Schools
Barnes School Earns $3,000 Grant To Promote Healthy Food And Exercise
Students recently participated in a week-long Wellness Program and competed for prizes in Best Dressed and Best Healthy Food Poster contests.
Students and staff at Sarah Dyer Barnes Elementary School, along with Aramark, the New England Dairy & Food Council, American Dairy Farmers, and the National Football League teamed up with the Fuel Up to Play 60 program for the first-ever Wellness Week at the school from March 21 to 25 to highlight healthy eating choices and increase physical activity.
Out of hundreds of schools in the country that applied for the grant, Barnes and Brown schools were each selected to receive a $3,000 grant to educate students on nutrition and exercise.
The week-long Wellness activities were coordinated by Barnes School Nurse Valerie Jacavone and Aramark Food Service Director Jessica Patrolia.
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"All week long, there is a different nutritious lunch with less fat and calories," said Patrolia, adding the students also got to dress up in different costumes every day.
In addition to the students getting an opportunity to purchase a healthy and nutritious lunch and to dress up in the theme of the day, they also got a chance to win prizes.
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"When a student gets a sticker under their lunch tray they win a prize," explained Patrolia, who also noted the donations from Garelick Farms: chocolate scented pencils, a pin, or zipper tie. All of the students received a "True Moo" pencil.
Capping off the week as a schoolwide assembly on Friday, which included the five best dressed students for Mexican Day and nine students who earned top honors in the best healthy family poster contest.
First-grader Aiden McCrillis; second-grader Trista Clark; third-graders Anthony Andriole and David Conte; and fourth-grader Kyra Mattera won the costume contest, while gift certificates to Dave's Marketplace in Greenville were awarded to the nine students with the best healthy family poster contest: first graders Sophia Ribezzo and Cassandra Perrotta; second-grader Logan Melo; third-graders Kelly Graziano, Tonya Ketchel and Daniel Shepard; fourth-graders Jamie Isme and Delta Daigle; and fifth-grader Lauren Civetti.
The top prize in the poster contest was awarded to Joey and Charles Lavallee.
