In our new series "educator reflections" you'll periodically hear first hand experiences from UC CalFresh staff working in Fresno County. Our first reflection comes from Program Educator, Brittanny Zweigle.

This summer I had the opportunity to join with Elizabeth Villalobos in serving Ahwahnee Middle School's deaf and hard of hearing students, taught by Carolee Clayton and Lisa Catron.  These two teachers worked with UC CalFresh throughout the school year and are dedicated to nutrition education by continuing participation during the summer.   

Liz and I taught one lesson a week over four weeks with our goal being to boost the students’ awareness of healthy options.  Using lessons from the EatFit curriculum we focused on the importance of making healthy choices to keep our bodies strong. 

We challenged the students to set goals by focusing on a single behavior such as; eating more fruits and vegetables, increasing their physical activity, decreasing their sugar consumption or limiting the amount of television they watch. 

We checked in on the students’ goals every week, to see what changes they had made.  A few had increased their physical activity while others signed that it was difficult to make those changes.

The schedule was packed with multiple lesson topics, and we only had 4 weeks to fit it all in! 

Week 1: Understanding our Students’ Knowledge

An EatFit pre-test helped us to gauge what our students knew about making healthy choices.  We reviewed MyPlate, the importance of vitamins and minerals and conducted a taste test of coconut water.

Week 2: "Get Moving" and Reading a Food Label

We hit the ground running learning the importance of physical activity (PA). The students got moving with three forms of exercise: aerobic, anaerobic, and stretching. An Instant Recess video was also a hit! 

Students learn about label reading.

Following our PA we examined how to read a food label, and tasted baked snap peas and golden raisins.

Week 3: Fast Food and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

Healthier options can be difficult to choose when at a fast food restaurant, but learning how to make those choices can be fun when playing tic, tac, toe!  

After discussing how to choose healthy options at fast food restaurants, we learned about the number of teaspoons of sugar that one sweetened beverage can hold.  We chewed over all the information by tasting kiwi and carrots.

Week 4: Master Gardeners

Rose Pipkin, Master Gardener

We concluded the series with our own Master Gardeners from UCCE.  The students learned that everything comes from a seed, how various foods produce seeds, and had the opportunity to plant their own purple green beans to take home. We ended the session with a review of everything taught the past weeks, and a final tasting of a fruit parfait.

Students learned all about seeds!

Not knowing American Sign Language (ASL), could have created a communication barrier. With the help of our remarkable teachers and interpreter, Taylor Clark, we were able to connect with the students. 

We used pictures and items for the students to touch and see, as well as a video to deliver our lessons.  The food tastings allowed the students to see, smell, and taste.  Working with the deaf and hard of hearing students at Ahwahnee Middle School was such an enjoyable experience! 

I learned so much from them, and would love to become fluent in ASL! Thank you Carolee Clayton, Lisa Catron, and Taylor Clark for your dedication to nutrition education and support of our program.