COAL TOWNSHIP - On Wednesday, Oct. 26, Our Lady Of Lourdes Regional School celebrated one of nature's fast foods - apples - by hosting an "Apple Crunch" for students.
Celebrated annually during National Apple Month, "Apple Crunch" teaches children important facts about healthy snacking and getting five servings of fruit and vegetables each day. It is a program of the center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.
"Schools have a unique opportunity to impact a child's attitudes, behaviors and habits related to good health," explains Barbara Reiprish, family and consumer science teacher/food service manager. By making fruits and vegetables fun for our students, we hope the message is extending home to families as well."
Lourdes hosted an "all-together" school-wide apple crunch by offering apples as snacks to students. Lourdes' students were treated to a 9:45 a.m. snack break, where everyone in the school "crunched" into a delicious apple.
Students from the Family and Consumer Sciences classes visited the elementary grades to distribute apples to all students, along with words of encouragement to support physical activity and healthy eating as part of the total learning environment. Activities such as trivia games, apple songs and poems, coloring sheets and puzzles added to the fun.
The apples for this special day were graciously donated by Boyer's Supermarket, Masser's Produce, Wal-Mart SuperCenter and Weis Markets. The Elementary Parent Association provided students with apple-themed pencil tops and silly bands. The students in family and consumer sciences classes helped with the apple preparations for the event.