Central Valley
Regional Award Winner
Regional Award Winner
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Golden Oak 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 As a school district committed to healthy eating, Visalia Unified has taken a long look at what is provided in the lunchroom to students. As an elementary school committed to raising healthy citizens, Golden Oak has continually examined the foods that are provided in the classroom and beyond. Golden Oak Elementary School has a motto that has stood for 22 years which states, “Respect yourself, others and your school.” We believe that to be respectful of others, you must first have a high regard for one’s own self. This begins with what you put in your body, whether physically or intellectually. While teachers influence what is poured in daily to each mind, students are accountable for food and beverage choices. To encourage healthy eating habits, Golden Oak has participated in a variety of programs offered designed to teach sensible behaviors: • We have presented lessons from the California Dairy Council to encourage milk over soda and sugary drinks. • We have sent students to local dairies to observe them in real life. • We have had classes participate in bread making with representatives from the Tulare County Farm Wives. • Students have been able to attend the World Agricultural Exposition where they learn about the riches of natural foods grown right in their own back yard. • We have participated in the California Home Grown Foods Tour where classes receive detailed nutrition information and a local, fresh sample each month. Students are educated about each selection and recipes with activities are sent home as well. Students are able to eat things which might not be typical at home and parents report of requests at the grocery store for different foods each month. • We have participated in the Walk Around California activity each year, learning about different foods grown and produced in each county and region. Along with teaching sensible behaviors, staff members at Golden Oak model them daily. Water is plentiful as a drink choice on campus, and salads are an overwhelming lunch selection. Candy and chips are no longer allowed on campus as a morning snack and have largely been replaced by pencils and bookmarks as rewards for small achievements. Golden Oak is committed to both healthy eating and the physical wellbeing that follows this so naturally. Because physical health is so closely related to cognitive development, this is not a component of our student’s education that we take lightly. If we are to succeed as educators in the highest sense, then we believe that we are responsible to educate not only the whole child, but the community we serve as well. As we encourage better eating choices by the family, then we will see children coming to us prepared for the rigor of academic study. Only then can we realize the true “fitness” of the citizen that we are molding every day. Essay 2 - Support of Students’ Physical Activity and Fitness “Right foot, two stomps, left foot, two stomps. . .” More and more, the children of Golden Oak are asking that their day begin with activity. From the six year old to the sixth grader, all line up and begin to move when they hear the loudspeakers boom! In Early 2007, the Golden Oak Student Council elected a Commissioner of Physical Fitness. This officer made daily announcements of activity choices, helped the principal choose equipment for purchase, ran lunchtime activities and compiled personal activity logs from each student. As the end of the Governors Fitness Challenge neared, this officer also included announcements detailing our participation and our standing each morning. This served as great motivation for our students. The staff also shares with students their personal stories of activity. Teachers proudly talk of their time at the gym, ride bikes to school, walk at noontime, participate in triathlons, coach youth sports teams, and organize noontime competition. One lunch aide brings out a cart with ribbons, hoops, foam balls and more; puts on music and allows those who don’t feel competitive to join in less demanding, yet still active activity. This has proven to be a great draw to all students, forming friendships that would not have been explored except through this non-threatening avenue. Golden Oak has a committed staff who utilizes the school district PE Coordinator to constantly upgrade ideas for movement. She is on campus at least twice a month, teaching teachers and infusing classes with new ideas for motion. Our staff has also worked with the school district nutrition coordinator to participate in the “Walk Around California”. PTA members help by participating and awarding prizes to students at certain stages of this activity. As a result of all of this movement and education, Golden Oak proudly boasts a rising academic score on both VUSD and California State Star testing. We are on the right track and firmly believe that our success is a direct result of our increased activity level. We are not through with our climb, and know that we have more to accomplish. Let us continue and not stop . . . “right foot, two stomps, left foot, two stomps. . .” Essay 3- Need For a New Fitness Center Golden Oak Elementary School is in the Northeast corner of a school district with over 25 elementary schools, four middle schools and five high schools. Our school population pulls from middle class, to single-parent or unemployed households. Our community is committed, yet sometimes unable to participate in physical activities other than work. Only a small percentage of students participate in soccer, baseball or other leagues, compared to homes in the northwest and southwest areas of Visalia. Some of our students who participate in our school sponsored track team do so because one or more of the teachers has paid for a pair of shoes or the insurance required to participate. During noontime baseball activities, teachers loan out gloves to students who have none. While many in our area are able, some sit out simply due to a lack of resources. It was an interesting study in socio-economics when Golden Oak students realized they were beating out some of the perceived “always win” schools in the Governor’s Fitness Challenge. Golden Oak is committed to giving ALL students an opportunity to experience the success of involvement, and we promote a “can do” attitude at all times. Golden Oak staff is continually looking at ways to build well-rounded citizens as we educate the student population. We firmly believe that to successfully educate the child we must also partner with parents. This fitness center would bring with it a new level of awareness and community that can only serve to solidify the home-school connection. By investing in the physical well-being of their children, the parents will be more willing to join with us to foster the academic welfare of each child. Golden Oak is a school which does not have a gymnasium, and a lunchroom only capable of holding three or four classes for a quiet activity. The ceiling height prohibits much movement and the five lunch periods prohibit scheduling much activity other than band. A fitness center solely dedicated to physical activity would be used by 100 percent of the student body, five days per week. Our school district PE Specialist has expressed an interest in studying a direct link from activity to achievement in the classroom. This fitness center would allow concentrated class by class analysis, and individual student charting as well. A new fitness center is a target the students have set their sights upon and have worked diligently toward. As a student body, there have been elections based on the Governor’s Challenge, there have been daily encouragements of movement, and there has been a unifying effect felt this year like none in previous school years. A fitness center would be a huge reward to 650+ students who have all joined together in a commitment to becoming better people. As it all starts within, it needs to start with our physical being, and Golden Oak is on a march forward, with academic, social, and physical fitness as our goal! |
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