Before I'd even had my molasses coffee ("moe-wath-us toffee," as my five-year-old calls it), excitement about a fabulous article in today's Austin American Statesman was emailing its way to me.  Entitled, "Austin's own 'food revolution,' minus the reality tv series," it serves up some welcome news about cafeterias in Austin.  Addie Broyles really did a great job of highlighting the food-line happenings.

I was happy to read what the Austin Independent School District is doing (they hired a chef to improve the nutrition and taste of the meals), and, of course, I was thrilled to see at least a bit of the philosophy of Brad Wirht, Bridge Point Elementary principal (and true leader) in print there for the world to see.

I've been teaching "healthiness" for almost a decade now, so I've witnessed myriad styles, disciplines, and philosophies when it comes to teaching "healthy."  (And plenty of "healthier-than-thou-ness," too.)  What I haven't seen--until now--is someone able to deliver the message in such a powerful, inspiring way that kids take it on as their own...en masse.  "Mr. Wirht," grounded by his years in education and connecting with kids, has taken the Healthy Choices message, and plopped it right on top of Bridge Point's culture so that eating healthier is already, well, "normal."

The results at the school have been wonderful.  Amazing.  Exhilerating.  I receive "reports" on a regular basis.  Like the mother who recently told me that each member of her family now has a vegetable chart, to make sure everyone is getting enough servings daily (Mom and Dad have their own chart, apparently).  Or the fifth-grader who let me know he exchanged chips for carrots as his after school snack.  Or this email from a mom of a gluten-free son:

The boys have now asked me to pack carrot sticks for their snack, which in itself is SHOCKING!  So, I did but then got to school and heard that a mother was bringing donuts to celebrate her son's birthday at snack time.  So, I asked D's teacher to just make sure he gets a gluten-free cookie that I had packed him for lunch (there was also a bday celebration at lunch).  I then came up and lunch and saw that D still had his cookie.  I asked him why he had not eaten it, and he casually remarked, "Oh, I just decided to eat the carrot sticks instead." I almost fell over!

Thanks again for what you are doing!!

I so appreciated her email (it gave me tingles!), and am thrilled to be able to share what I have been learning over the years.  But I know a large degree of the success we are all enjoying with Healthy Choices has everything to do with delivery.  As Mr. Wirht is quoted in the article,"We all do things better when we choose."  So, we have given the students information, choices, and lots of opportunities to "buy into" their own healthiness.

Behind it all, and what the scope of Addie's article wasn't intended to tackle, is the paradigm Mr. Wirht employs to Educate, Model, Show, and Involve.  Oh, I've done bits of this with "Taste Tests" for kids, letting them become The Experts, getting kids involved in the cooking (all my recipes have suggestions for how kids can help), etc.  But I would have missed out on the not-specifically-food-related ways to inspire kids to eat more vegetables and think for themselves.  And therein lies the real power in getting kids to eat more veggies!

Here's what I mean.  Left to my own, I would have shared the healthier-eating statistics from various programs (we had a Veggies Are FUNdamental extravaganza, for instance), using Smart Foods-generated presentations and graphs.  Part of Brad's genius, though, was in intimately connecting the students to the process, the presentation, and the success.  Students decided how to promote veggie-awareness, students conducted the surveys, students Excel-graphed the info, students created Powerpoint presentations about their own progress, etc. The Healthy Choices program at Bridge Point Elementary inculcated healthiness into daily-ness.

Who knew getting the kids to teach themselves (with just a smidge of help) could be so powerful?

Brad Wirht knew.  And now that I've witnessed, participated in, (and marveled at) this amazing "delivery system," my impact on schools will be forever improved!  More kids will eat more veggies, and that IS revolutionary!

Thank you, Brad, and vive la révolution.

Comments (1)

Name

Email

Website

Comment

smaller | bigger

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment

TrackBack URI for this entry