Wellness "Smoothie" Event - May 30th during lunches

Thursday, May 30^th will be our 2nd Wellness Committee Tasting event and will feature fresh Strawberry Smoothies at lunchtime.  We need volunteers that morning to wash and trim the berries, set up tables, bring blenders, and create a delicious healthy treat for the kids during the three lunch periods.  Please let me know if you’re available to help that day!

Shift 1:  5 wash/prep/set-up helpers starting at drop-off 8:15 – 10:15  

Shift 2:  5 Smoothie makers for the lunch periods:  8^th grade 10:21-10:46; 7^th grade 11:23-11:48; 6^th grade 12:25-12:50  

Shift 3:   clean-up crew 1-2 pm.  

Thank you,

Heather Macintosh

Wellness Chair

heathermac@verizon.net

Wellness Issue

Hello Bates Middle School Community,

On the heels of the Wellness Committee's tasting of the greens event this past Friday, we present a national wellness issue as spearheaded locally by Heather MacIntosh, the Wellness Committee Chair.  Please consider signing the petition below which is working toward making High School start times later than 7:17am.

Deirdre

Sign the petition for Start School Later:   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have linked sleep deprivation in teens to a host of physical and mental health problems, including an increased risk of depression, suicidal thoughts, obesity, substance abuse, and other risky behaviors.  Further, studies link more sleep to academic success.  Click here for just the latest article in a growing body of work on the importance of sleep in students.  Healthy sleep schedules, along with exercise and good nutrition, make up the three essential ingredients.  Anne Arundel County has the earliest High School start time in Maryland (7:17 a.m. with bus pick-ups as early as 6:00).  Our High Schools start time is among the earliest in the country!

As well as working on the national level meeting with federal health and education groups and pursue legislation to set a minimum healthy start time across the country, there is a local chapter working to try and budge AACPS on this issue and make a positive change for our own kids.

http://signon.org/sign/set-8-am-as-the-earliest?source=c.url&r_by=5770397

We have a brand new petition, on Signon.org, and I would really appreciate it if you would take a look. There is background information on the petition itself and an easy way to share through Facebook, twitter and email.

If you support the idea, please sign and pass it on to as many of your contacts and networks of friends and colleagues as you can.  Ignore the request for $5 for SignOn, unless you’re interested, and feel free to opt out of future mailings – if you’d like to hear more about Start School Later, please visit the website at www.startschoollater.net and join the newsletter mailing list.

Thank you,
Heather MacIntosh
Wellness Chairperson
Bates Middle School

Wellness Committee Tasting

Hello Bates Middle School Community,

Did you know that your Bates student sampled kale chips and pumpkin, squash and apple soup during their lunch period yesterday?  What a great event this was and attendance was great!  Of course, the students have to attend lunch so we had a captive audience.  Tara Boyle from Fresh Farms had a farm stand set up.  She gave a short presentation about farm stands in the local area which surprisingly fired up the students.

Thank you to Heather Macintosh, our Wellness Chair, along with her committee members who put on this event.  Using the Bates cafeteria, they MADE enough kale chips for 750 students.  Thank you to Debbie Gill, the Bates cafeteria manager, for sharing her ovens and space with the Wellness Committee.  Last, but not least, The Palate Pleasers, in Eastport made the pumplin, squash and apple soup from all fresh ingredients and enough for the entire school to sample more than once.  The recipes follow and were handed out to the students.

Kale Chips


Ingredients:
1 bag of chopped kale or one large head of fresh kale.
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
½ tsp – 1 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F
Carefully cut off the thick stems (ribs) and chop the leaves into potato-chip-sized pieces. Wash under running water in a colander and dry really well using a salad spinner or by patting with a kitchen towel or paper towels.
On a baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil and toss like a salad till the oil just coats the kale. Sprinkle with some salt – just a bit “to taste”. Spread out in a single layer and bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food.
Makes about four servings.
Nutrition information:
Per serving: 169 calories, 42% of calories from fat, 8 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 22 g carbohydrates, 7 g protein, 160 mg sodium, 8 g fiber. Kale comes from the family of plants that includes mustard greens, broccoli and other foods in the cabbage, or cruciferous, family. These vegetables are loaded with vitamins (such as A, C, K and B), iron, calcium and fiber


Savory Sweet Squash Soup


Ingredients:
1 lb pumpkin, washed, peeled, seeded and chopped into chunks (have an adult do this!)
1 lb butternut squash, washed, peeled, seeded and chopped into chunks
5 Apples (Stayman, Granny Smith, Gala) – washed, peeled and chunked
2 Onions, chopped
1 ½ Cups low sodium chicken broth
1 ½ cups Apple Cider
Season with fresh ginger, maple syrup, salt and pepper to taste and a squeeze of lemon juice

Directions:
Simmer all together until soft.  Cool completely then use a blender to puree until smooth.

Wellness Committee October Tasting Event

Hi Bates MS Community,

The PTA Wellness Committee is holding a Fresh Fall Tasting event on Friday, October 26th during all lunch periods (10:00 am - 1:15 pm).  FreshFarm Market will set up a real market stand in the middle of the cafeteria.  We will be offering tastes of yummy pumpkin, squash and apple soup as well as baked kale chips.  The recipes and nutritional information will be shared with the students.  Please encourage your student to participate by sampling on Friday!

The PTA Wellness Committee will need 5-6 volunteers for the kale chip preparation on Thursday, Oct 25th.        We will also need volunteers for set-up, serving and clean-up on Friday, October 26th from 10-2 pm.

Please contact Heather Macintosh at heathermac@verizon.net, if you can volunteer.

Thank you,
Deirdre