KCSC’S HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING PROGRAM (HALP)
At Kennedy, we know that children need to be healthy and happy to reach their full potential. Below is a summary of some of the programs we’ve introduced as part of our Healthy Active Living Program (HALP), as well as advice on how to bring health home. Students, parents and staff have all gotten involved… together we are learning how much fun healthy living can be!
Cooking with Red Rabbit
Kennedy Child Study Center has been collaborating with Red Rabbit, a Harlem-based organization dedicated to improving childhood nutrition, since 2013. Red Rabbit regularly visits our schools in Manhattan and the Bronx to teach interactive lessons on nutrition and lead engaging cooking workshops where our students make and eat healthy foods like spinach quesadillas and fruit salads.
Part of our collaboration with Rad Rabbit has involved training instructors to better understand and engage students with developmental delays, who can present unique challenges that the instructors have not experienced in other schools. You can read about the success of the training program here.
Click here to see pictures from one of our food labs. For more information on Red Rabbit, we encourage you to visit their website or Facebook.
KCSC’s School Garden
What’s the best way to learn about healthy eating? Get your hands dirty! As part of our ongoing effort to enrich classroom activities through hands-on experience, KCSC uses funding from sources like IDEA and Farm 2 Preschool to support special projects in our schools – including a school garden!
School gardens are especially important for children growing up in urban environments with limited access to natural spaces. The school garden allows our students to plant their own food and watch it grow, fostering an understanding of how food is produced, why fruits and vegetables are necessary for a balanced diet, and creating a foundation of healthy tastes and habits that we hope will last a lifetime.
Spearheaded by some of our dedicated staff members, our students grow lettuce, radishes, and lots of other veggies and herbs in our Manhattan classrooms and on our Bronx rooftop: KCSC Garden News
The Lou Silver Healthy Eating Fund
Established in 2012 in honor of Lou Silver, a friend of KCSC and a passionate cook, the Lou Silver Healthy Eating Fund has allowed our staff members to created a number of initiatives that illustrate their creativity and commitment to healthy living. We are also proud to name the kid's kitchen in our new Manhattan school the Lou Silver Children's Kitchen, in honor of Lou's belief in the importance of early childhood nutrition. Click here for more information.
Other Nutrition News...
Renovating the Bronx Teaching Kitchen
KCSC has been awarded a grant by the Hyde and Watson Foundation to renovate our teaching kitchen in the Bronx! This support will allow us to make critical structural improvements to our kitchen, including the addition of kid-sized sinks, counter tops and appliances. Our new kitchen will allow us to expand our popular student, parent, and staff health programming with partners like Red Rabbit. Stay tuned for updates on our plans and construction!
Did you know that there are over three dozen farmers’ markets between Manhattan, Harlem and the Bronx? Did you also know that shopping at farmers’ markets doesn’t have to be more expensive than shopping at a normal grocery store? These locals markets sell the freshest food around, and with a little knowledge you can get fantastic produce for a great price.
How? Well, check out the following tips:
Health Bucks: Health Bucks are $2 vouchers that can be used to buy fruits and veggies at any farmers’ market in NYC. KCSC has collaborated with the Health Bucks programs and we often distribute Health Bucks at our extracurricular events. Like us on Facebook and stay up-to-date with the website to hear more about these fun events and get some Health Bucks for yourself!
Health Bucks and EBT: Did you know that you can use EBT at the farmers’ market? And it gets better: for every $5 of EBT you spend, you get $2 worth of Health Bucks! That means that your $5 turns into $7… which turns into a lot more delicious food for you and your family.
See What’s Cookin’, Kids! NYC Farmers’ Markets often host fun events for the whole family. See What’s Cookin’, Kids is a series of FREE cooking classes for parents and children under six years old. It’s a great way to teach children about the importance of fruits and veggies, while you get a chance to spend your Health Bucks.
BRINGING HEALTH HOME
Nemours: Healthy Kids, Healthy Future
Nemours has great tips on keeping you and your family happy and healthy.