A School Where Children Learn to Eat Better
[MP3]https://server1.vnkienthuc.com/files/3/Media/ddkt_diet_student.mp3[/MP3]
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
About one-fifth of Americans age six to[A] nineteen[/A] are considered [A]overweight[/A]. To reduce those numbers, some schools are teaching children to make better [A]food[/A] choices.
TEACHER AND STUDENT: "So I can have spinach and what, who can give me one [A]combination[/A]. Spinach and -- Diego?" "Eggplant?" "Eggplant. Spinach and eggplant. So here is my first combination."
Hannah Chen is teaching the eight and nine year olds in this [A]math class[/A] in Washington how to make sets.
HANNAH CHEN: "We just [A]incorporated[/A] food into different types of combinations, like with the pizza we had two types of toppings that the kids can provide, and [A]figuring[/A] out the different combinations using those toppings."
The EW Stokes Public Charter School has started to include food topics in its third-grade math and English teaching. The school formed a [A]partnership[/A] with Seedling Projects, an [A]environmental group[/A] in San Francisco, California.
Peter Nalli is a curriculum director for the program called Farm to Desk. He says they are doing this in part to address the issue of [A]childhood[/A] obesity.
PETER NALLI: "One of the main [A]components[/A] of our program is our belief that if kids are exposed to positive and healthy [A]messaging[/A] about food throughout the instructional day, that has the most potential to impact [A]long-term[/A] change."
School chef Makeisha Daye says the school buys most of its food from local [A]farms[/A], but the students grow some themselves.
MAKEISHA DAYE: "They are replanting everything now so that we will be using fresh [A]herbs[/A], fresh vegetables straight from our garden. So, the [A]children[/A], they love it."
Teacher Hannah Chen agrees.
HANNAH CHEN: "We have a [A]salad[/A] bar at the school, and now the kids love the salad bar. They love the fruits and vegetables. So I think it is making a big [A]difference[/A] in their lives."
She says the third graders have also learned to read the sugar and fat content listed on food [A]packages[/A]. She says the EW Stokes Public Charter School in Washington plans to [A]expand[/A] the Farm to Desk [A]program[/A] to other grades next year.
Charter schools get public [A]money[/A] but do not have to follow the same rules as traditional public schools.
Many charter schools have specialized areas of study -- like [A]Environmental[/A] Charter High School near Los Angeles. Students learn the importance of [A]protecting [/A]the environment. Rigo Estrada says he used to be the kind of person who threw trash on the street.
RIGO ESTRADA: "But now that I have seen firsthand videos, I have done beach cleanups, I have helped develop like water-catchment systems, I have taught elementary schools like the [A]importance[/A] of water conservation, I know the [A]importance[/A] of green and that it actually is a really [A]serious[/A] topic."
Students also learn how to prepare a business plan that they can use to help pay for college. They learn from teachers and outside [A]experts[/A] like Nancy Gale. She owns an environmentally friendly business that makes handbags.
NANCY GALE: "The idea behind the program is that if these kids see what they can do [A]together[/A] and what they can accomplish, that they recognize that their skills [A]extend[/A] into the same real world as kids that go to successful private schools."
