School gets grant to promote pupils’ eating of vegetables

By Denise Dick

Market Street Elementary is the only Ohio school awarded a nutrition grant.

BOARDMAN — Mom always told you to eat your veggies, and administrators at one elementary school join the chorus.

Market Street Elementary received a $10,000 nutrition education grant from the Love Your Veggies Nationwide School Lunch Campaign, sponsored by the makers of Hidden Valley Ranch.

It’s the only Ohio school and one of 51 across the country to get the grant. The program was created to help schools meet the federally mandated wellness policy that promotes healthful lifestyles.

Karen Sanders, food services supervisor for Boardman schools, said the money will be used to buy a vegetable cart that will be set up in the school cafeteria filled with fresh vegetables.

“Carrots and celery are always popular, but we’ll probably also have a vegetable of the day to introduce the kids to a vegetable they may have never tried before,” Sanders said.

That may encourage the kids to get their parents to buy it and urge the whole family to try a new vegetable, she said.

She and Wendy Carothers, coordinator of special programs for the school district, applied for the grant last fall.

Sanders said that about $1,500 of the grant amount will go for training, but the school also plans to construct a greenhouse where children can plant and tend vegetables and fruits that the PTA will help sell to parents and family members.

That’s a way to generate money to keep the program going after the grant runs out, Carothers said.

Principal James Stitt said an exact location for the greenhouse hasn’t been determined. “We want easy access from the back of the building,” he said.

Judy Garzanich, 7, is already ahead of the healthful-eating game.

The second-grader brought a container of carrots and sliced cucumbers in her lunch earlier this week.

“I like all vegetables,” Judy said — brussels sprouts and zucchini being rare exceptions. “I love spinach. I’m weird because I love spinach.”

Cucumbers are her favorite and she prefers them with the skin left on. She brought a small container of ranch dressing to dip the carrots.

Judy wasn’t the only Market Street pupil noshing on healthful snacks.

The midday meal of kindergartner Isaac Hicks, 7, included a plastic sandwich bag full of baby-cut carrots.

“I like them a little bit,” he explained. “My mommy just packed them.”

He’d rather eat an apple.

That’s what Peyton Curtis, 7, a first-grader, crunched into as part of his lunch.

“I like some vegetables and I like fruit,” he said. “I like carrots.”

Madison Murray, 7, is pretty particular but says she’s willing to try new vegetables at school.

“I like corn, but I like it with butter,” the first-grader said. “I like carrots with ranch dressing.”

Sanders is a member of the Mahoning County Agriculture Bureau’s focus group and hopes to integrate that into the school program too. The group promotes patronage of local growers.

Carothers said many pupils at the school use the free and reduced lunch program and that may have played a role in the grant award.

John DePietro, a fourth-grade teacher, will spearhead the greenhouse aspect of the grant.

He sees it as an opportunity to incorporate science as well as emphasize healthful eating. Over the last few years, the school has sent letters to parents urging them to send healthful snacks for their children. The pupils are sometimes allowed to snack in class.

DePietro, part of the school’s wellness team, talks with the children about the healthfulness — or lack thereof — of the treats children bring to school.

He sees the changes implemented by the school working. Children more often bring fruits, vegetables and other healthful treats rather than the sugary or salty snacks more popular a few years ago.

“When it’s a student’s birthday, they used to bring in cupcakes,” DePietro said. “Now, when we talk to the parents, we’ll say, ‘How about yogurt.’”