for public schools' visual arts programs
Printer Friendly Version2009 Sapphire Award
FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH EXCELLENCE
FROM THE BLUE FOUNDATION FOR A
HEALTHY FLORIDA
The Education Fund won the prestigious 2009 Sapphire Award along with $100,000
from the Blue Foundation for a Healthy
Florida at a ceremony held Dec. 2 in
CNI’s seed-to-table schoolyard edible gardens program was created three years ago to counter the alarming rate of childhood obesity, diabetes and other conditions due to poor nutrition literacy and eating habits among at-risk students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). Students plant, maintain and harvest vegetable gardens over the school year while relating the lessons in the garden to multidisciplinary classroom exercises. Parents take part in planting and attend workshops on preparing healthy meals.
Positive data from CNI participants shows
an 80% increase in children who report eating vegetables with lunch and that
88% of parents are preparing healthier foods.
The
Sapphire Award selection committee recognized CNI’s hands-on and
cross-curricular approach to learning as “…a sustainable method of ensuring the
ongoing health of Floridians by changing students’ attitudes towards food and nutritional awareness.”
“This
program is a model of community collaboration, involving key stakeholders—educators,
parents, students, chefs, gardeners, community wellness advocates, etc.—in an
effort to teach students, and subsequently families, the importance of a
nutritious lifestyle,” the committee wrote.
“With
this fabulous confirmation that we are on the right track, we are one step
closer to ensuring that every school has an edible garden and every child has
improved health and eating habits for a lifetime,” said
