FOX broadcast

What an exciting Day !!!!!

As winners of the Dairy Max recipe contest, WAIS was asked to send a student representative to film a segment on FOX. Chef Jon Ashton and student nutrition ambassador Karen Caballero filmed a 5-7 min segment on tv talking about the Play 60 program and how important it is for kids to eat veggies, fruits, whole grains, and milk as part of their daily food intake. Chef Jon and Karen prepared the winning Touchdown Texan Dip and shared how the class came up with the recipe. Part of the discussion also included being active 60 minutes a day. Sponsored by Dairy Max, the contest asked for students to create a team meal with an original recipe to enter. WAIS students in one of my classes, created this dip and shared it with other school students and staff.

What an experience for Karen as she is taking a leadership role with the Play 60 program. She is heading up the program piece to incorporate how high school students at WAIS can become aware of the importance of eating healthy and making healthy choices to lead to living a healthy lifestyle. Karen wants to be a chef one day and takes classes at the district's culinary program so this is fitting that she is our school ambassador. Karen has been researching and surveying students about the foods they like and what they are eating. Currently, she is creating a committee to help her organize and head up cooking lessons that we will teach in class. Meeting Chef Jon was a highlight for her and she is even more excited to get to work.

"Drill" stations

Students participating in fitness "Drill" stations. Once a week, students rotate through a variety of different fitness stations such as core strength, cardio, and muscle strength. As part of their fitness plan, students learn about different options to participate in and are exposed to a variety of different options to reach their personal goals.

Class challenges

I have been taking notes and photos of the students in class as they have set personal goals for both fitness and healthy food choices. We have been using Fuel Up in our classes as we align activities with the curriculum.

I teach 6 high school classes of Health FItness that include Outdoor Education, Aerobics, Team Sports 1-3, and an athletic class for students who have completed all HF requirements but want to remain active and take more HF classes. Each of the classes have different TEKS, but the core of all classes focus on nutrition and fitness goals.

Outdoor Ed classes include lessons and activities such as conditioning, orienteering, 1st Aid, cooking, etc.

My aerobics class is a course that I use FITTGRAM scores, BMI's, and TAKS scores to target students for intervention. I use a variety of technology tools to motivate and engage students which has been very successful. I also focus on personal fitness goals for each student and they create a personal fitness program that includes food choices. Students chart data during the semester and then create personal programs. Using technology, students create videos, podcasts, and personal listening exercise programs to listen to on their i-pods. I teach lessons in nutrition and have students research food choices while focusing on their personal food pyramid recommendations. We prepare meals and snacks as part of our class. The grant we received this fall helps me to fund this class.

Team Sports classes focus on core strength, muscular strength, card endurance and flexibility.

Athletic class is a class where students self monitor themselves as they play competitive games and activities.

With all of my classes, I like to provide 1 day a week to focus on fitness elements through stations. From stability balls to drill stations, students rotate around the gym moving through each station. Each week I change the equipment and activities to keep it fresh.

Each week, I remind students to input their information for Play 60 and provide several mini laptops for them to pass around during the class time. Students keep track of their daily physical activities and food intake which keeps them aware of their healthy habits. Part of the grant money we received from Dairy Max helps me to purchase incentive rewards each month.

Chef Jon

We are so excited to have been chosen as one of the winners in the recipe contest!!!!

The students are so proud of themselves and feel true ownership in their decisions to become more active and make healthy food choices.

Chef Jon made a few adjustments in their recipe and the class prepared the new recipe to taste and then carried trays to the dining hall and office staff to taste and give feedback. WOW !!!! If you could have seen the pride these students had as they proudly carried the veggies and dip to share with others. They introduced this sample as "the award winning dip" and talked to students and other staff members about the healthy aspect of the dip.

Here is the revised dip recipe:

TEXAN DIP

2T. cilantro parsley
2 1/2t. onion
1t. chives
1/2t. garlic-minced
1/2-1t. chili powder
1/2-3/4t. crushed red pepper
1/4t. paprika
1/4t. cumin cayenne pepper powder
16 oz plain Greek 2% low-fat yogurt
Honey
Variation: Either with ¼ tsp. salt or without salt