TodayStudents learn nutritional values through presidential assembly
National School Lunch voting program offers kids a way to learn about nutrition and presidential elections.
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The Banana Lady, Catherine Conrad, teaches the Banana Shake dance to Mt. Holly Springs Elementary School students Jessica Wilson, 7, left, and Kaysha Everett, 6, as part of the school’s celebration of National Lunch Week. (Michael Bupp/The Sentinel)
Mt. Holly Springs Elementary School students, from left to right, Joshua Heaster, 7, Mario Delgado, 7, and Teralin Mixell, 7, smile as the Banana Lady and Spike perform. (Michael Bupp/The Sentinel)
The Banana Lady, Catherine Conrad, performs with her sidekick Spike. (Michael Bupp/The Sentinel)
When the five Carlisle High School juniors heard they needed six hours of community service to pass their civics course, they probably didn’t expect to be marching in front of an elementary assembly and preparing a presidential speech on nutrition.
But for the second year, volunteers from Kevin Wagner’s class agreed to don the lunch menu outfits to promote healthful eating habits during National School Lunch Week.
Carlisle Area School District got a head start on the week, which nationally starts Oct. 13, but made sure to make the week a memorable experience to its elementary school students.
Similar to previous years, voting for a favorite lunch menu item was key, and like last year, Wanger and Director of Food Services Kelly Renard wanted to give the elementary school kids a first-hand look at this year’s contenders. Representing the new lunches, Larry Lasagna was played by Matt Sapio, 16; Gloria Grilled Cheese was played by Meredith Armolt, 16; and Petunia Pita Pocket was played by Brittany Shrader, 16. The two returning lunch items was the 2006 winner Pete Pizza played by Nick Lello, 16, and the 2007 winner Biff Burger played by Cory Simon, 17.
This year was a tad bit more involved for Wagner and his students as it also landed on a presidential election year.
“There’s a connection with the presidential election this year, and it gives the kids a feeling of what’s going on,” Wagner said. “Instead of watching their parents pick a president, they get to pick their own lunch, so it’s a great fit.”
The assembly at all seven elementary schools in the Carlisle Area School District had its fair share of politics, with each candidate trying to relate to their audience and ad-libbing lines while throwing naturally cheesy slogans around. Even without his Biff Burger costume on his head, Simon was sure to high five the kids out the door to ensure the vote.
Nutrition from a banana
A mock presidential debate and election wasn’t the only way Renard wanted to turn the kids attention toward nutrition. She also brought in Catherine Conrad as the opening act.
The two had met a year ago at a national conference for the School Nutrition Association. Renard was at her stand for the School Nutrition Association of Pennsylvania, of which she was just named the president, and upon talking to Conrad, she realized that the woman had been going to schools nationally to talk to kids about nutrition and wellness.
A year later, Conrad, a former comedienne, was in front of a group of clapping and laughing children in her famed seven-foot banana suit carrying her monkey puppet Spike.
Conrad is the frontwoman for the Banana Lady group, which travels across the country giving motivational talks about nutrition as well as overall wellness.
“It started out with character building and being as strong as you can be,” said Conrad, who is originally from Madison, Wis. “At the very beginning (21 years ago) I did a lot with self-esteem and bullying and Spike started out as a bully. He gave me a lot of grief, and it showed the kids what that was like and about facing your fears.”
Now Spike seems more concerned about wooing “Rhonda” at the salad bar, which he of course practiced on Mt. Holly Elementary School’s principal Ruth-Ann Snyder. The change is just one of many over the years as Conrad has expanded her business to include a CD of her songs she performs on stage and a new book series of Banana Lady’s adventures with Spike.
The message, however, has stayed clear to the children she visits.
“I really wanted to do something positive,” Conrad said. “So I started talking about believing in yourself and just being healthy.”
Breakfast just as important
While Carlisle elementary school students were learning Conrad’s “Banana Shake,” Mechanicsburg students were continuing with the changes they saw in the 2006 revamp of its food services.
“Most of our changes occurred during the 2006 school year,” said Karin Marlin, food services director at the Mechanicsburg Area School District. “At that point, we went to wheat products, took out a lot of our a la carte products and added more fresh fruits and vegetables.
“We followed the wellness policy from the Department of Education, which gave us guidelines of what they wanted to change. One switch was from white bread to whole wheat bread.
We stopped selling cookies at the secondary schools and changed to regular chips from the big chips at the high school. We added more fresh fruits and vegetables at all schools and made a veggie bar at secondary schools where students can make a bowl of fresh vegetables. Everyday we have our fresh fruit assortment. We also buy local seasonal produce when it’s available. Right now, we’re buying apples from Paulus (Farm Market) in Mechanicsburg.”
In addition to using its organic gardens for food and food donations, the district is also continuing with its expansion of healthful food services from lunch to breakfast.
“It fills a need for some of our students who don’t get the opportunity to eat breakfast,” Marlin said. “Some students don’t have the time in the morning to eat it or just can’t eat when they get up in the morning.”
The district provides breakfast food for each of its schools, including the new Kindergarten Academy. Being able to provide the food as well as provide something healthy is the ultimate goal for area food service directors.
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” Marlin said. “It’s been shown to make children more alert, get better test scores, get to school on time and not complain about stomach aches.”
