There’s always something new brewing at Hillside, and right now it’s our NEW Nutrition Committee!  The Nutrition committee was formed in the hopes of improving the healthiness of the lunch and snack items offered at the school, keeping parents informed of the food service policies of the district, and helping provide more awareness of healthy eating options for students and families.  Thanks to Mindy Robinson, the Nutrition Committee Chair, what started as an interest to offer healthier lunch options at Hillside has grown into a full fledged committee making real changes.

Over the past couple months, Mindy, and her committee, have been working with our food service provider Aramark to include a variety of healthy options to our children during lunch, as well as update the school lunch calendars to be easier to read and include additional nutritional information.  Our children now have the options of celery sticks, cucumber coins and dip, grapes and mandarin oranges.

On top of this, the committee plans to host monthly, fun Healthy Education Lunch Activities.  On February 28th, the first of these activities was held, and it was a hit with the kids.

Elle Bernardo, the Dietician from Shoprite, ran a healthy food inspired basketball game, where the children were given a type of food, and they would throw the basketball into the correct bin, based off whether it was good for you, ok in moderation, or not healthy.  The children really enjoyed this activity, and learned a few new things in the process!

For March, which is National Nutrition Month, they will be pairing up with our annual Nutrition Month Fruit Vote, where the students get the opportunity to sample a variety of fruit and vote for their favorite one.

The Nutrition Committee has also partnered up with Hillside’s Student Council and have started the Healthy Huskies Newsletter.  In this monthly newsletter you will find information on the progress the committee is making, fun jokes, tips and a recipe provided by the student council!

Check out the first edition of the Healthy Huskies Newsletter Here!

After all the snow we’ve been having, I’m sure we’re all dreaming of summer, so check out this Aloha Smoothie recipe demonstrated by Hillside’s Student Council Vice President, Phoebe!

Thank you so much to the Nutrition Committee and Student Council.  We can’t wait to see what else you have in store for us!