This is a powerful and established Santa Clara County Office of Education partnership that provides timely resources to the schools that reach out to be an active participant. Noddin is an active one and our designated teacher, Mrs. Susie Smith, regularly attends Saturday classes to learn about the most recent and up-to-date information about Wellness and brings that information back to the staff and shares so that our total school population can benefit from this knowledge. Mrs. Smith and parent volunteers have spear-headed the implementation of the "Fruit or Vegetable of the Month" Program whereby students get to try a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables such as jicama, kiwi, beets, melons, etc.

We have also worked in tandem with our local Fresh Choice to offer a variety of fruits and vegetables to our students so they may try them and learn to enjoy the taste of fresh produce. Students also learn the nutritional value and all the minerals and vitamins that each fruit and vegetable provides to the body.

In keeping with the Federal Child Nutrition Act and California recommendations for healthy habits, we encourage you to consider the nutritional value of snacks sent to school for our students. The growing problem of overweight and obese children directly attributable to poor diets and the lack of physical inactivity are of great concern in the United States. We want to encourage students to make wise choices for snacks (fruit, vegetables, water, and healthy crackers) so that they develop good habits early in life. Please send ONLY healthy snacks to school. Also, we want to begin to acknowledge and celebrate student birthdays with healthy snacks OR non-edible ones! i.e. pencils, artifacts, erasers, etc. There are also many students with a variety of allergies and it is most helpful to reward students with non-edible items.

 

We work with the County Office of Education and we have a Teacher Leader, Mrs. Susie Smith, who attends workshops and brings pertinent information back to the staff which we then share with parents and students. This is an excellent program and one that has benefited our students very well.