Wyman students rewarded for healthy choices

By Tessa Roy
Posted 11/24/16

One college student is making an effort to help Warwick children learn to enjoy healthier food choices. Rachel Hobbs, a senior at the University of Rhode Island from Billerica, Massachusetts, spent time at Wyman School as part of her

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Wyman students rewarded for healthy choices

Posted

One college student is making an effort to help Warwick children learn to enjoy healthier food choices.

Rachel Hobbs, a senior at the University of Rhode Island from Billerica, Massachusetts, spent time at Wyman School as part of her community clinical. During lunchtimes, she and school nurse Bernadette McDowell would bring a “treasure chest” full of prizes like pencils, bubbles, necklaces and coloring books for kids who get caught eating healthy foods.

“It’s good to start getting kids to like healthy foods early so they’ll still like them later on in life,” Hobbs said.

Wyman Principal Ronald Celio said the work Hobbs and McDowell do has been educational to the Wyman community.

“It raises a consciousness within the students about nutrition,” Celio said. “They learn that what you eat affects how you’re feeling.”

Hobbs has always been interested in nutrition; if she wasn’t a nurse, she’d be a nutritionist, she said. Part of her nutrition-focused project involved touring Warwick to study the demographics of the city and of the school. She noticed kids were great at being active as schools provided tracks and playgrounds for them to use. With exercise covered, and with McDowell’s help, Hobbs got to work assisting Wyman students in improving their dietary habits. Things have changed greatly since the first time she visited the school.

“One kid told me all he’d eaten that day was Pop Tarts,” she said of her first day, adding that she also saw a lot of processed foods on the kids’ trays.

On Tuesday, though, kids in the cafeteria had plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains and yogurt at both lunchtimes and were excited about eating them. When Hobbs and McDowell entered the cafeteria with their “treasure chest,” kids waved their apples, carrot sticks and other healthy food items in the air for them to see.

“I’m hoping they stick with it,” Hobbs said.

Tuesday was her last day in the school, but McDowell plans to keep the effort up herself. She said parents have come into the school and told her they’re happy about the healthy food initiative, providing evidence that the students are taking their new knowledge home with them.

“Rachel has done a wonderful job with this,” said McDowell. “It’s been a pleasure to have her here and she’s wonderful with the kids.”

Hobbs will continue on with her senior year and work toward her goal of becoming a pediatric nurse practitioner. In addition to this project, she’s completing her pediatric clinical at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in Connecticut, is a member of a URI sorority, and is part of the Student Nurse Association.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here