March is nutrition month at Sherbrooke Elementary
As part of a month-long initiative at Sherbrooke Elementary School (SES) to promote healthy eating habits, the students were treated to fruit salad and a ride on a smoothiemaking bicycle yesterday. According to Principal Anastasia Christodoulopoulos, SES is very focused on instilling healthy habits.
A former winner of the Défi Pierre Lavoie energy cube challenge, Christodoulopoulos said the school doesn’t miss an opportunity to reinforce healthy eating and the importance of exercise.
There were different activities and learning exercises throughout the month, like dressing in the colour of a specific fruit or vegetable.
Yesterday was blue/purple, so the kids could debate the deliciousness of blueberries, grapes and even eggplant.
The nutrition committee at the school, led by the gym teachers, also had a special treat for the students.
Using grant money from the
ministry of education to promote good nutrition, teacher Geneviève Paquin contacted the Fleurimont IGA Extra Couture, to order fresh fruit salad for the students.
When she placed the order and said what her budget was, the IGA rep said that was nowhere near enough to cover enough fruit salad for the entire school.
Paquin then asked for whatever she could get with her budget, planning on cutting it up herself to make it stretch.
According to Christodoulopoulos, when the IGA rep contacted the owner and explained what the order was for, the store agreed to provide fruit salad for 500 at blowout price.
And that was just snack number one. Teacher Chantal Yargeau booked a smoothie bike from the CLSC and picked up all the ingredients for students to whip their own pedal-powered smoothies.
After loading up the blender, powered by the front wheel of the bike, Yargeau said each student spent around two minutes pedaling to help emulsify the smoothies, which were then shared among the students.
Christodoulopoulos said each year the nutrition committee comes up with different ideas to get the students interested in healthy eating.
“The kids are really receptive, and they bring the conversation back to the classroom,” she said.
In addition to yesterday’s healthy snacks, the Cycle 2 students are also learning how to make their own healthy salsa from scratch, Paquin said.