January 2008
Our Schools - Educating Mom
This Year, I’ll Eat Healthier and Get Fit
A Resolution That Isn’t Just for Adults
Another New Year, another new attempt to drop those last 10 pounds. Toning up and slimming down are on my resolution list, again, and I’m not alone.
Losing weight is the top resolution for 45 percent of adults in this country, according to an ABC news poll. Weight loss is on the minds of a lot of young people, too. “I need to lose 15 pounds maybe,” says Brianna, a sophomore at a Seattle high school. “I need to eat way less and, I don’t know, maybe exercise or something.”
Twenty-five percent of children and 60 percent of adults in our state are overweight or obese. That’s the bottom line from a 2007 Washington State Department of Health report. Those rates inch upward every year as waistlines inch outward.
Fortunately, local school programs promoting healthy eating and exercise are also expanding.
Eat Better, Feel Better
Don’t even try to sneak a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos® into the T. T. Minor lunchroom. The Seattle elementary school’s principal banned the spicy, crunchy snack. In its place, students are munching on vegetables. And if you snoop through the refrigerator in the teacher’s lounge, you’ll find more salads and fewer Ezell’s Chicken leftovers.
Those changes are part of a national school-based nutrition
project, “Eat Better, Feel Better,” which began at T. T. Minor
a couple of years ago. This year, it expanded to four other Seattle elementary
schools, Emerson, John Muir, Concord and Van Asselt, and to Seahurst and
Madrona Elementaries in the Highline School District. The effort includes
a lunchroom salad bar loaded with fresh fruits and veggies, nutrition
information for parents and teachers, cooking demonstrations and a school
garden.
A nutritionist is also assigned to the school to instruct and influence
students. That’s Katie Busby’s job. She’s noticed a
positive change in students’ attitudes toward food since she started
at T.T. Minor. Busby doesn’t label foods “healthy” or
“unhealthy.” Instead, she teaches kids how certain foods help
their bodies.
“It’s fun to walk through the cafeteria and hear, ‘Ms. Busby, Ms. Busby, I’m eating broccoli that heals my cuts and helps my eyes,’” she says. “Kids are like mini-robots. They know their nutrition facts.”
Simple diet changes are making an impact. Busby says more kids seem to have a “natural glow” to their cheeks since the school stopped serving fried food. Students aren’t “slumped over and tired in the afternoon” because they’re eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
The University of Washington Center for Obesity Research surveyed students at T. T. Minor and compared the results with surveys of students at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, which does not have the Eat Better, Feel Better program. Students at T. T. Minor reported that they ate more vegetables. Eighty-two percent of T. T. Minor parents said that their children asked them to buy more fruits and vegetables at home. And 100 percent of T. T. Minor’s staff noticed changes in students’ eating behavior.
However, when observing children at lunch time, UW researchers found “no difference” between the two schools in the amount of fruits or vegetables the students ate in the lunchroom. The nutrition program isn’t perfect, but Busby believes that without it, students would be in worse shape.
“They still are eating a fairly typical American diet, but here there are added pushes and reminders here about good nutrition,” she says.
Mission: Delicious
Healthy food pushers can be found in schools throughout the area. The Seattle Nutrition Action Consortium (SNAC) does cooking demonstrations and teaches classes at almost 100 schools and community centers in King County. Although the word nutrition might sound boring to students, SNAC makes learning about food fun with its “Mission: Delicious” program.
Princess Pita (Elizabeth Kimball) arrives at Seattle’s Madrona Elementary School from Ancient Egypt to share her knowledge about an amazing pyramid – the food pyramid. She also makes hummus dip with garbanzo beans, garlic, olive oil and a few other ingredients.
Second graders say “ewwww” when they hear the word hummus. Even so, they’re curious enough to continue. They fill pita pockets with hummus dip, chopped cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. They try it. They like it.
“This is good,” says one student, who wants to know if Pita is really a princess.
Run, Kids, Run
Along with good nutrition, kids’ bodies need action,
and that’s where some Eastside schools might have a leg up on other
districts.
Jacob Curtis loves to run. He’s a fifth grader at Blackwell Elementary
on the Sammamish Plateau, in the Lake Washington School District. He stays
after school and runs for a half an hour, twice a week. Jacob and 190
other students are members of the Blackwell running club.
Running clubs are popular at other Lake Washington elementary schools. Students walk, jog or run after school and keep track of their mileage. While some schools throughout the region have similar programs leading up to the Seattle Kids Marathon in November, most of Lake Washington’s clubs run all year.
“Our kids enjoy being active,” says Graham Hutchison, the Blackwell P.E. teacher. “We have four students who’ve gone over 75 miles so far and one who will log 100 miles soon.” Hutchison has had as many as 270 students in the club at one time – that’s almost half of the student population.
At Louisa May Alcott Elementary in Redmond, P.E. teacher Matt Laughlin started a running club this school year, with 112 kids involved. Both Laughlin and Hutchison describe the children at their schools as “high functioning” and “very physically fit.” That’s not only because of the running clubs.
“We’re in an affluent area,” says Laughlin. “Most of our kids are on soccer teams and are involved in other outside activities. Their parents have the time and money for it.”
Hutchison adds, “Lower income folks face more challenges with food purchases. Even in our faculty lounge, the more healthy juice drinks are $1, whereas the soda costs 75 cents.”
The Washington State Health Department confirms their observation that there’s a link between income level and obesity. Washington adults who have an annual household income under $20,000 are nearly 50 percent more likely to be obese than those with incomes above that level.
But both Laughlin and Hutchison have also taught in poorer schools and say low income can’t become an excuse for low activity. They’re happy to advise any teacher or parent in the area who would like to start a running club at their school.
“Start with a few steps, and next thing you know, kids are running,” Hutchison says. “They’ll feel better afterward, they’ll want to keep going, and parents will notice the change.”
A consistent theme from nutrition and fitness experts is this: Small, steady changes add up.
So, make small health changes in 2008. Have your kids try three new vegetables and help them find an activity they’ll enjoy a few times each week. Then meet me here in 2009 to celebrate the little things we did that made a big difference.
Subject: Empathy 101
Instructor: Baby Elsa
A 3-month-old baby lies on a fuzzy green blanket with 24 elementary school students watching her every move.
“She’s just learning to roll over,” says Michelle, baby Elsa’s mom (who did not want her last name used). “Maybe she’ll do it for you.” As if on cue, Elsa struggles and then rolls onto her tummy. Students clap for her.
Each adorable baby babble is punctuated by “ooos and ahhhs” from the 11- to 12-year-olds in Ms. Nani Castor-Peck’s fifth grade class at John Stanford International School in Seattle. When Elsa gets fussy, her mother sings a song to calm her down, and one student comments, “Oh, that’s sweet. She likes that.”
Little Elsa has a big job. Her mother is a volunteer for a program called “Roots of Empathy,” and she’s teaching students about the ability to identify with another person’s feelings. Can anyone – let alone a baby – teach empathy?
Mary Gordon looked for an answer to that question for many years, beginning when she was a school teacher in Toronto, Canada. Later she worked with domestic violence victims and children who suffered from severe abuse or neglect. The common denominator in all the situations she dealt with was “an absence of empathy,” she says.
“Nobody wakes up and decides to be a bad parent on any particular day, but if you haven’t been parented well, it’s very difficult to know how to handle things,” says Gordon. “And if you’re living with domestic violence, it’s very difficult to erase bad memories and improve your situation.”
Gordon’s research over the years led her to create Roots of Empathy. Widespread in Canadian schools, the program has the goal of breaking inter-generational cycles of violence and poor parenting. She says the program reduces aggression or bullying and builds empathy among children between the ages of 3 and 14.
Here’s how it works: A 3- to 6-month-old baby and mother visit a classroom at least once a month. Students aren’t allowed to touch the baby, only observe the infant’s moods and behaviors. They watch how the mother responds to the baby’s fussing or laughter. A Roots of Empathy instructor leads the kids in a discussion about their own feelings. After seeing a baby cry, for example, the instructor might ask, “When was the last time you cried, and did anyone do something to make you feel better?”
Gordon says if children understand and respect a baby’s feelings then “nine times out of ten they won’t bully another child.”
“The big leap between bullying and empathy is helping children understand how the other person feels. Bullies don’t get it; they don’t care and they don’t know how the other child feels,” she says.
The University of British Columbia has tracked the program since it started in 2000. According to their studies – comparing children before and after they’ve been through the program – there is a notable increase in emotional knowledge, social understanding and positive social behavior with peers. Aggression and bullying behaviors decrease.
Local philanthropists John and Nancy Sabol and Dan Kranzler are funding Roots of Empathy in the Seattle area. Seattle and Kent School Districts are the first in the United States to implement the program with classes at John Stanford International, Dearborn Park, Sacajawea and West Seattle Elementary Schools in Seattle and Emerald Park Elementary School in Kent. Westside School, a private preschool-fifth grade school in West Seattle, is also participating.
Roots of Empathy is in 10 classrooms this school year. There are plans to expand it to 20 classrooms for the 2008-2009 school year and 30 classrooms the year after that.
“Schools, next to family, are the most defining institution in a child’s life,” says Gordon. “We have a chance through public education to raise the level of compassion for all kids. It’s building a better world, child by child.”
10 Resolutions for Children
New Year’s Day is my favorite holiday. I love writing down goals. Surprisingly, my husband doesn’t think it’s cute when I make resolutions for him. Instead, I’ll offer some suggestions for children. These are resolutions I like from the American Academy of Pediatrics:
Preschoolers
· I will brush my teeth twice a day and wash my hands after going to the bathroom and before eating.5- to 12-years-old
· I will drink milk and water and limit soda and fruit drinks.
· I will find a sport or an activity (like playing tag, jumping rope, dancing or riding my bike) that I like and do it at least three times a week.
· I’ll be friendly to other kids. I’ll be nice to kids who need friends – like someone who is shy or is new to my school.
· I’ll never give out personal information such as my name, home address, school name or telephone number on the Internet. Also, I’ll never send a picture of myself to someone I chat with on the computer without my parents’ permission.Teens
· I will eat at least one fruit and one vegetable every day, and I will limit the amount of soda I drink.
· I will take care of my body through physical activity at least three times a week.
· I will wipe negative self-talk (“I can’t do it” or “I’m so dumb”) out of my vocabulary.
· When I feel angry or stressed, I will take a break and find constructive ways to deal with the stress, such as exercising, writing in a journal or discussing my problem with a parent or friend.
· I will resist pressure to try drugs and alcohol.
Kudos
Kirkland’s International Community School (grades 7-12) in the Lake Washington School District is ranked 17th on the U.S. News & World Report 2008 list of the nation’s top 100 public high schools. Newport High School in the Bellevue School District is 44th. About 75 percent of its 12th-graders and 73 percent of its 11th-graders are enrolled in Advanced Placement classes.
The magazine analyzed 18,790 public high schools in 40 states using data from the 2005-06 school year. It looked at reading and math test results for all students on each state's standardized high-school test and at how well disadvantaged students performed.
Garfield and Roosevelt High Schools in the Seattle School District were named “Silver Medal” schools in the same survey, being honored as two of the next 405 best-performing high schools in the nation.
Inglemoor High School, in the Northshore School District, has been honored as a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Inglemoor is one of only three schools in the state to receive the award this year and one of only 238 public schools nationwide to be honored in 2007. It was recognized for consistent, high performance in reading and math.
Seven local teachers and two local programs will be honored as Golden Apple Award winners by KCTS television this month. Winning teachers are: Kathryn Boudreau-Stroud, Science, 6-12 grades, Beaver Lake Middle School, Issaquah School District; Scott Brown, Music, 9-12 grades, Roosevelt High School, Seattle School District; Judy Bruggeman, Transition Coordinator, 9-12 grades, Enumclaw High School, Enumclaw School District; Richard Byrnes, Music, 9-12 grades, Henry Foss High School, Tacoma Public Schools; Mari Knowles, General, K-5 grades, Mountlake Terrace Elementary, Edmonds School District; Tracey Lundquist, Fine Arts/Reading, K-5 grades, Tyee Park Elementary School, Clover Park School District; and Masako Davison (Stanley O. McNaughton Award), Reading, grades K-5, Beacon Hill Elementary School, Seattle School District.
The 826 Seattle Program, directed by Teri Hein, is one of the Golden Apple program winners. It offers free, drop-in tutoring after school for kids from first grade through high school, and was recognized for its “wild, weird and overall fun approach to learning how to communicate well through the written word.”
The other program winner is the Bright Future Program, vocational training for students in grades 11-12 in Seattle and other school districts. It was started in 1998 by Reza Khastou at John Marshall Alternative School. Students complete a high school diploma while earning a certificate of mastery in one of 11 vocational programs at a community college.
Linda Thomas is a Seattle mom/journalist. Do you have an education story we should know about? Contact: linda@lindathomas.com. She responds to all e-mails (after her morning workout to shed those last 10 pounds).
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