September 13, 2012 pdf edition - Quaboag Current

PAGE 8 A Turley Publication • www.turley.com I Thursday, September 13, 2012
– education -
Teacher of the Week
WEST BROOKFIELD -
Karen came to teaching after
a 20-year career in banking.
Working four day work weeks
as a part-time assistant manager
in a bank branch, she spent
her Fridays volunteering in
the school district her children
were enrolled in. Realizing
how enjoyable she found it, she
enrolled in Leslie University
through the weekend cohort
program when her youngest
son was only one. Attending
school with a young child, plus
older ones, at home was challenging
but she says, “If it’s
what you really want to do, you
can do it.”
The 2012-2013 school year
is Karen’s third year in the
District, all spent at WBES in
the fi fth grade. She previously
spent three years teaching in
the Palmer School District.
“A lot of people cringe at
this age (of children), but it is
my favorite age,” says Karen.
“Watching kids grow, helping
them to grow, guiding them
to be independent, those are
my favorite parts of this.” She
has a scavenger hunt prepared
for the fi rst day of school each
year, so that the kids can locate
things in the classroom like the
box of tissues and where the
date is displayed. “I have a little
video, it is an old commercial
I think, of some people going
up an escalator and then when
5th Grade Teacher
at West Brookfi eld
Elementary School
Meet Karen Oliveira
the escalator breaks down all
the people panic because they
don’t know how to get off. At
this age, (the kids) need to learn
how to get themselves off the
escalator,” she explained. Tools
such as the scavenger hunt allow
her students to become
self-suffi cient at a rate that is
appropriate for their psychological
development, and she
fi nds a lot of joy in guiding her
students on this path.
With the wide array of lesson
plans available, Karen fi nds the
most challenging part of her job
uncovering the one’s that are
most valuable. “It’s important
to keep up with technology, and
I don’t want to use things that
will be outdated quickly. It is
challenging to weed out what is
most important from all the tools
available to me,” she says. Time
management is essential, as is
fi nding the lessons that provide
the most pertinent information
in an effi cient manner.
As WBES assigns classrooms
according to the grade
level and the teacher’s last
name, Karen’s classroom is 5-
O. Karen joked that she could
never switch to another grade
level, as she has family in Hawaii
and anything besides 5-O
just wouldn’t sound right to
her. Hanging on her classroom
wall is a “Hawaii 5-O” T-shirt,
adding a mix of personal fl air to
her classroom’s title.
A Brand New Year of Classes
By Jessica Peltz
Student Intern
WARREN - There are
many different feelings roaming
around Quaboag Regional
Middle/High School as the students
and teachers enter into
their fi rst few weeks of classes.
Students and teachers alike
are buzzing about their studies.
They talked about their
likes and dislikes about the
fi rst day of school and the different
subjects being taught.
Christopher Bailey, teacher
of History and English, said
that the biggest thing of all is
meeting all of the new students
coming in.
“I was defi nitely forward to
school starting back up again.
It gives me something exciting
to do,” says Bailey.
Alton Button, special education
teacher and basketball
coach, says, “I dread going
back to work at the end of
summer vacation, but once I’m
back, I enjoy it. I love meeting
all of the new kids and seeing
all of my colleagues again.”
The teachers may love being
back at school, however,
some of the students have a little
different perspective on returning.
Miranda Prentiss, junior,
said that she loves seeing
her friends. “It’s the best part
of my day,” says Miranda.
Jason Norman, sophomore,
said that his fi rst day of school
was fun and his favorite part
of the day was his study period.
One student that I talked
to had a refreshing perspective
on returning to school. “I like
the fact that I am enlightening
myself everyday,” Nicole Norman,
senior, adds a new point
of view to the crowd. Whether
they like or hate the fi rst day,
it is most defi nitely an interesting
experience for everyone.
Rethinking the lunchbox
MA School Nutrition Standards for Competitive
Foods and Beverages implemented at QRSD
By Jennifer Robert
Turley Publications Reporter
WARREN - Signed into
law on July 30, 2010, the “Act
Relative To School Nutrition” is
now upon us. Effective Aug. 1,
2012, immediately prior to the
start of the 2012-2013 school
year, standards for competitive
foods and beverages went live.
The Massachusetts Department
of Public Health states that,
“the goal of the standards is to
ensure that public schools offer
students food and beverage
choices that will enhance learning,
contribute to their healthy
growth and development, and
cultivate life-long healthy eating
behaviors.” The regulations
set forth in the Act apply only
to competitive foods and beverages
such as a la carte items, not
those part of a federal nutrition
program. Janice King, director
of Nutrition for the Quaboag
Regional School District, said
that there are changes that are
coming for federal nutrition
standards as well. So how does
this translate on our children’s
lunch trays?
“Students won’t see much
change here,” said King, “because
for us it has been a gradual
change. We are constantly
growing and developing, seeing
what works and what doesn’t.
We’ve been keeping an eye on
things right along, and there
is very little food in our trash.
Kids are eating the food we give
them.” There are some changes
though. While Quaboag has
introduced more whole grain
options, the emphasis with the
upcoming federal changes will
be on more whole grains and
fruits and vegetables. “We used
to think about an entree, and
then plan the meal around it.
You know, we are having chicken,
so what will we have with
the chicken. That is the old way
of thinking. The new way is to
create a plate that has whole
grains, and fruit and vegetables,
and then add in your protein.”
Christopher Bailey, History and English.
King cited myplate.gov as an
excellent resource for parents
to rework their menus and get a
graphic idea of what their plates
should look like.
King said that there are some
marketing materials going up in
the cafeterias and being handed
out in the classrooms to familiarize
students with the new
menu planning. Decals on the
lunch lines and posters on the
walls will offer a glance at what
a healthy meal looks like; bookmarks
handed out to all students
will allow them a reference at
home, and provide a great starting
point for a conversation on
nutrition. One part of the federal
guidelines coming up includes
the regulation that all reimbursable
meals, such as those that
are part of the School Breakfast
Program and the School Lunch
Program, must contain at least
three different food groups on
the student tray, with at least
one being a fruit or vegetable.
“It’s a challenge to get kids to
eat them,” confessed King, “because
they aren’t getting them at
home.” Quaboag uses some tactics
to make them more appealing,
such as seasonings, which
most districts do not.
The MA Competitive Food
Bill also eliminates the use of
artifi cial sweeteners, and calls
for a reduction in the amount of
sugar and salt in the food. King
explained that last year, the salad
dressing came in two ounce
servings; they have reduced sodium
by scaling that back to one
and a half ounces this year. Four
ounce juice cups have replaced
the old 10 ounce juice bottles,
and the new chocolate milk
has 18 grams of carbohydrates,
compared to last years 22.
While it sounds at fi rst like
TURLEY PUBLICATIONS PHOTOS BY JENNIFER ROBERT
The Quaboag Regional High School had its fi rst lo-mein bar day in the cafeteria recently.
Students had the option to select which protein and vegetables were added to their noodles,
and the meal came packaged in a festive take-out style carton, complete with chopsticks.
The bar was a big hit according to King, “the students seemed to really love it.”
Senior Rock in the front of Quaboag.
Senior Nicole Norman and sophomore
Jason Norman getting ready
to head to school.
there are a lot of restrictions, the
variety of lunches available to
the students has been increased
by a great deal. Last year, the
elementary schools offered yogurt
parfaits on Tuesdays only,
and salads on Thursdays only.
This year, the students have a
choice of a hot lunch, a salad,
a sandwich or a parfait each
day that lunch is served. The
high school students have even
more options coming their way,
with the introduction of a make
your own soup station three
days a week, and looking forward,
paninis, smoothies and
a lo mien bar. The District has
also switched from Thurston
Foods as a vendor to Cisco Boston.
“We are still trying to fi nd
the products, make sure we
get them on time,” said King,
“There is a little bit of a learning
curve. The students have access
to a lot of foods we did not have
with Thurston, though, and I
think that it is going to work out
very well.”
Quaboag has also made
some great strides in bringing
nutrition into the classroom.
Last spring, the nutrition program
funded fi ve scholarships
for teachers to go the Massachusetts
Farm to School Convention.
The premise was the
teachers would go and learn
valuable information on nutrition
and self-sustaining food
production and then return to
incorporate those lessons into
their classrooms. Some of the
topics that were covered including
agriculture, composting and
greenhousing.
Good nutrition comes at a
cost, as we all know, and the
challenges to the Nutrition
program are there. “It is very
challenging,” stated King. “The
invoices are coming in for the
start of the school year, and
they are enormous.” Good planning
has made optimal nutrition
a possibility here, however.
King explained that the Nutrition
program is self-funded, and
considers the upgrades to equipment
and better food options an
investment. King acknowledges
that cost can be prohibitive to
packing a nutritionally sound
cold lunch and says that the
school lunch is, “the most amazing
value in your food budget.”