How do you teach kindergarten children to eat healthful foods? You give them different kinds of vegetables to arrange into the shape of a flower. Then, let them eat their “flowers.”

This is what kindergarteners at Central Elementary School did in one of their nutrition classes, which are taught by students from Rockbridge County High School (RCHS).

The classes are carried out in conjunction with National Nutrition Month in March, said Vickie Chambers, a culinary science teacher at RCHS. But they started in late February and will continue possibly into May. All the volunteers belong to a national student organization called Family Career & Community Leaders of America, she said.

In Rockbridge County, as everywhere else in the country, there is heightened awareness of health issues for young people, said Daphne Stickley, supervisor of food services for Rockbridge County schools. The increased incidences of childhood diabetes, obesity, and related health problems have prompted schools to step up efforts in changing students’ eating habits. Last year, the Rockbridge County School Board adopted a policy proposed by School Health Advisory Board (SHAB) to remove soft drinks and high-sugar snacks from all vending machines in schools.

While children may have accepted the changes in vending machines, they can now understand why fruit juices are better than sodas, as they go through the nutrition class program.

“[The kids] love it,” said April Perkins, a kindergarten teacher at Central. “It is very enjoyable [for them] to work with… the big kids.”

With the help of the “big kids,” the small kids identified vegetables and learned about their nutritional value during a recent class. Half of them colored a picture of a salad bowl while the other half made “edible flowers” with vegetables.

Children were each given a celery stalk, a sliced tomato, eight pieces of carrots sliced in half and two spinach leaves. They assembled these different parts of a “flower” into a whole, following the demonstration by the volunteers.
“This is one of my favorites,” said one boy, happily chewing the “stem” of his “flower” -- the celery stalk.

The children’s work for the previous two classes was displayed on the wall: a giant word “food” made from pictures of various foods, and five posters representing five food groups. The kids sorted different foods into the five groups, each of which “they are supposed to eat foods from everyday,” said Chambers.

Here and there in the classroom, children were heard to make solemn statements such as “I like tomatoes” and “I don’t eat carrots.” But at the end of the class, 11th grader Haley Cornwell told them why vegetables like carrots and tomatoes are all beneficial for their health.

“They have vitamin A… It helps you see,” she said. And vitamin C helps them grow “strong muscles,” she continued.

Tracy Hinty, another kindergarten teacher at Central, said the children learned something useful.

“This is a good experience for them to learn first hand what’s good [to eat],” she said. She hopes the children would take the healthful food choices back home with them.

It is especially important to start nutrition education early with kids, said program leader Megan Bare, a ninth grader from RCHS.
“As young as kindergarteners are, they need the most help with food choices,” she said, explaining why she chose to give classes to kids of this age group.

Bare said the idea of nutrition classes stemmed from a school board meeting early in the year. Her advisor Chambers, a member of the SHAB, volunteered to help promote the board’s focus on health and nutrition. Bare later developed the program with the guidance of Chambers as well as input from kindergarten teachers at Central.

The nutrition classes conducted by RCHS volunteers may go a long way in a child’s education experience. “Improving nutrition and increasing physical activities tie into a student’s ability to learn,” said Stickley.

Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.

Lead supervisor:      Prof. Claudette Artwick

Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming

Editing supervisor:  Prof. Pamela Luecke

Technical supervisor:  Michael Todd