Bay Area
Regional Award Winner
Regional Award Winner
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Holbrook 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 Holbrook Elementary School has a staff dedicated to the health and fitness of our students. We believe it is necessary to improve physical health in order to improve academic performance. Healthy eating habits are paramount in developing physical health. Holbrook is committed to supporting healthy eating habits on campus. Breakfast and lunch are planned by a registered dietitian to meet nutritional standards identified in the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans”. Fresh fruits, or vegetables, are offered at every meal, while high fat and sugar foods are avoided. Holbrook requested grant funding to offer breakfast to all students at no cost during STAR testing. Every family and our teachers received a flyer reinforcing the importance of breakfast. The four weeks ended successfully, as forty additional students arrived at school each day in time to enjoy a nutritious breakfast. At Holbrook our dedication to healthy eating habits reaches beyond the cafeteria. We have teachers who value the importance of nutrition. They create lessons and activities that promote student awareness of good eating habits and healthy food choices. Our CARES After School Program, which services one-fourth of our school’s students, delivers nutrition instruction three days a week through hands-on cooking activities, and lesson plans developed by the National Dairy Council. We use staff- created interactive games like “Wheel of Nutrition” and “Shop Till You Drop”, plus a contest to find the “Best Healthy Meal”. Through CARES, we have established a beautiful on-campus fruit and vegetable garden to teach children how to grow their own nutritious food. We serve students unusual fresh, raw vegetables and fruits, to expand their healthy food choices. We also use these vegetables and fruits in our “healthy pizza“ and “fruit smoothie” nutritional cooking projects. Our dedication to nutrition here at Holbrook has developed healthier bodies and stronger minds. Essay 2 - Support of Students’ Physical Activity and Fitness Holbrook supports our students’ physical fitness in a variety of ways. Physical education is included in the lesson plans of all the teaching staff. Games and activities are taught to the students to ensure that recess is not only fun, but physically active. Mr. Alpert, our teacher on special assignment, has organized intramural noon sports leagues for fourth and fifth grade students, and the majority of our students have participated in one, or more, of these sports. During their lunch recess, Mr. Alpert also teaches our primary grade students game rules and techniques to prepare them for the upper grade noon leagues. This has been a huge success on our campus and many students who were uninvolved in physical activity are now actively participating. The fourth and fifth graders also have an hour of physical education taught by a certificated physical education teacher. One of our very popular fundraisers is “Jump Rope for Heart” for the American Heart Association. Children train for several weeks prior to the event, practicing various jumping techniques. Parent volunteers, students, staff, and the American Heart Association representatives spend the afternoon actively promoting physical fitness. All the school looks forward to this fun afternoon. In the late spring we have our annual Field Day where students participate in twenty-five different physical activities. On World Friendship Day all classes perform multicultural dances acknowledging our diversity and enjoying one more form of physical activity. Our CARES After School Program is funded partially by grants related to nutrition and physical fitness education. This is taken very seriously by the CARES staff. Students have organized fitness games and activities for at least 250 minutes per week. SPARKS activities are used as well as cooperative games to encourage fitness and teamwork. Holbrook is dedicated to the physical fitness of our students! Essay 3- Need For a New Fitness Center Holbrook is an elementary school in Concord, California. Our student population is very diverse. Sixty one percent of Holbrook’s population is socio-economically disadvantaged. Seventeen percent of our student population has identified learning or physical disabilities. Holbrook’s community has a high percentage of low income families who cannot afford to enroll their children in off campus sports and activities. Our school neighborhood is one where parents are concerned about their children playing safely in their yards outside. It is evident in our school many students could already be considered obese. While we have made great progress in teaching nutrition, a Fitness Center will add to our ability to offer a safe, well-equipped exercise facility. Students will increase their training and knowledge about the importance of physical activity. They will develop life long habits supporting fitness, thereby reducing the dangers inherent in obesity. In inclement weather, our students will be able to continue their physical activities to their highest capacity. A Fitness Center will be used by the CARES After School Program and the school community, enhancing students’ abilities to engage in meaningful fitness activities, sports and to collaborate and interact in positive ways. Increased physical activity provided by the Fitness Center will decrease heart disease, diabetes, and obesity which are at epidemic levels in our country. Our entire school community will benefit from an on-campus Fitness Center. |
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