Announcements
The budget process is under way
Preschool parent newsletter - Winter 2010 [PDF]
Saturday, March 6 Details
Learn more at the Special Education site.
Check out the announcements page
Bethlehem Healthy Kids Committee
About the Healthy Kids Committee
The mission of the Bethlehem Healthy Kids Committee is to work in cooperation with all levels of district administration and personnel, Bethlehem students and families, and the larger community to improve nutrition, physical activity, environmental health and overall wellness of all students in the Bethlehem Central School District with a goal of providing the best possible environment in which our students can learn.
Announcements
meeting schedule
Thursday, Jan. 28, 7-8:30 p.m. (see below for details)
Sunday, Feb. 28 from 6:30-8 p.m. at Parks and Rec bldg
Monday, March 15 from 7-8:30 p.m. at BPL
Thursday, April 29 from 7-8:30 p.m. at BPL
Thursday, May 27 from 7-8:30 p.m. at BPL
Farm to You Fest wins statewide award
The success of a weeklong celebration of the connection between the state’s farms and the food on student’s plates held this fall has yielded a NY Farms! Partnership Award. READ MORE »
upcoming meeting to plan 'healthy kids week'
We hope to see many of you at our next Healthy Kids
Committee meeting
on Thursday, January 28th from 7:00 - 8:30 PM in the Board Rm. of the
Bethlehem Public Library.
Much of the discussion will likely revolve around
our upcoming Healthy
Kids Week (March 29-April 1) in the schools. Ideas so far for the
week include conducting some form of "walking school bus", offering
yoga classes to students and/or teachers (to learn how to calm and
focus kids after recess or before a test), a new recipe contest for
school food, and others. We've also joined up with the Youth Services
Dept. at the Bethlehem Library to offer a number of great programs to
our students related to Healthy Kids Week. For example, since we do
not have school on the Friday of that week, the library will have a
full day of activities including an Honest Weight Food Coop cooking
class called "Hip Dips" and a "Wellness Decathalon."
Please email us at Bethlehemhealthykids@gmail.com.
FARM TO YOU FEST WINNING RECIPES »
Eagle kindergarten students travel to sunnyside farms
Click here for more Farm To You Fest pictures and information.
fun, creative alternatives to candy this Halloween season
With Halloween Halloween just around the corner, the Healthy Kids Committee is providing a list of possible healthy Halloween treats to give out this year. While some sweets are all part of the spooky fun, kids also seem to love getting these fun, creative treats in lieu of sugary candy. Check out the list below:
Vampire and false teeth
Halloween and other stickers
Party favor sunglasses
Small cans of playdoh
Noisemakers
Pencils with Halloween erasers
Halloween bouncy balls
Temporary tattoos
Fancy erasers
Crayons
Coins (pennies, nickels, dimes)
Superballs
"Slime"
Miniature magnifying glasses
Glow-sticks
Tiny decks of cards
Fake money
Origami paper & instructions
Small bags of pretzels
Individually wrapped fruit leather
1,000 Pounds of Fresh Produce Donated by Bethlehem Students!
Capital District Community Gardens and the Bethlehem
Food Pantry were
the recipients of 1,000 lbs. of farm fresh generosity last week during
Farm to You Fest. Congratulations and big thanks go to all the
students who brought fresh squashes, zucchinis, apples, tomatoes and
other fruits and veggies to feed the hungry in our community. Great
job, everyone. It's so important for all families to have access to
fresh, nutritious foods! For more information on CDCG, see
www.cdcg.org.
Kids Love Beets!?
Among the many success stories that came out of Farm
to You Fest last
week was that the kids who participated in the Visiting Farmer classes
on Friday with Katchkie Farm loved their beets! In a taste-test that
offered 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders at Hamagrael bite-sized portions of
root vegetables picked the day before, the overwhelming fresh veggie
winners were carrots and beets. This serves as a reminder that kids
tend to be more open to new tastes than adults might suspect and that
kids can be taste explorers if given the opportunity. For more
information on our farmers in the classroom, go to
www.foxtailcommunityfarm.com and
www.sylviacenter.org.
Bethlehem's "Farm to You Fest" continues - Oct. 9, 2009
Participate in these activities to increase our kids' awareness about eating fresh and local!
The deadline for the recipe contest has been extended to Friday, Oct. 16, so email your children's favorite recipes for the Farm Fresh Recipe Contest for Food Services Director Paul Franchini and his staff to cook in school lunches in Nov. and Dec. E-mail entries to bethlehemhealthykids@gmail.com.
Bring your Farmers Market Scavenger Hunt checklist on Saturday, Oct. 10 to the Delmar Saturday Farmers Market at the Middle School! Turn your checklist in at school (deadline is the 14th - not 13th because of the holiday on the 12th) and be in a drawing to win farm fresh prizes!
Thanks to everyone who donated to the Squash Hunger Campaign with fresh produce and food this week. As a whole, the district donated almost 1,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to people in need all over the Capital District and right here in Bethlehem. Our goal next year will be 2,000 pounds! For more info on Squash Hunger check out www.cdcg.org.
Farm to you fest documents
Farm To You Fest: BCSD Recipe Contest Form [PDF]
Farm To You Fest: Resources For Teachers [PDF]
Farm To You Fest: BCSD Scavenger Hunt [PDF]
Farm To You Fest: Squash Hunger Program [PDF]
Local Farms Supply Fresh Fruits and Veggies in School Lunch!
Local Farms Supply Fresh Fruits and Veggies in
School Lunch!
You may have noticed that school lunch just keeps getting better
tasting and more fresh. For one reason, that's because the Food Services
program has placed a greater emphasis on using fresh produce from local
and New York State farms. In fact, in recognition of the state's Farm to
You Fest (Oct. 5-9), all of the produce used in school meals in October
will come from New York State farms - and much of it right in this
region. Encourage your child to try school lunch during Farm to You Fest
week (October 5th-9th) and notice the taste of farm fresh food! The
onion and tomatoes for Monday's burgers and the cabbage in the fresh
coleslaw are from Black Horse Produce in Coxsakie; the potatoes in
Tuesday's Loaded Spud are harvested at Staron's Farm in Valatie, the
spinach in Wednesday's quiche is freshly picked from Markristo Farm in
Hillsdale; on Thursday, enjoy ratatouille with eggplant, zucchini and
yellow squash from Hepworth Farm in Milton; and Friday's pizza will be
layered with broccoli and other veggies from Schoharie Valley Farms,
Schoharie. Each day, you will also find choices of fresh pears and
apples from Indian Ladder Farms in Voorheesville and Love Apple Farm in
Ghent. Thank you to Bethlehem's Childhood Nutrition Director, Paul
Franchini and his staff for working hard to develop partnerships with
these farms and bring us more produce from around the region and state.
Check out October's farm fresh menu at the
Food Services Web Site.
Delmar Farmers Market Scavenger Hunt! Saturday, October 10th!
As part of our Bethlehem Farm to You Fest (October
5th-11th)
celebration this year, all Bethlehem students are invited to
participate in our Farmers Market Scavenger Hunt at the Delmar
Saturday Farmers Market (www.delmarmarket.org) located at the
Bethlehem Middle School from 9:00-1:00 on Saturday, October 10th. A
checklist will be sent to students in their take-home folders during
the week of October 5th and/or will be available on this page. Join us
at the market, fill in your checklist and turn in your completed
checklist back at school or at the Farmers Market Hospitality Table to
be in an exciting prize drawing. You could win fabulous prizes from our
local farmers (baskets of seasonal fruits), artists (beautiful flower
pin from Wild Sage Designs), bakers (loaf of bread from Rock Hill
Bakery) and more! We look forward to seeing you and your family at the
Delmar Saturday Farmers Market on October 10th! Happy Harvest!
Farm to You Fest! A week long celebration of farms and food! October 5th-10th, 2009
The Bethlehem Healthy Kids Committee is spearheading our district's first year of participating in the state-wide Farm-to-School celebration called "Farm to You Fest" (Visit the New York State Department of Agriculture and Market's Web site for more details). In short, it is a week-long series of classroom and community activities that gets kids thinking about the connection between the food on their plates, our local farms and good nutrition. Activities will take place Oct 5th-10th. District-wide activities for the week will include a school lunch menu featuring local products (a great week for your child to try school lunch!), a Farm Fresh Recipe Contest, a Squash Hunger produce drive for the hungry (in partnership with Capital District Community Gardens and the Bethlehem Food Pantry), and a Farmers Market Scavenger Hunt on Sat., Oct. 10th. Some schools will have visiting farmers and cooking classes lead by local chefs! More details on this exciting week will follow. Please contact your PTA or the Healthy Kids Committee for more information or to get involved! bethlehemhealthykids@gmail.com
Farm To You Fest: BCSD Recipe Contest Form [PDF]
Farm To You Fest: Resources For Teachers [PDF]
Farm To You Fest: BCSD Scavenger Hunt [PDF]
Farm To You Fest: Squash Hunger Program [PDF]
Looking back at 2008-09 and ahead to 2009-10
This was a very active year for the Bethlehem Healthy Kids Committee. We made great strides with the support of our new food service director, Paul Francini, our Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, Mike Tebbano and Jody Monroe, and many involved parents and BCSD staff who are interested in improving the nutritional quality of the food served to our students. Our accomplishments in the 2008-09 school year include the following:
Reviewed the Wellness Policy on Nutrition and forwarded suggestions to the district in anticipation of the Board of Education’s vote on it next month.
Completed a Parent Survey in April on our district’s food service program
Held a monthly committee meeting with active parent, administrative and food service membership
Created a Healthy Kids Committee website within the district website
Created a monthly newsletter
Accepted a seat on the President’s Council per Mike Tebbano, Superintendent
Developed a strong, collaborative relationship with Paul Franchini, new BCSD Food Services Director
Planned and implemented healthy kids week activities in April
Held a student recipe contest – winners recipes were added to the school lunch menu
Developed linkage and support with Middle School Garden program spearheaded by Mark Warford
This summer and in the 2009-10 school year we will be working on several new projects along with our continuation of those already in place. This includes the following:
Working with the district administration, schools and Food Services Department to investigate possible enrichment activities centered around nutrition and healthy eating and cooking; the idea of starting school gardens at other schools modeling the middle school kitchen garden project; the feasibility of a cafeteria helpers program with local seniors; and increasing farm-to-school linkages.
Plan activities for Harvest Week in October and for Healthy Kids week in March.
Continue regular meetings of HKC to support district changes to provide healthier foods in our schools
Other great ideas you may have!!
In closing for this school year, we would like to thank those of you who took an active interest in this year’s work on improving the nutritional quality of food served to our students, and those of you who plan to support this work going forward. Anyone interested in getting involved with the Healthy Kids Committee should email us at our Gmail account: bethlehemhealthykids@gmail.com
Healthy kids links