SNACK WELL

WWHS places second in Sodexo's Healthy High School Challenge

WEST WARWICK — West Warwick High School was recently presented with a check for $4,000, thanks to its success in a nationwide contest created to inspire healthy eating among students.

Run each year by Sodexo, the Healthy High School Challenge was designed to reinforce the importance of making healthy snack and beverage choices, said Donna Walker, general manager of Sodexo at West Warwick Public Schools.

“What they’re trying to do is involve students in choosing healthy snacks,” Walker explained, calling it “absolutely important” to instill in young people those kinds of healthy behaviors.

This year, out of 127 schools from across the nation that competed in the challenge, West Warwick High School placed second.

“I’m really proud of that,” said Walker, who’s been involved with the event for years.

During the four weeks of the competition, schools were awarded one point for each healthy snack or beverage purchased by their students. The points were tallied, and at the end of the challenge those with the highest scores were rewarded.

In Rhode Island, Walker said, healthy snacks in school cafeterias are already a given.

“We have to follow Rhode Island’s nutrition guidelines,” she said, noting that schools in the state aren’t allowed to sell snacks containing things like artificial sweeteners or that are high in sugar.

That means that out of more than 150 snacks that they could carry, Walker added, high schools in Rhode Island are only eligible to carry 30 or so. So while schools elsewhere might serve ice cream or soda, schools in the Ocean State can’t offer those items.

In West Warwick, for instance, all chips sold are baked. Beverages contain no added sugar or sweetener; cookies are wrapped individually.

“All our snacks have to be healthy,” Walker said. “There’s no ands, ifs or buts about it.”

Since the Healthy High School Challenge started in 2011, Rhode Island schools have tended to perform well — this year, while West Warwick placed second, Ponaganset High School took third, and Mount Saint Charles Academy and Cumberland High School tied with Fitchburg High School in Massachusetts for fourth.

West Warwick has had impressive showings in years past too, and one year even snagged the top spot.

Walker is proud of how well West Warwick has continued to fare in the annual challenge. But the

Submitted photo West Warwick High School students are pictured with Donna Walker, Sodexo general manager at the West Warwick Public Schools, far right, and Richard Marchetti, music director, far left, holding a check for $4,000, awarded to the school for taking second place in the 2023 Sodexo Healthy High School Challenge. West Warwick High School also won the School Spirit Award.