Millersburg Elementary presents a night of physical fitness, nutrition and fun
About eight years ago, Millersburg Elementary physical education teacher Darrel Haven noticed that while all of the other teachers had parent-teacher conferences, he really had no way of connecting with parents in any kind of social setting. He felt it was a good idea to have the parents come in and meet the person who was directing their children during phys. ed., thus the Millersburg Elementary Fitness Night was born.
This year, the evening expanded into something even more, as Haven added nutrition to the fitness, and so, the inaugural Millersburg Elementary Family Fitness and Nutrition Night took place on Friday, Feb. 18.
“The whole purpose initially was to introduce myself to the fourth and fifth-grade students’ parents, in a very non-threatening environment,” said Haven. “It really was two-fold. I wanted them to get some sense of some of the things we did for fitness here at school, while providing an avenue for them to get to know me a little bit better.”
Haven tells the parents that they may ask questions at any time throughout the evening, even as they are in mid-stream of participating in one of the several games on tap for the night. On this evening, those games included a running game called Jail, a frenetic pinball knockdown game where players had to protect their own pins from being knocked down by opponents, and mat ball, a variation on the old kickball game where an unlimited number of runners can be on base at any given time.
Haven said it is a fun evening for the students because they get to participate in games that are outside of the norm in a confined school setting, plus the parents could interact with their children in fun ways while getting to experience a little bit of what kind of importance Haven puts on keeping their children active and healthy.
“It’s a fun get-to-know-you kind of thing in a very non-threatening environment,” said Haven. “I wasn’t sure how well it would go over when I started it, but now, parents are continually asking me about when it will be. Plus, it is always good for me to get the chance to see kids in a very different light.”
While Haven was hard at work having a blast in the gymnasium with a large contingent of students and parents, a new branch of the night’s activities was taking place in the cafeteria, where families were learning about valuable nutritional information.
The nutritional portion of the evening came via a grant from the Ohio Department of Education. The effort to obtain the grant came from the newly formed West Holmes School District wellness committee, and the grant was backed by The National Football League’s Fuel To Play 60 and Ohio Action for Healthy Kids. Haven said that the nutrition portion of the event was something new they added just this year.
“Much of this is about fitness, and nutrition and fitness go hand-in-hand,” said Haven. “The goal of the night is to empower kids to make healthy decisions in their lives, whether it is how they spend their free time or what they eat.”
The stations at the nutrition fair included helping parents and children locate vital information on food labels like whole grain content, how to locate fat content, calories, what kinds of fats are good or bad for the body, proper serving sizes, the importance of a proper dairy intake and the benefits of a healthy dietary lifestyle.
“It’s basically about getting both children and their parents to understand the importance of eating healthy, nutritional food,” said dietician Heidi Barbey, who led the nutrition portion of the event. “We have six stations that families can visit, and each is set up to provide valuable information on things they can do to help them eat smarter and healthier. There are a lot of unknowns for the average person when it comes to dealing with food labels and what is in what we eat. Many people don’t know anything about good fats and bad fats, or how much calcium or fiber they should be getting in their diet. This is our chance to help them understand the importance of eating properly.”
In addition to the information available, the committee tried to make it fun for the students to learn. Games like bowling for dairy products, spinning games where thy built a healthy meal, a veggie bean bag toss game and other games made it as fun as it was educational. Each of the stations was highlighted with a color, thus the title, The Colors of MyPyramid Nutrition Fair name.
This year, the evening expanded into something even more, as Haven added nutrition to the fitness, and so, the inaugural Millersburg Elementary Family Fitness and Nutrition Night took place on Friday, Feb. 18.
“The whole purpose initially was to introduce myself to the fourth and fifth-grade students’ parents, in a very non-threatening environment,” said Haven. “It really was two-fold. I wanted them to get some sense of some of the things we did for fitness here at school, while providing an avenue for them to get to know me a little bit better.”
Haven tells the parents that they may ask questions at any time throughout the evening, even as they are in mid-stream of participating in one of the several games on tap for the night. On this evening, those games included a running game called Jail, a frenetic pinball knockdown game where players had to protect their own pins from being knocked down by opponents, and mat ball, a variation on the old kickball game where an unlimited number of runners can be on base at any given time.
Haven said it is a fun evening for the students because they get to participate in games that are outside of the norm in a confined school setting, plus the parents could interact with their children in fun ways while getting to experience a little bit of what kind of importance Haven puts on keeping their children active and healthy.
“It’s a fun get-to-know-you kind of thing in a very non-threatening environment,” said Haven. “I wasn’t sure how well it would go over when I started it, but now, parents are continually asking me about when it will be. Plus, it is always good for me to get the chance to see kids in a very different light.”
While Haven was hard at work having a blast in the gymnasium with a large contingent of students and parents, a new branch of the night’s activities was taking place in the cafeteria, where families were learning about valuable nutritional information.
The nutritional portion of the evening came via a grant from the Ohio Department of Education. The effort to obtain the grant came from the newly formed West Holmes School District wellness committee, and the grant was backed by The National Football League’s Fuel To Play 60 and Ohio Action for Healthy Kids. Haven said that the nutrition portion of the event was something new they added just this year.
“Much of this is about fitness, and nutrition and fitness go hand-in-hand,” said Haven. “The goal of the night is to empower kids to make healthy decisions in their lives, whether it is how they spend their free time or what they eat.”
The stations at the nutrition fair included helping parents and children locate vital information on food labels like whole grain content, how to locate fat content, calories, what kinds of fats are good or bad for the body, proper serving sizes, the importance of a proper dairy intake and the benefits of a healthy dietary lifestyle.
“It’s basically about getting both children and their parents to understand the importance of eating healthy, nutritional food,” said dietician Heidi Barbey, who led the nutrition portion of the event. “We have six stations that families can visit, and each is set up to provide valuable information on things they can do to help them eat smarter and healthier. There are a lot of unknowns for the average person when it comes to dealing with food labels and what is in what we eat. Many people don’t know anything about good fats and bad fats, or how much calcium or fiber they should be getting in their diet. This is our chance to help them understand the importance of eating properly.”
In addition to the information available, the committee tried to make it fun for the students to learn. Games like bowling for dairy products, spinning games where thy built a healthy meal, a veggie bean bag toss game and other games made it as fun as it was educational. Each of the stations was highlighted with a color, thus the title, The Colors of MyPyramid Nutrition Fair name.
Published: February 21, 2011
