Willard Alum Shares "Local" Knowledge

On Tuesday March 13th I had the privilege of teaching and being taught by Mr. Altieri’s enthusiastic 2nd graders. My name is Natalie Azar and I’m a student at Montclair State University, a few credits short of graduating with a bachelor’s in nutrition. Being a Willard alumni it was no surprise that the class had excellent listening and participation skills.

Ms. Azar picking apples at www.alstedefarms.com

The main focus of my presentation “Good For Me, Good For My Planet” is that it is better for both our bodies and for our planet to consume produce grown locally. The students mapped out different regions of the world where we get some produce ex. tomatoes from Italy, pineapples from the Philippines, bananas from Mexico, etc. and saw how far a distance these foods have to travel to get to our plates.

After, I showed them one of the 38 farms and nurseries in Bergen County. We looked at pictures from Alstede Farms because this farm offers many fresh fruits and vegetables between May-November. The students shared that many of them have been to this farm or others where they can pick their own apples, strawberries, and pumpkins.

Photo by: F Delventhal

We finished the class by drawing an ideal plate with all five food groups and how we should strive to make our plates complete everyday. Balanced meals give us the energy we need to do well in school and have plenty of fun in this beautiful warm weather!

Find out more about making a trip to www.alstedefarms.com

Click for tips on local eating and nutrition shared in Ms. Azar's presentation.

Time to Head Out and Play!

As we focus on wellness here at Willard, we are noticing the direct connection between the health of people and the health of our environment. How do we keep ourselves healthy? How do we create a healthy environment? We see this as one question, not two separate questions. And our response? Seek out deep nature connections.


How do you do this? One way to try it, and this is a tough one... Get outside and play! Yes, the project is that simple.


We are thinking that we can help inspire each other to be more active, healthy, and Earth-conscious. Here's how you can be part of the inspiration: Whenever you find yourself out somewhere, send us a photo from the location. Go ahead and use your smartphone and send them to willard.wellness@gmail.com. We'll share the photos in class, and we'll post them on a our wellness bulletin board. If it's ok with you, we'll also share them on our websites (we will not share photos online that have student faces).

There is mounting research to confirm what many of us adults remember about our childhoods. That our free, unstructured play offered something powerful for our development. We were trusted by our parents to explore the neighborhood and world around us. There is a lot of interesting research that now begs the question, "Why are we spending so much time indoors?"


Here are a few links that might be of interest, and you might find one or more of them worth sharing:


The Benefits of Nature Play:
http://kelleyward.hubpages.com/hub/The-Healing-Effects-Of-Nature


Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514


Get Outside and Play Challenge... There's no bad weather, just bad clothes. Bundle up!
http://www.activekidsclub.com/fresh-air-living/feature/every-day-is-play-day-week-challenge.html


The More High Tech Schools Become, the More They Need Nature:
http://www.childrenandnature.org/blog/2011/09/07/the-more-high-tech-schools-become-the-more-nature-they-need/


We offer space in the classroom for students to share those things that they are passionate about. At home and at school your children are trusted to explore their interests in some wonderful ways! If there are discoveries, stories or more that come from this, more than the photos of your travels into the backyard and beyond, we are happy to give them a forum to share. This is one way we support one another.


Thanks and we're excited to be inspired to play!

Turn It Off -> Power Up!

Willard's Earth-minded students, the Green Ambassadors have noticed that being green and being well go together. We have found that the health of people is closely related to the health of the planet.

The more time we spend
caring for ourselves and enjoying the Earth,
the less energy we waste!

Turn It Off -> Power Up! from Willard Wellness on Vimeo.


This first video is a reminder to save electricity and get outside to play (one way to reduce pollution!). We have to thank our friends and mentors of Ridgewood High School's club Students for Environmental Action for sharing their Turning Off The Lights Project.


Some other things we've learned will be highlighted in future video projects. We have found that: healthy people create healthy environments, and healthy environments create healthy people. We want Willard to be as strong as can be. Also, there's a link between healthy soil and growing healthy foods... and any of that healthy produce can go right back in the compost bin. No waste!


So we could use your help with this video project. Watch our video (above) and then respond with ways that you will turn off the power and get outdoors. We would like to add these ideas to the next movie. We would even love to have you answer our video with your own video! Up for the challenge? Let us know how you get your Earth connection!

The Kearns and Altieri Farm Report

Check out Mr. Kearns's and Mr. Altieri's trip to Stone Barns Farm

[Made possible by the Whole Foods: Nominate Your Teacher Award!]

Thanks to all the hard work of the Willard community, we are known for being one of the most Earth-minded and green places in our town! Everyday, Willard students and staff are making choices to care for the Earth in creative ways... we recycle, compost, protect our grounds, save power and get outside!

Mr. Altieri and Mr. Kearns had the opportunity to keep this tradition going by learning more about healthy ecosystems in a trip to Stone Barns farm, not far from Tarrytown, NY. By talking to farmers and harvesting greens and eggs, the teachers got to experience a system of healthy foods, people, animals and soil. They are finding ways to help us all play our parts in helping us be the best! We are looking forward to an even healthier environment here at Willard. Maybe even our own crops...


and how about a few chickens!? ;-)

 

Check out more about the Stone Barns Center here.

Wellness Wednesday Returns!

Thanks for participating in Wellness Wednesday last year everyone! We are all stronger for the colorful, power packed foods we ate. Our compost bins are well fed too! Wellness Wednesday helps create zero-waste since we compost fruit and vegetable left-overs. This means a healthier YOU and a healthier ENVIRONMENT.


Now get ready for Wednesday, October 5th! This year we will run Wellness Wednesday EVERY Wednesday. October is ORANGE month. EVERY Wednesday in October (that means 10/5, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26) wear ORANGE and bring in ORANGE fruits and/or veggies for lunch. The produce section (or your backyard garden or local farm!) are great places to find these foods. This ensures less packaging too. Did you ever notice that the healthiest, freshest foods don't come in a package?

Considering orange food ideas? See if you can find: apricots, grapefruit, mango, nectarines, oranges, papayas, squashes, carrots, pumpkin, yellow beets, yams, and certain tomatoes.

Orange foods are full of powerful antioxidants that can be good for your joints and keep your body clean. Thanks for celebrating Wellness Wednesday with us!

It's Time to PLAY!

Did you notice that the bulbs each of us planted in November are sprouting up around Willard? That was the sign that we would look for. So we now know it's now time to get out to play! We asked some students about the best places to play around Willard. We found that the Willard field is one of the best places to play in Willard neighborhood.

Image: Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


As we work on being our healthiest, we find that healthy environments are important too. We are sure to recycle and compost our waste here at school. Getting out to play with nature is also a great way to strengthen ourselves and our environment. There are studies that explore the benefits of unstructured playtime. This recent article highlights some of the ideas: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Case-for-Play/126382/


A quote from the article:
"...according to researchers, not just because play reduces stress and makes children more socially competent—which evidence suggests that it does. It matters also because play supposedly improves working memory and self-regulation; in other words, it makes kids sharper and better-behaved."


We have also noticed that the Children and Nature Network support some great initiatives to remind us to get outside: http://www.childrenandnature.org/

You might also just know it in your bones... playtime is the best time, and some of the best lessons happen once you were turned out from dawn to dusk, playing in your neighborhood.


So how do you play? Don't just sit there, go for it!


Be well!

An All Natural Hand Sanitizer

For hands that are clean, moisturized and sweet smelling, try an all natural, alcohol-free hand sanitizer.  Especially helpful during flu season!  In the video below, two Earth-minded Ridgewood students, Matthew and Talia, share their secret for preventing the spread of disease when soap and water are not available.  Calling upon the power of herbs and plants, this basic mixture will keep you clear of dried out, alcohol scented hands while supporting your health!

Many in the Willard School community use this mixture regularly and will find others asking about the great smell.  The mixture is derived from a recipe designed by thieves to protect themselves from the bubonic plague.  Really!

Read more about the story and benefits of using these herbs at Dr. Larry Rosen, M.D.'s blog The Whole Child.  Thanks to Dr. Rosen for sharing the recipe, which can be found below.  Also read more about herbs and flu prevention in his latest newsletter.

Be well!

Washing hands with regular soap and water is still recommended to prevent the spread of disease.

All Natural Hand Sanitizer Recipe

1. In a small bowl, put one drop each of the following essential oils:

cinnamon, clove, rosemary and eucalyptus.

2. Add five drops of lemon essential oil. Mix in 1 ounce of water and 1/2 teaspoon aloe vera gel (available at pharmacies and health food stores).

3. Store in an airtight container or a small travel-size bottle.

Note: Essential oils can be purchased online or at health food stores.
Alternative: Instead of purchasing the 5 separate essential oils, use 5 drops of the "Thieves" blend from Young Living Essential Oils (www.youngliving.com).

Roasted Root Veggies!

Last month we celebrated Wellness Wednesday with orange and yellow foods.  Some of those foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash taste great roasted.  Roasting vegetables is a simple way to get vitamins, minerals and great sugars into your diet.  They offer a short prep time and easy cooking.  Below is a recipe from Dr. Andrew Weil for roasted vegetables as seen in the New York Times.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/dr-weils-simple-roasted-root-vegetables/