Physical activity doesn't always need to take place in a gym or on the playground!

With short videos available for checkout from UC CalFresh, you can turn a 10-minute break into an instant recess!

Students at Vang Pao elementary participate in an "Instant Recess"

In honor of the late Dr. Toni Yancey, we encourage you to plan a 10-minute recess with your students or staff!

Recapturing Recess, by Dr. Toni Yancey

Now I know
Y'all can remember
The recess bell

The wave of exhilaration
The sigh of relief
The sheer release

The transformation
Of fidgeting
Into linear motion

Raise up your hands
If you can remember
All that pent-up energy

Exploding
Into air and space
And wind and sunshine

And if you can recapture
Even a little of the joy
Of unbridled movement

Then just maybe
There's hope
For the couch potatoes

Those of you
Too worn down
Even to fidget

Think you need rest and food
But you toss and turn in bed
And meals don't really sit well

These bodies just weren't meant
For so much sittin' and standin'
And so little recess

UC CalFresh partners with many school districts in Fresno County. As part of our partnerships, we support and assist school districts in shaping and implementing their school wellness policies. 

Nutrition Education is an essential component of wellness, but in order to truly impact families, creating healthy school environments is also key. School wellness policies can create the infrastructure needed to create healthy school environments.

School wellness policies typically include 8 components of school health. The CDC website outlines these components in detail. 

Image credit: Southern 7 Health Department

Not sure where to find your school wellness policy? Check with the Food Service Director within your school district. The Dairy Council website also offers a searchable wellness policy database. 

If you would like to partner with UC CalFresh to improve the food and nutrition environment within your school district, please contact Shelby MacNab at smacnab@ucanr.edu or (559) 600-7222.

Incorporate nutrition education into language arts studies to provide students with additional opportunities to practice their writing.

This example comes from Lowell Elementary:

Each month, teachers enrolled in the UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program are provided with a healthy food for students to taste test.

Following the tasting, ask students to write about their experience. Did they enjoy the food? Can they describe the texture, shape, smell and flavor of the food? 

If you have any examples of writing prompts you've used in your classroom, we'd love to hear about them! Please comment below to share your best practices.

With colored paper and a few magazine clippings, Selma High School students have assembled a great nutrition corner featuring MyPlate. Great job Bears!