ROCKSTAR: (noun) ordinary person doing extraordinary things in the community
If you have recently picked up a local paper, you have probably come across articles pertaining to the Harvest of the Month program that has been implemented in all elementary schools throughout the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District. It is a program that has been around less than 2 years, but even in its infancy it has had a profound effect on the way kids view food. Teachers are not required to participate in the program, but if they have the extra time, or the extra parental help, most do. Kings Beach Elementary teacher, Dana Hurt, had neither, and was initially unable to participate – that is until fifth grader Ben Snyder piped up.
Ben wanted to know why the program that supports healthy food choices and exposes students to seasonal, local fruits and vegetables wasn’t a part of his classroom. When it was explained that there simply wasn’t anyone to take on the task, Mrs. Hurt and Ben decided he would do it. For the past five months, Ben has provided information to his fellow students about where food comes from, what its nutritional benefits are, and the importance of physical activity.
‘I get nervous sometimes, but it’s okay,’ says Ben. Kids then get to experience the food themselves, through touch, taste and smell. Ben agrees that some fruits and veggies are better than others, ‘so far we’ve had winter squash, persimmons, dried fruit, mandarin oranges and cabbage, but I didn’t like the persimmons much – they were too sweet.’ But Ben says he has never walked away with leftovers, so he must be doing something right.
Actually, ‘something right’ is an understatement. Ben also participates in The Tahoe Truckee Nutrition Coalition, the committee’s only student, meeting with teachers once a month to discuss healthier cafeteria options, how to increase physical activity among students, and how to boost their consumption of fruits and vegetables. Though lunch options meet state and federal regulations, they have a ways to go before they will be considered ‘healthy.’ However, the committee has inspired a complete overhaul of the snacks offered during recess – carrots, apples, and celery sticks oh my!
One of the ideas Ben and his mom came up with was to have a competition between classrooms on which class could log the most workout minutes. Each student is responsible for logging their activity hours and having it signed by a parent and turned into their teacher each month. Minutes will be added, and the class with the most ‘get up and go’ will win an activity prize such as a trip to the bowling alley. The competition starts April 1.
When he’s not busy advocating for fruits and vegetables, what else does he do? He’s a basketball and baseball fanatic, who plays for the Kings Beach Cardinals. First base is his favorite position because it gets the ‘most action.’ According to Mrs. Hurt, ‘I have never had a more respectful student in my class. He is a gentleman… at such a young age! [Ben] is very smart, he is a GATE student, and has ambitions to attend Stanford, the alma-mater of his father.’
Ben appears to have what so many of us adults strive to achieve our entire lives – the courage to make things happen when nobody else will. Maybe he has that kind of drive because he’s young and untainted. Maybe it’s easy for him since he hasn’t experienced the fear of failure yet. Or maybe, just maybe, he does it because he’s a ROCKSTAR.
