DARRINGTON — Fresh from recess, 18 fourth and fifth grade students examined the nutrition label on a bottle of soda shown on a screen at the front of the classroom.
“How many carbohydrates are there per serving?” guest teacher Jade Braulio asked.
Hands shot into the air.
“You mean like the carbonation?” one girl asked.
No, Braulio explained, she meant carbohydrates. Look at the label, she urged.
Braulio fired off more questions. Students rattled off answers. Milk has more nutrients than lemonade. Soda has more sugar than water, and too much sugar rots teeth. Strawberries, apples, raspberries and tomatoes are examples of red fruits. Eggs and meat provide protein. Oranges don’t.
Braulio’s trivia game for the class was a review of what she’s been teaching kids at Darrington Elementary School for the past two months. The 22-year-old Washington State University student grew up in Arlington and decided to finish up her human development degree with an internship teaching elementary students about healthy eating. The two-month 4-H Food Smart Families program is paid for by $143,500 in grants.
This was the program’s last week. Braulio started working with first through fifth grade students in March, teaching in four classrooms each week.
It’s part of the commitment WSU made to help people in the Stillaguamish Valley after the Oso mudslide in March 2014, said Judy Pendergrass, a community and economic development coordinator from WSU who has been working in the valley. One of the most important pieces of recovery is education. The healthy eating program is something children can help teach their families.
“It’s really about helping the kids learn to eat better and read food labels,” Braulio said. “They can take that information back to their families and help them make better decisions, too.”
Parents have stopped Braulio in town to tell her how excited their children are about what they’ve learned during her lessons.
As part of the course, students helped Braulio prepare recipes so they could try healthy treats. They made hummus, yogurt parfaits, Southwest black bean salad and fruit-infused water. She sent the recipes home with them.
Jordan Meredith, 10, had the most correct answers during trivia Tuesday and won a reusable cup with a lid and straw. The fourth-grader liked learning about food and getting new recipes. It’s too hard for him to pick his favorite healthy food, but his favorite healthy drink is water, he said.
“I’m really trying to go on a diet right now and I really like raising my hand and giving answers,” he said.
He thought it was interesting how many types of healthy food actually taste good, he said.
“I learned if you like unhealthy stuff you should really stop eating a lot of it,” he said. “A lot of healthy stuff is really tasty.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com
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