43
Poland families have fun at health night
POLAND
As the school district’s elementary schools prepare for consolidation, North, Dobbins and Union already are collaborating.
First-grade students and families from the three K-fourth-grade schools came together Tuesday for Poland’s first Family Health Night.
Organizers say the event is the first step in a program they hope to expand districtwide.
“We really wanted to engage all three schools in a wellness initiative,” said Tammy Todd, an event organizer and Dobbins PTO member. “I’m a nurse practitioner, and I see the end result of obesity and poor health on kids.”
“We thought if we could instill some of the good habits early, they would carry it on,” said Cathy Fedor, a school district nurse.
“There’s a lot of evidence that students that are physically active and eat nutritious foods do better in school. They show increased test scores, decreased absenteeism, decreased trips to the nurse’s office — there’s a whole host of good outcomes,” she said.
Families moved among various health stations Tuesday.
Master Tom Ritchie of Martial Arts Training Center did a demonstration; The Lettuce People taught about hydroponic gardening; kids got active at a cardio-bingo station; and everyone got to sample some healthful snacks.
Nicholas Nolfi learned about gardening with parents Amanda and Nick, but it was nothing new for the first-grader.
“We cook homemade [foods], and garden, and try to teach them the natural way of doing things — and exercising,” Amanda Nolfi said.
Parents seemed to agree that a wellness initiative makes a nice addition to Poland schools.
“I think it’s neat. Kids need to learn to stay healthy, and make it fun for them,” Amanda said.
“I think it’s a lot of fun, and I love to see anything encouraging activity and health,” said Jill Knez, who was there with her son Lucas.
Lucas said he likes to stay active, but for him, the biggest draw of the night was getting to take pictures with the host of sports-team mascots who were special guests at the event.
Kids got to meet Scrappy from the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, Slider of the Cleveland Indians and the Pirate Parrot from the Pittsburgh Pirates, among others.
At the end of the night, families went home with packets of educational material, including a recipe book with healthful options.
Next year, organizers plan to expand the event to include other grade levels.