Healthy Schools in Action

Teachers can help create a healthy school environment by reinforcing messages that are taught in the classroom. When children are active and choose healthy foods, they are more ready to learn and perform academically.​ The following topics provide tips and ideas to guide their choices throughout the day. 

• Review the School Gardens:Tools for Education, Engagement, and Healthy Food Access PowerPoint presentation (or watch the recorded training) that highlights nutrition education and training resources that will remain available to all schools, ways school districts can remove barriers to gardening, and approaches to planning and implementing a garden that meets the specific interests and needs of individual schools or school districts.
• Provide non-food rewards to your students for good behavior.
• Encourage the school parent teacher organization to plan fundraisers that promote healthy foods and physical activity.
• Incorporate healthy foods into your classroom celebrations.
• When having food in the classroom, ask parents to provide healthy foods like fruits and vegetables.
• Promote drinking water throughout the school day.
• Link classroom nutrition education to foods that students are eating in the cafeteria.
• Promote school gardens as a hands-on learning opportunity to introduce fruits and vegetables and learn where food comes from to students.

Not sure where to start? This document helps you align efforts to create a healthy school environment with other school priorities.