ORIGINALLY POSTED 6/29/09

ORIGINALLY POSTED 6/4/09

ORIGINALLY POSTED 6/1/09

Oh, and I did clear up the fact that legally they are a vegetable.

Happy teaching!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 3/25/09

ORIGINALLY POSTED 4/10/09

ORIGINALLY POSTED 4/8/09

I just wanted you to let you know about the success I have had with the letter that I took to the Title One Schools here in Millard County. I first got approval from the school principles to put it in the teacher boxes. With in a week of getting the letter out I had 40 new classes. I am teaching all the 1st and 2nd graders at Delta North Elementary and the Preschoolers at Delta South Elementary. I had to let Fillmore Elementary know that I would be able to come to their school in the Fall as my schedule was already full. I am going into each class room once a month and teaching a new lesson of Food, Fun, and Reading. Today, I taught the 2 preschool classes the Grain lesson and after the lesson, the teacher was so glad that she responded to letter and Thank me several times for coming to her classroom to teach. I have the letter written below and if you would like to use it to take to your title one schools you are welcome to use it. I put the first page on our Counti
es letterhead. My County Extension Agent allowed me to order My Pyramid Bookmarks that I was able to give to the teachers to give out to their students. They were $6.00 for a package of 100 from Health Edco catalog. One teacher thank me for them and told me that she laminated them for her students, so that they would last. Here is the letter:

Dear Teachers of Fillmore Elementary,

I would like to introduce myself, Mary Anna Henke Nutrition Education Assistant with the Millard County USU Extension Office, to you. I am a resource and would like to offer my assistance to you in teaching nutrition in your classroom. I have several program curriculums available that I could bring to your classroom to teach.

1. Food, Fun, And Reading: It is a nutrition and literacy program developed for pre-kindergarten through grade two. Children learn about food and nutrition by having children’s storybooks with food-related topics to read to them and then participating in hands-on nutrition activities. They will also be given a letter for their parents, recipes, and a take home activity with each lesson. There are 5 lessons in this program.
Lesson 1: If you Give A Moose A Muffin – The Grain Group.
Lesson 2: Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z The Fruits and Vegetables groups.
Lesson 3: COW The Milk Group.
Lesson 4: Zak’s Lunch The Meat Group.
Lesson 5: Pancakes! Pancakes! Breakfast.
Each lesson takes about 40-45 minutes. I would need to know if there are any children with food allergies or food restrictions.

2. Exploring My Pyramid with Professor Popcorn: This curriculum will help young people develop into healthy adults by gaining an interest in eating healthy foods, using safe food-handling techniques, and making physical activity part of their lifestyle. Each grade will explore the My Pyramid food groups, the importance of physical activity, and the Fight BAC! Concepts of clean, separate, cook, and chill.

Each grade has its own emphasis and there are 5 lessons per grade, with the same basic topics per grade:
Grade 1 Experiencing Food: The smells, colors, and physical characteristics of foods from the various food Groups.
Grade 2 Enjoying Food: The taste of a variety of foods.
Grade 3 Exploring Food: Basic nutrition concepts found in My Pyramid, such as variety, amounts of foods, and the food groups. Youth will journal about their behavior. Examples relate to snacks.
Grade 4 Energized by Food: How food gives us energy, learning about foods by looking at the ingredient labels. Examples relate to breakfast.
Grade 5 Examining Food: Looking at nutrition in more detail reading nutrition facts label, comparing foods based on their content.
Experimenting with Food: Conducting various experiments about food and food safety.

The five lesson themes are:
Lesson 1, My Pyramid
Lesson 2, Grains (Make half your grains whole)
Lesson 3, Vegetables (Vary your veggies) and Fruits (Focus on Fruits)
(Note: In grade 3 and 4, Vegetables are taught alone in lesson 3)
Lesson 4, Milk (Get your calcium-rich foods)
(Note: In grade 3 and 4, Fruits are taught alone in lesson 3)
Lesson 5, Meat and Beans (Go lean with Protein)
(Note: In grade 3 and 4, Milk and Meat & Beans are combined)

If you would like to call me about the curriculum or schedule a time for me to teach your class, Please fill free to call Millard County USU Extension 864-1480 or 743-5412 or my cell phone 406-4201. I have included a My Pyramid book mark for each child in your class.

Sincerely,

Mary Anna Henke -NEA

ORIGINALLY POSTED 1/26/09

Thanks for sharing your letter that you send out and I think the book marker idea is great. Wanted to let you know that I did the oven baked root vegetables for Feb. Viva vegetables and they are so good, I did them with sugar pumpkin in Oct. and now I add to it with Banana squash and red potatoes, very colorful too.

ORIGINALLY POSTED 2/9/09

ORIGINALLY POSTED 1/13/09