Watertown Public Schools are committed to the optimal development of every student. The Food Service Department and faculty work hard to ensure students are provided quality nutrition education in school-age years to reinforce lifelong healthy eating habits that contribute to a student’s overall well-being.

It is part of the goal of Watertown’s Wellness Policy to gear health education toward personal behaviors and habits, to resist peer and wider pressures to make unhealthy choices, and to emphasize learning and practicing skills students need for healthy living.

In making these wellness policy goals a reality, Watertown has partnered with Framingham State University and their Coordinated Program in Dietetics to provide nutrition education to their students.

On December 2, 2019, student dietitian Kelly Lucke taught second grade students at Watertown Elementary about MyPlate and the importance of incorporating all five food groups into their diets through a lesson titled Fun with Food Groups. In the lesson, students danced to a catchy song, Alive with Five, while each holding a picture of a different food. When the music stopped, students had fun figuring out what food group their card belonged to with the 5 categories from MyPlate posted throughout the room.

By the end of the lesson, all of the students were able to make a breakfast, lunch, and dinner that included each of the five food groups. Students also enjoyed sharing details of their favorite snack in each of the categories!

To explore more resources regarding nutrition education and other interesting lesson plans to implement in your school, please visit The John C. Stalker Institute 资源中心.

Submitted by: Kelly Lucke, FSU Graduate Food and Nutrition Student in the Coordinated Program in dietetics.