On Monday, I was brought in on my first event as the PacificSource intern, the Healthy Schools Challenge!

We were invited to have our kick off at Dos Rios Elementary School in Springfield, OR. Having not been inside an actual elementary school since about eight years ago, it was a trip. However, the children were really excited that we were there, and their principle is a rock star health and wellness promoter.

The Healthy Schools Challenge is a month long event promoting – you guessed it – health and wellness. More specifically, focusing on eating fruits and vegetables. The teachers who work in Bethel elementary schools, and Springfield elementary schools, will be provided with a medley of fruits and vegetables every week (provided by our friends at Organically  Grown) for the next month, and they will have to log into our website, in order to keep track of how many vegetables they eat in a week and what kind of things they are doing to stay active.

With special guest Jordan Kent  – former Duck and NFL footbal player – the event was a major success. It was a really heart warming experience to see these kids get so amped up about eating healthy and staying active.

While we were there, we met with kids who had participated in the Veggie U program (a program that lets students grow vegetables in the their classroom) last year, and they were more than happy to tell us about how they stay healthy and active. The students also gave us a great tour around their school garden, complete with cabbage, carrots, and a compost bin. Needless to say, we taste tested our way through the whole thing.

This was just the kick off event and the kids were so excited and attentive, I cant wait to see the results at the end of the month. Also, since the fruit and vegetable challenge is just for the teachers (who are incredible role models), we put together an essay contest for the students asking them ‘What helps you live a healthy life?’ The winner of this essay contest will get four tickets to the Duck VS Beaver baseball game in May, AND they get to throw the first pitch! I won’t lie, I’m definitely a little jealous and I’m eager to see the responses we get from students.

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To learn more about the challenge, check out HealthyLifeChallenge.org

Related Post: Healthy Schools: The Delivery Crew