Thanks to a $4,000 grant from Fuel Up to Play 60 and the National Dairy Council, B.J. Ward Elementary School students will not only be sipping nutritious Smoothies for breakfast in coming months, but they will also have new equipment for their “teacher-taught recess.”
The two grant programs, which were the brainchild of Ward’s first-year physical education teacher Brad Bogwill, are designed to help students start the day off right so they can be active for at least 60 minutes a day.
“Nutrition and exercise are important,” Bogwill said. “They will be better learners.”
Bogwill’s “Breakfast Anytime Anywhere” Smoothie Program included a contest in which students submitted their own recipes for smoothies with three stipulations: they must be nutritious, they must include a dairy product and they must include a cup of fruit or veggies.
“We tried to incorporate math in there by asking them to figure out how much of each ingredient was needed,” he said. “Some of the students had really great ideas.”
The VVSD Nutrition Services Department reviewed the entries and picked a half dozen or so finalists. Bogwill and Ward Kitchen Manager Wendy Stratton will decide on each of the four winners that will become the “smoothie of the month” in February, March, April and May.
“This smoothie contest got them thinking about what they’re eating, and asking how nutritious is it?” Bogwill said.
The second half of the grant will go toward the purchase of recess kits on carts with items such as Hula Hoops, playground balls, soccer balls, footballs and more. The carts will be used by teachers during B.J. Ward’s classroom version of recess which is called “teacher-taught physical education.”
“Right now there’s not a lot for the kids to get excited about. Our soccer balls are like ovals and the stitches are torn. And there isn’t enough equipment to facilitate a hundred kids at each grade level,” Bogwill said. “I want them to have brand new equipment. They’re kids. They deserve it.”
Bogwill expects the new equipment to arrive sometime in the next few months.
“I’m excited for the kids,” he said. “Kids need to know people care about them and want to invest in them.”
Fuel Up to Play 60 is an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by the National Dairy Council and the National Football League (in conjunction with the USDA) designed to help encourage today’s youth to lead healthier lives.