Published: March 22, 2009 11:40 pm      

West Side pupils learning healthy eating habits

Pupils at Greater Johnstown School District’s West Side Elementary School will be “Going for the Green” when the doors open today.

From Monday through Friday, the children will keep track of all the green vegetables they eat both at home and in school, said Assistant Principal Raymond Arcurio.

“They will be marking down all the green vegetables they will eat throughout the week,” he said.

Classes will hold various activities in connection with the green theme, Arcurio said.

The activities will be chosen at the discretions of individual teachers, he said.

West Side’s pupil enrollment is prekindergarten through fifth grade.

The purpose of “Going for the Green” is to make the pupils more aware of the importance of eating a healthy diet, the assistant principal said.

The program’s theme won’t exactly be new to the school.

Ever since the beginning of the 2008-09 term, pupils have been participating in a Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program.

In that program – funded through a government grant – each student receives a snack of a fruit or a vegetable each afternoon in their classrooms.

Teachers schedule various activities in connection with the fruits and vegetables.

The snacks do not interrupt classroom work, Arcurio said.

“The kids love it (the snack time),” he said.

He added that a parent came to him earlier this school year praising Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.

Until the program began in September, the parent said that vegetable was a bad word in his house.

Now, those children look forward to eating their fruits and vegetables, Arcurio said with a smile.

In fact, the West Side’s program has been so successful that plans are to expand it next school year to East Side Elementary School as well, he said.