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!