Last month, our Fuel Up to Play 60 team and I went over to the local elementary school and had a smoothie taste day. The elementary school hosts children who range from ages 5 to 7 in grades Kindergarten through 2nd. I am happy to say that the day was a huge success. We made a variety of smoothies and the students told us which ones they loved, liked, or disliked. The most popular flavor was made with peach yogurt and fresh strawberries. Coming in second place was peach yogurt with mixed berries. The mixed berries contained strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
In all, we had a great day. The team worked great together and we were able to serve every student in the elementary school, which averages approximately 300 students. Even the teachers sampled our smoothies and said that they were good. Our Fuel Up to Play 60 team in my high school is small right now since this was our first year, but with successful events like this one I have no doubt that we will continue to grow. The FUTP60 members who were present were Hailey, Zoey, Nakeem, Victoria, and myself, Ayanna. We also had three Program Advisors on location, Miss Kelly Reilly alongside my mother and father who are also my Program Advisors.
Our original idea was to have a smoothie bike on location to make it more exciting for the kids but that did not work out. However, Miss Riley came up with the idea to meet with the high school physics teacher and see if he could assist the Fuel Up to Play 60 team with building their own blender bike for next school year. This would be exciting for both the students who build the bike as well as the students who get the chance to ride the bike and make a smoothie. It’s the best of both worlds by combining both healthy eating and physical activity. We will keep everyone updated as this plan unfolds.
In short, despite running into a few bumps in the road during the school year, our event ended up being a great success. The kids loved the smoothies and the team had a blast making them. The most impressive part was getting the younger students to try something new. As students arrived at the station, many of them were quick to tell us how they did not like certain fruits like blueberries or black berries but once they tried the smoothie they were impressed by how good it was. I think that we were able to show them that if they take a chance and try different things they will be surprised at how much they actually like it. I love that we were able to introduce many of the students to some new fruits that they would have never tried otherwise. We were also able to give away some FUTP 60 merchandise as incentives for students to join the program and for teachers to get involved.
Our smoothie day was so much fun and I am looking forward to our next event. We are now in the discussion stage of starting a Breakfast After the Bell program next school year and it would of course include our smoothies! I have attached some pictures to show a little of what our day was like. However, the pictures do nothing to show how much fun we had and how well we all worked together to get things done.
Ayanna
Pennsylvania
9th Grade