The elementary school in Tisdale, Sask., planted the seeds of its success before students left for their summer break in June.
The northeastern Saskatchewan school planted vegetables in an unused community garden in late May as part of a province-wide challenge to schools by the Saskatchewan Nutrition Advisory Council for Kids (SNACK). During the summer, seniors, teachers and a town youth project weeded the garden. Harvest has begun now that the 340 students are back in school.
All of this work paid off. The garden project was recently awarded first prize in the SNACK contest, earning the school $5,000.
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Runners-up were Punnichy Elementary Community School, which organized cooking classes for students’ parents, Christopher Lake School, which provides students with muffins on Mondays, hot lunches on Wednesdays and fruit on Fridays, and Milestone School, which has several activities to improve student nutrition, physical fitness and literacy.
The three runners-up will share $5,000 to assist their efforts.
SNACK chair Donna Ziegler said in a news release that the contest underlined the connection between students’ nutrition and physical activity and better work in school.
Tisdale principal Brenda Gabriel said the school needed to expand the snacks and meals it and a local church were providing, so it joined forces with organizations that work with families in the community.
Besides the garden project, the school runs a cooking club for students, uses local health region staff to provide nutritional information to students, teachers and parents, and challenged students and staff to increase the number of minutes per day they are active, including setting up a cross-country running team for the first time this fall.
On Sept. 10 the pre-kindergarten to Grade 5 school held a parade to mark its nutrition work. Gabriel said the town closed roads so students could safely walk the route. The school also plans a corn roast using corn donated by a local family.
The garden harvest continues. Vegetables that the school can’t use in its meals program will be distributed to local families. The students planted peas, beans, beets, corn, carrots, onions, potatoes and tomatoes.
“We’re like farmers this year,” Gabriel said.
“First the garden looked great, then not so great. In terms of volume, our tomatoes are doing better than anything else.”
The school will use its prize money to buy a large fridge for its kitchen, more seed for the 2009 garden and pay to bring in performers who promote nutrition.
