Notes from the Field
Since the inception of Changing the Scene in 2003, more than 500 school personnel in 403 New Hampshire schools, 
representing almost 23,000 students, have become active in this program, working to improve school nutrition and fitness programs in their communities. Here are brief reports from some of them.
The Goshen-Lempster Wellness Wildcats have been very busy working toward the maintenance and improvement of our students' health. Some things we did this year:
- Invited Sandy Trybulski from the UNH Cooperative Extension Nutrition Connections program to provide students in grades K-8 with education on the importance of healthy eating and physical fitness.
- Purchased a professional salad bar for the school cafeteria and found that students enjoy the opportunity to have salad at lunch.
- Sponsored the “Opera of Health” to educate students about 5-A-Day and healthy eating.
- Purchased play equipment for recess.
- Used the “Live It-Step It” program and pedometers with 6th and 7th grade students.
- Continued work on the fitness trail and new playground. When completed, the fitness trail can be used by students and families for hiking and snowshoeing.
- Offered a field trip to students who attended 90 percent of the walk days as an incentive to participate in the daily walking program. Thirty percent of the student body participated in the field trip.
We continue to educate students, staff and parents about our wellness policy and the importance of healthy eating and physical activity.
Heidi Wilcox RN
Nashua: Dr. Crisp Elementary School 2006
The staff at the Dr. Crisp School are working to get students to eat healthier foods. Apples are in and candy bars are out. Drink pure fruit juice and you’ll get praised; bring soda and we’ll encourage you to bring a healthier beverage next time. When one third-grader found the chips in one of his all-time favorite snacks weren’t healthy, he wasn’t sure he could cut back. But once he started eating more yogurt, it became his new favorite food.
The school district's healthy nutrition policy focuses mainly on the vending machines at the high school and middle school. Dr. Crisp School took the same philosophy and applied it to the school in hopes it takes hold before students enter the middle and high schools. Dr. Crisp School is providing nutrition education to all grades and has made healthy eating and improving physical activity a priority this year. Principal Jennifer Seusing says that “this can be a successful venture at the elementary school. By the time they get to the middle school and high school they have developed unhealthy habits. We are trying to fight obesity before it starts."
At the open house held in the fall, the school distributed a list of healthy-snack suggestions to parents. It includes things like pretzel sticks and pumpkin seeds, granola bars and graham crackers. In addition, parents had an opportunity to participate in a Farmer’s Market set up in the cafeteria. Parents had an opportunity to sample healthy snacks, and fruits and vegetables, and McDonald's provided coupons for yogurt parfaits and green salads.
Robin Abodeely, RN
Salem: Walter Haigh Elementary School, 2006
This year we planted the seeds of awareness for healthy food choices. Students are bringing healthier snacks to school. The fourth and fifth grade teachers have included nutrition education in their science curriculum.
Parents have chosen to sell things other than food for fundraising. The school store held a monthly popcorn sale, which was very successful (but also a lot of work.)
This year we began each day with all students walking before school started. This was a successful activity except during inclement weather. We are working on planning other activities to increase physical activity and nutrition education.
Helen Graham RN
Somersworth, Hilltop School, 2007
Hilltop School has been proactive in changing nutrition and physical activity environments with many wellness activities in place. We feel fortunate to have won a Changing of the Scene Nutrition Mini-Grant. This grant will has further helped the school Wellness and Nutrition Committee move forward to improve the health of children and families.
- Community members educate Hilltop School students in healthy nutrition and physical activity and help integrate their teaching into the curriculum. We’ve had a dental hygienist, representatives from a local fitness club, and David Leonard of the UNH Cooperative Extension Nutrition Connections program.
- Monthly activities and nutritional interventions began in February 12th with the theme: There’s a Rainbow on My Plate – Good Food, Good Books. The nutritional activities were planned in coordination with the annual celebration of RIF (Reading is Fundamental) “I Like to Read and Write Week” 2007.
- During this week, guest readers read books involving healthful eating during the lunch period and the students were asked to bring a healthy snack each day.
- During National School Breakfast week in March, Hilltop students participated in “Eating Breakfast across America” each day of the week at snack. The breakfast snack was in conjunction with the physical activity of the Hilltop Walking Club’s goal of walking across America at each recess since October 2006 Ninety percent of the student population participated in the Walking Club this past school year, voluntarily walking as much as a mile at each recess.
- The students learned about healthy breakfast choices common in different parts of the country as they "walked" through them. Breakfast sample food was provided by Café Services (Chris Faro) of the Somersworth School District.
- We held a free family dinner in March prepared and presented by Café Services. Chris Faro answered any questions or concerns about the healthy meals prepared for the students at lunch during the school day. David Leonard spoke with the parents about nutrition education he teaches to the students and healthy meal and snack preparations for home. Students participated in Tai Chi with Diane Mros.
- During the testing weeks in May, we provided “breakfast/Snack in a bag” for Grades 2 – 4. The students in Grade 1 received a healthy snack during recess. The students were able to choose “Sense-a-tional” snacks at outdoor recess during April, May and June, with new fruits and vegetables that were provided by Café Services and/or bought from farms and stores.
- We presented a mini farmers’ market at the annual School Block Party in June. Farm-to-School representative Nat DuClos provided samples of spring vegetables, information and brochures to the students and families.
- The nurses’ office began offering a Healthy Snack Cart for those students who don’t have a healthy snack or choose to have a healthy fruit or vegetable snack was accessible in the nurse’s office.
- Foster’s Daily Democrat and the Rochester Times also published articles about our nutrition and walking programs.
Jacque Puk RN
Stewartstown Community School, 2006
Since the beginning of the school year, we at Stewartstown Community School have continued our efforts to bring wellness into our school:- The kindergarten class made muffins for the letter M, soup for the letter S, toast for the letter T, and pancakes and other letter P. They have also made trail mix and drawn what they would like on pizza.
- Grade 2 has been getting plenty of exercise while learning by pretending to be molecules in a liquid. They have been doing this for solids and gases as well. They also do a one mile walk (weather permitting.) Their goal is to walk 100 miles in the first 100 days of school.
- Grades 3 and 4 have done walks and/or runs around the school and around the field. They also do 15 minutes of stretching and light exercise once or twice a day, time permitting. Our third-and- fourth-grade teacher also makes sure none of her students stay in for recess.
- Grades 5 and 6 had a wonderful assortment of healthy items for their Halloween Party this year. There was a vegetable platter, a fruit platter, and cheese and cracker platter and some pumpkin seeds. They worked very hard to make it healthy and fun.
- Grades 7 and 8 have been keeping track of what they eat and drink, and putting it in a journal. They record how many hours they watch TV, play video games, and talk on the phone. It gives them an idea of how much they eat and how much of it is healthy or not.
- In October, the K-8 art classes teamed up with the kitchen crew to create artistic posters of food. In grades 3-8, they made the posters 3-D. Food was not only "jumping" out of the bulletin board, some of the food took on some human characteristics by the addition of eyes, mouths, and ears. The students had a fun time creating these posters and we got to see their creative side.
- In addition to all this, Kayla Bouchard, Kayla Baglio, and Allison Rancourt (our future student representative,) have taken on the responsibility of doing a wellness bulletin board every month. They pick the topic, do all of the research, assemble the board and document their work. At the end of the month, they change the board and do a new topic.
- The kitchen puts information that relates to health on the back of the menus that go home every month. Sometimes it is facts, other times it may be recipes.
Everyone is working together at our school to promote wellness and we hope that the more informed everyone is, the easier full implementation will be.
Debbie Boivin
The newly-formed Wellness Committee made a strong commitment to improve the nutritional standards and practices among our student and staff population this year. We wrote a Wellness Policy that will require compliance with high nutritional standards in the school setting, classroom and lunchroom. Vending machines have been restocked with healthier choices. All committee members implemented nutritional instruction in the classroom and in the cafeteria.
The Paul School participated in an interactive student-oriented nutrition education program, Cultural Cuisine. The success of the program was a cooperative effort between Val Long from the UNH Cooperative Extension, Martha Judson, Project Manager of the Changing the Scene program and our Food Service Director, Janet Glidden. The Carroll County Cooperative Extension Nutrition Connections educator, Joanne Knowlton, implemented lessons in the fourth and sixth grades. These grades were selected because of their enthusiasm and their relative level of responsibility.
Students learned the customs, geography and food specific to China, Italy and North Africa. The UNH Cooperative Extension educator directed the students through the preparation on food. The students, peeled, chopped and stirred the ingredients.
The program had several objectives:
- inform students of the nutritional value of a variety of foods.
- introduce students to new foods and with different textures and flavors.
- stress the importance of cleanliness and safety when preparing food.
- encourage students to journal their thoughts and reactions to the lessons, and
- introduce students to the geography and customs of different countries.
Each student received a colorful journal and a newsletter specific to each country. UNH Cooperative Extension did the research and published the Cultural Cuisinenewsletters.
Student and staff reaction to the program was very positive. The whole school experienced the wonderful cooking smells coming from the classrooms. Teachers were supportive on scheduling time from their academic day to include the Cultural Cuisine program. Cultural Cuisine was adapted from the curriculum, Food is Elementary, by Antonia Demas, Ph.D, Food Studies Institute.
Janice Stanley, RN
Warren Village School, 2006
The Warren Village School participated in the Kid Power program through the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Nutrition and Public Health. Students in grades 4-6 will be trained to use the pedometer and to participate in the four-week program. The goal is for students to increase their daily physical activity, learn the importance of keeping fit to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity. At the end of the program all students will receive a Hacky Sack, a water bottle, a bike reflector and a pencil. The pedometer will also be used by students to participate in the Walk NH program.
Nutrition education continues in the classroom using the USDA MyPyramid for Kids lessons plans. Fifth and sixth-grade student committee members will help present these lessons to students in grades K-4.
Wellness committee members noted that hot lunches have improved significantly, but they would like to see greater variety of foods offered at snack time. Students shared lunches they really liked, as well as the kinds of snacks they would like to see offered. Some ideas mentioned by students were taste-testing healthy foods like cheese, dips and veggies or fruit kabobs. The food service director has agreed to do taste testing with the students.
Members of the Wellness Team attended two Changing the Scene workshops during the year and made many connections with those in the state who can help us jump-start our wellness program.
We are in the process of developing a fitness/strength training trail around the perimeter of the playground. Parents and community members have volunteered to help with this project. Students who participate will receive recognition and rewards for their efforts.
The School Nurse represents our school on the district-wide Wellness Committee that is developing a Wellness Policy.
Rose Darrow, Principal and Ann Waldron RN
