Greetings from your Tee Jay Vikings Fund team.
I hope this email finds you well and enjoying the final days of summer. Here at Tee Jay Vikings Fund, we’re ramping up for the fall!
There is a growing concern for and interest in school nutrition. We at TJVF want to enact positive change for students at Thomas Jefferson High School through the creation of a Student Nutrition and Cooking Club or SNACC. We’re just beginning and are creating partnerships to work toward making this happen; so the time is ripe (no pun intended) for your commitment to serve our students and their families through better health!
If you have an interest or expertise in health, nutrition, cooking and improved general wellbeing JOIN US! Let’s make a difference in the lives of TJ students; teaching about food and its benefits, modeling healthy food choices and mentoring through food preparation and cooking, alongside our students.
The purpose of this message is to gauge the interest level amongst our Tee Jay supporters – that’s you. To that end, a brief summary of the program as it currently stands is attached. A meeting outlining SNACC’s roll out is planned for September 12th at 7pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church, located at 4103 Monument Ave. You will enter by the office entrance off Antrim Ave. Will you, can you attend this meeting so we can brainstorm together? And, please share this with any of your friends who may have an interest and/or expertise in this topic.
With appreciation for your continued support,
Warren Pierce
TJVF Chairman
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Student Nutrition and Cooking Club
“SNACC”
MOTIVATION
According to various statistics, nearly one in three children in the United States is overweight or obese. Obese children face an increased risk for chronic illness, miss more school days and have poorer academic outcomes than their appropriate-weight peers.
Through SNACC the primary objective is to provide information, model healthy nutrition and motivate its student members to encourage positive change in the quality of food served at home and at school. A positive outgrowth of this will be a higher consciousness of the importance of healthy eating and peer and parent accountability to that end.
VISION
SNACC’s vision is a place where members learn and share general health, wellness and nutrition information, but in an atmosphere that is social, creative and fun. We want an environment that challenges our students to be the best they can be through making positive changes and choices and that encourages a greater awareness in the way they access, consume and understand food. The focus, is how good and healthy food habits and nutrition and regular exercise work together to help them achieve their goals for a bright and exciting future.
GOAL
SNACC’s goal is to introduce student members to new fruits and vegetables; to teach about growing seasons and local farming; to provide hands-on instruction to inspire their competency in preparing meals and snacks made from those fresh, healthy and seasonal ingredients. To enhance their understanding of how they can make a life change through eating healthy meal and snack alternatives to processed and fast foods and why that matters to their future. Ideally members will enthusiastically share what they’ve learned with family and friends who will want to adopt healthy nutrition habits too. The hope is to encourage student members to effect change in the food at home and even expand to healthier lunch menu options provided by Richmond Public Schools. We want to incorporate aspects of SNACC into SOL curriculum wherever possible for we know that is a win-win and may provide the buy-in from RPS needed as this moves forward.
SPONSORSHIP
SNACC’s goal is to secure a teacher or staff sponsor or co-teachers/co-sponsors as liaisons to TJHS Administration and RPSB. It will enlist volunteers to plan, organize and facilitate and lead classes that will be held after school hours.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
SNACC’s goal is to encourage community wide support by promoting neighborhood involvement through partnerships with local restaurants, businesses, farms and community gardens.