Thursday Night's at Plaza Terrace Emergency Housing are Family Nights and the families who reside there love it!

Patricia Williams of Fresno County Dept. of Social Services and volunteers: Michelle Eskew, Fresno County Chief Deputy District Attorney- Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Unit, Sergeant Nina Jacobs of the Fresno Police Department Family Justice Bureau-Sex Crimes Unit, and Pam LeSage of the City of Fresno have committed their time to provide the families with an opportunity to have fun, get active, and eat a healthy meal together.

Working together, we're building healthier families

A tether ball in the courtyard provides a glimpse of the vision that Patricia Williams has for the complex. Bicycles, balls, and board games for the children and a weight room for the adults are just some examples of what the staff and volunteers at Plaza Terrace are providing for the families to use.

“We want to give these families a different view of the police department and D.A's office. Some crimes go unreported because of people's mistrust of these departments. We are here to help them. We want them to trust us and not be afraid to ask for help, if they ever need it.” – Nina Jacobs

On Thursday nights these volunteers purchase and cook healthy meals, while volunteer Pam LeSage makes desserts with help from the children.

Patricia Williams says, “One thing that I've noticed is that our tenants need help with managing their resources and choosing healthier meal options for their children. It's also important for them to be physically active to help prevent any illnesses that can be caused by obesity.”

Building on the culture of wellness, UC CalFresh educators Evelyn Morales and Sandra Ortega joined in the family nights to teach residents the Plan, Shop, Save, and Cook nutrition education series.

The participants in the class really enjoyed learning how to plan meals, read nutrition food labels, and compare unit prices. They especially enjoyed learning to make and taste testing healthy recipes. They even had Zumba lessons as part of their classes courtesy of Evelyn Morales!

Nutrition Program Coordinator, Sandra Ortega, prepares a food demonstration for participants to try

The last day of class was a time for celebration. What better way to end this series than by cooking some of the healthy recipes the participants tasted and enjoyed during UC CalFresh nutrition education classes? The menu on that night was: spinach salad with yogurt dressing, spinach lasagna with meat sauce and corn muffins (made by the children). The meal was a big hit! The Plaza Terrace volunteers did a fantastic job putting it all together.

Spinach Lasagna

“I never knew that cooked Spinach tastes so good!” “Can we have more?” were just a few comments made that evening.

This was a great collaboration and a perfect example of the ways partnership in the community can create lifelong change for the residents of Fresno County!                               

Recently we had the opportunity to host a field trip for Yokomi elementary 4th graders at the UCCE Master Gardeners' demonstration garden, the Garden of the Sun.

The students were delighted to learn about MyPlate, hydration, tomato plants, physical activity, edible plant parts, healthy snacks and more! 

Students got to taste cucumber-mint and lemon-lime water. The cucumber mint was voted the best!

Did we mention they loved the flavored water? It's the perfect alternative to sugary beverages.

After getting some tips on how to care for it, every child got to take their very own tomato plant home!

Can you find the root? Rodrigo and his friend could! Students learned to identify roots, stems, flowers, seeds, fruit and leaves.

Taste testing celery and other edible plant parts. The verdict? delicious!

The tour of the Children's Garden was fantastic! The UCCE Master Gardeners know their stuff!

Human sundial in the Children's Garden.

MyPlate relay? Challenge accepted! These two students are racing to place their Dairy foods into the blue basket.

Phoebe Copp with the CA Dairy Council taught kids the importance of a balanced diet. She also brought milk mustache stickers for all of the students. It was too fun!

Can you spot the milk mustache?

These few pictures give you a glimpse into the fantastic, hands-on experience students had learning about nutrition. It was a great day for us all!

Special thanks to Rose Pipkin and the MG Youth Garden Committee, as well as Phoebe Copp with the CA Dairy Council for helping host the field trip!

UC CalFresh Nutrition Educator, Emily Harris, reflects on the experience of teaching three classes of 2nd graders during a nutrition education series. Three weeks in to the series, we get a glimpse of the successes and student feedback.

What happens when 2^nd graders learn about the importance of nutrition every week? Let's find out!

Week One

The first lesson students participated in was on the difference between "anytime" snacks: foods low in sugar, salt and fat and high in nutrients and "sometimes" snacks: foods high in sugar, salt and fat. The kids learned the difference between anytime snacks like low-fat string cheese and pretzels, and sometimes snacks, like cupcakes and soda.

When I asked the kids why sugary snacks aren't good for our bodies, they had a lot of ideas! Many said that sugar makes you tired and makes your stomach hurt. One student said that sugar makes you feel like you're on a roller coast and he was definitely right! Sugar gives you a burst of energy followed by a crash that can make you tired.

UC CalFresh lessons get students excited to learn about being healthy.

In order to improve the students' snack choices I asked them what they normally would eat as a snack, then asked them what they could add or subtract to make it better for them. Many students expressed a love for cheesy crackers that contain a lot of fat. They said they would eat a piece of fruit or some veggies to make it a healthier choice, or choose pretzels instead. I left them with a challenge for eating in moderation: stick with five days of anytime snacks and two days of sometimes snacks during the upcoming week.

Week Two

I asked the students about their snack choices when I came back for week two, and a quick review helped the students remember their goal of eating anytime snacks most days of the week.

The main event was now breakfast! The students learned that three of the five food groups need to be present at breakfast time in order to stay full and satisfied until lunch. We sang the “Breakfast Shaky” (which is a breakfast version of the hokey pokey) and danced the time away as some of the students realized they hadn't been eating enough for breakfast.

All of the children were shocked when they learned that breakfast doesn't have to include typical breakfast foods like eggs and cereal; breakfast can be spaghetti, quesadillas, or even homemade pizza as long as there are three food groups with "anytime" ingredients. It took awhile for the students to believe me, and even the ones that did said their parents probably wouldn't let them eat pizza for breakfast. I encouraged them to share what they learned and see if their parents may make an exception.

This weeks challenge was for the students to eat a three food group breakfast every day during spring break.

Week Three           

During week three the students learned about the ways different foods keep our bodies functioning properly.

Did you know spinach was a good source of vitamin C?

I brought along our Mr. Healthy Body poster and used visuals to help students learn the difference between vitamin A, which helps keep our eyes healthy, and potassium, which keeps our blood flowing properly. Some of the vitamins and minerals had interactive movements to keep the students engaged and enhance their ability to differentiate between each one. When learning about vitamin A, we made "goggles" with our hands. When talking about potassium and healthy blood flow, we wiggled our bodies.

Students learned that protein builds strong muscles!

The students loved Mr. Healthy Body because he is hilarious to look at, which helped them to remember what we learned. When we talked about vitamin C, I told the students that it acts like a bubble to keep germs and disease away. One student said vitamin C is a force field, which I love even more than the bubble analogy!

Mr. Healthy Body

 I can't wait to see what happens with these students during our upcoming sessions. Stay tuned for an update on the next few weeks!

~Emily

Most teachers and students this time of the year have two things on their mind: finishing testing and summer. With the school year coming to an end, there are lots of lessons that need to be finished and testing that needs to be done. Ms. Kopacz's 2nd grade class at Columbia Elementary are tying up loose ends, squeezing in nutrition lessons, and ending their school year the healthy way!

Students have created their very own nutrition corner where they got to draw and write opinions about their latest tasting, raw sunflower seeds.

Check out their nutrition corner and opinions below!