810-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, July 21,2001
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Eating Right Is Basic
Program Teaches Kids to Whip Up Cool , Nutritious Treats
CAROLYN N. MOYER along nutrition educational sup-
Tioga Co. Correspondent plies including a giant food pyra-
WELLSBORO (Tioga Co.) mid, turkey bones and flour can-
What could be better on a warm isters
summer day than a frosty cool .j bring in a turkey bone that
drink. And, when that drink in- bas beg,, SO aking in bleach so the
eludes milk as a mam ingredient, kids can see what a porous bone
you get a wholesome dose of nu- looks like . , a , so show them how
tntion as well. much calcium is in your body at
Getting kids to drink more different ages. That’s where we
milk and include healthy foods in use the flour canisters. The flour
the diet is one of Dawn Bowers’ represents the total amount of
goals as a nutrition education ad- calcium in your body. I explain to
viser with Penn State Coopera- them that calcium is the mineral
tive Extension of Tioga County, that makes your bones hard,” she
Through her role, she works one said.
on one with elementary students, People are amazed when they
showing them how easy it is to see that a typica i adult has n
create delicious, nutritious cups G f calcium, at 15 years old,
snacks. She has also teamed up yo u have about seven cups of cal
with the dairy princess program cium) at age 10, three and a half
in order to further the message. cups, and a newborn has just 'A
“Our purpose is to find some
thing that the kids can do. We
also want to offer something that
can compete with soda and sug
ared drinks,” said Bowers. “We
went into eight schools from
April through June and reached
more than 500 kids.”
Her specialty this spring was
shaker drinks made with com
mon household ingredients.
‘There are common things you
can use to make these drinks,”
said Bowers. ‘You don’t need a
blender or electricity. All you
need is a container with a tight
fitting lid, ice cubes and the in
gredients for the drink.”
For most of her school visits,
Bowers chose to demonstrate the
“Chocolate Smoothie” and the
“Orange Dream Shake.”
The Chocolate Smoothie re
quires:
1 cup of cold milk
1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1-2 ice cubes
The Orange Dream Shake reci
pe calls for:
V\ cup orange juice
1 teaspoon sugar or maple
syrup
'/: cup milk
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
2-3 ice cubes
The secret is having a half full
container and ice cubes. It makes
the drink very frothy,” she said.
Recipe sheets with these reci
pes and others were given to the
kids as well as other nutrition in
formation.
Besides concocting delicious
shaker drinks, Bowers also totes
cup of calcium. A woman with
osteoporosis has only six and a
half cups of calcium.
Leona Schmouder, who
teaches third grade at Liberty El
ementary School, has been using
the project materials for several
years. “We choose about six units
each year. The children leam
about good nutrition and kitchen
safety habits. They also leam to
taste new things and actually
take part in making them,” she
said.
In addition to preparing and
tasting the shaker drinks, each
year Mrs. Schmouder’s class also
hosts a sandwich-tasting party
where kids are challenged to
bring sandwiches made from
something other than luncheon
meat.
“We get a lot of peanut butter
with anything you can think of,”
she said. This year we also had
one student bring in cheese with
green ketchup.”
Sandwiches are cut into small
pieces so students can sample dif
ferent concoctions.
“Some kids are more daring
than others. Some won’t try any
thing,” Mrs. Schmouder said.
The third graders at Liberty
also spend time talking about dif
ferent breakfast foods that they
can prepare by themselves.
“We always go to breakfast to
gether and talk about the differ
ent food groups in the meal.
“Anything we do with food, they
really enjoy.”
As with any good lesson, the
kids are encouraged to take the
information home and share their
knowledge with others. Each les
son comes with a worksheet full
of nutrition information and new
recipes to try, like taco pizza.
“I encourage them to get their
families involved,” said Bowers.
“I always ask them who is at
home who can help. That way we
get more people involved.”
How much calcium is in your bones at age 157 How much calcium is in an infant’s
bones? What about an adult’s bones? Here these kids try to match the age group with
the correct amount of calcium (represented by flour).
Dawn Bowers, nutrition education adviser with Penn State Cooperative Extension of
Tioga County, right, shows several students the secret of making a good shaker drink.
Farmer Mahlon Charles, Marietta, provides children
attending Lawton’s Child Care, Elizabethtown, a ride in
his blue fiber glass barrel train. Mahlon built the train in
memory of his grandson, Myron Charles, who at age two
experienced an accidental drowning on May 2, 2000.
Mahlon and his wife Hazel enjoy giving children pleasure
in memory of Myron.
Julian Guelig and Callie Brown, Trinity Lutheran
School in Wellsboro, enjoy a cool, nutritious treat.
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