Email this article
Printable version
9-R earns state health award
Herald Staff Writer
Photo by JERRY McBRIDE/Herald
Adrian Griffith, 5, looks over his lunch tray at small cups filled with applesauce and flavored gelatin Friday in the lunch line at Needham Elementary School. The Colorado Department of Education recognized School District 9-R for working to improve nutrition at schools.
Click image to enlarge
Photo by JERRY McBRIDE/Herald
Fellow Needham student Hallah Herb, 7, bites into a slice of pizza made by the cooks at the school.
Awards to Durango 9-R and 10 other school districts, made in Denver on Thursday, coincided with the release of the Colorado Legacy Foundation's new online 2009 Health and Wellness Best Practices Guide. The foundation hosted the Commissioner's Choice Awards gathering.
"We were recognized for multiple areas of excellence," 9-R Superintendent Keith Owen said Friday. "We've had a pretty strong commitment to coordinated school health and it continues." The district began to develop its health and wellness plan about five years ago. As a result, today there are no high-fat, sugary snacks at the high school or sodas or candy in elementary school vending machines.
"For our size we have one of the best coordinated school-health programs in the state," Owen said. "We've shown exemplary commitment to that goal."
There are 178 school districts in the state, Owen said.
In presenting the awards, Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones said:
"Schools are ideal settings for developing healthy habits that last well into adulthood, especially considering that kids spend almost half of their waking hours in school. Healthy schools provide nutritious meals, snacks and beverages and require that students are physically active every day."
Schools teach what it means to be healthy, offer access to health-care services and have effective workplace wellness programs, Jones said.
"Colorado has a reputation as an active, fit state," Jones said. "We boast the lowest adult obesity rates in the country, but the data tells a different story for our children. More than one in 10 Colorado high school students is overweight."
Despite what some may say, providing health services is the responsibility of schools because they help students manage chronic illness, administer medication and provide health counseling, Jones said. The payoff can be huge because management of chronic illness increases attendance, and increased attendance boosts the chances of academic success.
Post a comment
durangoherald.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Read our full policy.
Guidelines: You share in the The Durango Herald community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Read more.
advertisement
Horizon Properties offers discreet buyer and seller representation and provides individual attention to every client, from first homes to luxury homes, ranches and land.
Horizon's team of real estate professionals works to find the right property for you, your family, your business or investment interests. Visit us at our newly-restored historic office building on Main Avenue in Durango, Colorado.
Durango Herald Calendar of Events
Saturday, November 07, 2009
at 7:11:58 PM
Suggest removal
Pat says...
School pizza is the worst example of a nutritous meal (gag). Kudos for the effort of homemade, still not good enough, and when are six green beans anywhere close to state mandateded portion size even for an elementary child. The obese childern around the community should not be blamed on the school lunch programs (eaten once a day) but on the parents to lazy or busy to cook nutritous wholesome meals and supply healthy snacks (apples,carrots,vegetables,etc.) after school and healthy outdoor activities ,instead we send them into their rooms with bags of chips and soft drinks to play video games and stay out of our ways while we unwind from our busy work day and pop something out of the freezer with so many additives,preservatives,carbohydrates,etc. Shame on us for blaming anyone but ourselves for our obese childern.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
at 5:51:50 PM
Suggest removal
rob sachs says...
I would hate to see what the kids at the schools that werent recognized are eating. Since when did Pizza, Chocolate Milk and something that appears to be french fries ( as shown in the photograph) constitute proper nutrition?
Hasn't anyone noticed the many obese and generally overweight kids running around today?