Story and slide show By Crystal Hayduk
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade were treated to “Teacher Olympics” at South Meadows on Feb. 26 to officially end the fifth annual fruit and veggie challenge.
Throughout the month of February, students at both elementary schools have kept track of their fruit and vegetable intake. In an effort to promote healthier lifestyles through eating wholesome foods and increasing physical activity, teachers set a building-wide goal for the number of fruit and vegetables servings for students to consume during the school day.
“Both schools came up a bit short of our original goals,” said South Meadows’ principal Stacie Battaglia. Dressed as a tomato and wearing a gigantic white glove, she held up four stout fingers to demonstrate the number of February school days lost to snow or cold temperatures as a primary reason for not reaching the goal. “But, we surpassed our revised goal, eating 8,095 servings,” she said, as South’s students cheered.
Not to be outdone, North’s students cheered when Principal Marcus Kaemming, dressed as a bunch of grapes, announced that his kindergarten through second graders had eaten 12,000 servings.
Traveling to South Meadows by bus to watch their teachers compete is a favorite outing for North Creek students. Kindergarten students were awed by their first glimpse of the huge gymnasium housed in their future school and the noise created by hundreds of spirited students excited to host the games.
Much like any sporting event, upbeat music was played prior to the start of the event. Teachers warmed up in preparation for their athletic feats, while enthusiastic spectators rooted for their favorites.
A new addition to this year’s entertainment was a video of Kaemming and Battaglia in the aisles of Polly’s Country Market, dressed in their grape and tomato costumes, to demonstrate that shopping for healthy foods can be fun.
Teachers competed in athletic and food-themed games, including shooting baskets, fruit and veggie catch, cantaloupe bowling, hula hoop pass, and the fruit and spoon relay.
“What a wonderful celebration of healthy choices,” said Dana Emmert, school board member and parent who attended the event. “The principals, Stacie Battaglia and Marcus Kaemming, along with all of the staff from our schools did an amazing job and provided a really positive experience for the students.
Chelsea pride was apparent in all of the smiling faces.
“I had so much fun being a witness to just one of the many fantastic ways our teachers go above and beyond for our children,” she said.
