Ypsilanti - West Middle School
Project Healthy Schools
Five Healthy Habits
- Eat more fruits and vegetables
- Make better beverage choices (water, lowfat milk, 100% juice)
- Include at least 30 minutes of activity most days
- Eat less fast and fatty food
- Spend less time in front of screens (TV, video, gaming, computer)
Project Healthy Schools introduces sixth graders to these healthy habits through a variety of fun, interactive events. Project Healthy Schools events include:
- A kickoff assembly on October 30 where 6th grade students take part in skits that introduce the rest of their class to the five healthy habits listed above.
- 10 hands-on activities in health class that focus on making healthy food choices and getting more activity.
- Physical activities, a classroom contest to see which class is putting healthy habits into action and other events.
In middle school students are making more decisions about food and activity. Habits developed today often will remain throughout their adult life.
Sixth grade students with health class first quarter are learning about the importance of eating a rainbow of colors of fruits and veggies by making Fruit Salsa on November 6. Ask your student how it went. Here’s the recipe so you can try it at home:
Rainbow of Color Fruit and Veggie Salsa
-Red pepper
-Peaches (we use frozen Michigan peaches!)
-Canned pineapple (in its own juice)
-Kiwi
-Parsley
-Cherries (we use frozen Michigan cherries!)
-Green onion (we use the white part as our “white” color)
-Lime
-Extra virgin olive oil (about 1 or 2 Tablespoons)
-Blue corn chips
-Spices: equal parts of cumin, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and cilantro
Wash all fruits and vegetables first and don’t forget to wash your hands! Peel the kiwi. Cut the pepper, peaches, kiwi, cherries and onion into small (about 1 cm x 1 cm) pieces. Drain the pineapple, but leave some of the juice. Put all the pieces into a large bowl and add the pineapple to it. Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Add the olive oil, parsley and spices. Mix gently. Serve with the blue corn chips!
West Middle School has an active Wellness Team that meets monthly and it works to make West a healthier place. This year we got everyone out and walking on Walk to School Day in early October. We kicked off the Route 66 walking contest between the three grades that day, too. Check out the wall across from the media center to see which grade has walked the most.
Did you know activity helps students learn better? It also decreases discipline problems and it does a body good to fit in activity everyday.
If you have questions please contact Cathy Fitzgerald, 975-3060 or cfitz@umich.edu
Project Healthy Schools (PHS)
A Community-University of Michigan Collaborative
June, 2009
- ACTIVITIES: All 6th graders participated in 10 Project Healthy Schools activities in Mrs. Brady’s health class. These hands-on activities focused on:
- Overview of what will happen with PHS this year
- My Lunch, My Pyramid - How does that lunch tray compare to My Pyramid?
- Better Beverages - choose milk, water and juice most often
- Get the Beat! - Get active most days of the week to make your heart healthier
- Rainbow of Color - Making fruit & veggie salsa
- Assessing Advertising – Figure out the tricks advertisers use to get you to buy food
- Facts on Fat - Making better choices at fast food place
- SuperSized - Portions are so large we overeat without thinking about it
- Reducing Screen Time - Less screen time means more time for activity
- ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ using PHS questions
- LARGE GROUP ACTIVITES
- 6th graders took part in two special physical education activities
- In the spring students got active in a boot camp experience that had lots of exercises and fun music
- Last fall students in small groups took part in strength training, aerobic and flexibility exercises
- 6th graders learned about the importance of healthy eating and activity at the PHS kickoff assembly. Several students participated in skits that showed the PHS goals.
- HEART HEALTHY SCREENINGS:
- In the spring and last fall 6th graders and 7th graders with their parent’s consent took part in a heart healthy screenings. Parents received results letters that shared their student’s blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
- AFTERSCHOOL GROUPS:
- Seed2Plate is a gardening and cooking group that met weekly from March through the end of school with 3-8 students attending. Vegetables and flowers were planted, tended in the greenhouses and sent home with student, and plant fundamentals were learned. Snacks featuring fruits and veggies were prepared using recipes and eaten as a group.
- INCREASED COMMUNICATION: Parents, staff and students were targeted.
- Parents: The school newsletter included aPHS article with updates, nutrition tips, recipes and web resources.
- Staff: Staff members indicated their areas of interest on a survey and PHS provided information, including:
- non food rewards in the classroom
- healthy lifestyles curriculum tie-ins
- blood pressure
- cholesterol
- staff interested in walking or joining an exercise class
- Students: Two displays near the cafeteria changed monthly and featured interactive displays and photos of students. A fun new addition included milk moustache photos this year.
- LIVING WHAT YOU LEARN: 6th grade students tracked what fruit and veggies they ate at lunch, the beverage they chose and their outside-of-school activity minutes in the spring. Ms Mayol’s and Ms Miller’s classes competed to see which hour earned the most points. Students who reached a certain point level were entered in a drawing for prizes, too.
- School Wellness Team: Amelia Brady, Joel Osborne, Monica Merritt, CJ Falsetta and parent, Beth Darnell, along with Cathy, the PHS rep met monthly to work on implementing goals to make West a healthier place to be. This year students and staff took part in walking challenges! A trophy was awarded to the grade that ‘arrived’ at the destination first!
Coming Next Year!
- Support PHS and get more activity! Register for the Big House Big Heart run/walk. You finish in the big house on the 50 yard line! Choose between a 1 mile, 5K or 10K run or walk. Volunteer before race day and $30 will be paid towards your race fee!
- Get a team together for the Big House Big Heart run/walk and raise money for PHS! Visit the Big House Big Heart website for details
- Come to a Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, October 3 from 9am till noon at the Big House Big Heart Expo at Pioneer High School. Children under 5 are free. Reduced price family tickets will be available. More details soon.
February, 2009
What’s Happening?
Remind your 6th grade student to choose milk, water or juice at lunch the week of January 26. Then help them be more active the week of February 2 and encourage them to eat more fruits and vegetables at lunch the week of February 9. Why? Sixth graders are tracking their healthier choices the next three weeks to win prizes and to develop healthier habits. Carry these habits into your home by serving milk, water or juice for meals and snacks, aim for at least 30 minutes of activity most days, have fruit out on the counter and include vegetables with dinner every night. Healthy habits make for healthy people!
All sixth graders participate in 10 PHS lessons during health class that focus on:
- Making wiser beverage choices
- Eating less fast and fatty foods
- Including less screen time
- Eating more fruits and veggies and
- Getting more physical activity.
New After School Group! Seed2Plate on Mondays!
Join us in Mrs. (Skwiers) Brady’s room (just before the cafeteria) after school on Mondays to have fun with food - from seeds to what we eat. Each week will include a gardening event, a snack you make and lots of fun. Plan to ride the late bus home! See you Mondays after school! Sponsored by Growing Hope and Project Healthy Schools assisted by Mrs Brady.
Added: URWhta you eat info flyer from We Can! & Chicken Broccoli MFit recipe and logo
January, 2009
Project Healthy Schools is busy working with sixth graders at Ypsilanti - West Middle School to increase physical activity and healthy food choices. Students learn new skills and build habits that make them healthier today and tomorrow. Sixth grade students participate in:
- a heart healthy screening, with a parent or guardian’s consent (see below)
- 10 hands-on activities that are part of health class this year
- physical activity add-on classes to expose students to different activities that get everyone moving
- extra activities to encourage healthy eating and more physical activity
Heart Healthy Screening
Sixth Graders:
All sixth graders have the opportunity to participate in a heart healthy screening this fall. Please contact Cathy, the wellness coordinator for East, by the end of September to sign your sixth grader up if you haven’t signed a form yet. The screening include:
- a fitness test
- height and weight
- a blood pressure check
- a cholesterol check
The results are not shared with the students but you get a letter with your child’s blood pressure and cholesterol results. Students are screened in the fall and spring this school year and then at the end of seventh, eighth, ninth and possible 10th grade. Letters with your child’s results and suggested action steps will be mailed home after each screening.
Seventh Graders:
All the students who took part in the screening last year as sixth graders:
- will be screened in the spring of 2009. Results letters will be mailed home after the screening.
- can sign up to be screened at the end of eighth, ninth and 10th grade. Look for more information later this year or contact Cathy to sign up today.
Questions about Project Healthy Schools? Contact Cathy Fitzgerald, MA, RD; Project Healthy Schools Wellness Coordinator, 734-975-3060 or cfitz@umich.edu.
