everyday. Not only did our school have a large percentage of students exercise daily, but our staff members, parents, and community members, also participated. Pacific Western Bank employees and the local Boys and Girls Club also committed to the challenge for our school. Essay 3- Need For a New Fitness Center Agua Caliente Elementary is more than an elementary school: It is a community. Located next to a major airport and in the center of a neighborhood known for its high poverty, Agua Caliente’s community and school defy the stereotypes associated with working class minority neighborhoods. Despite outward appearances, Agua Caliente is a river of hope. We are committed to ensuring that each of our students has the opportunity and resources to successfully achieve the American Dream. For us, this is defined as being able to live a self-actualized democratic life. Perhaps because we are committed to making sure that all of our students are given opportunities to have a vibrant and healthy life, Agua Caliente has also thrived academically. One of our commitments is ensuring that our students develop a healthy lifestyle. As many schools phase out recess, we provide students time during the day to engage in physical play. When our teachers meet in their Professional Learning Communities each week, students are provided an extra 30 minutes of structured activates to promote physical activity. Our students are provided opportunities to engage in team sports and have taken a field trip to Los Angeles to see the Dodgers. Each year we provide time to prepare our students for track and field events. What we are lacking is a centralized fitness center that will provide an instructional method for developing healthy bodies. With a fitness center, the staff will be able to extend our commitment to promoting healthy living for not only our students but also their parents. For us, a fitness center is a critical focal point for ensuring a healthy future for our school and our surrounding neighborhood. |
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