As has been for tradition for the past several years, MICDS fourth graders are again getting the privilege of selecting the lunch menu for the entire Beasley Lower School (and sometimes Middle School) on certain days during this school year. To this end, they learned a lot about meal planning this week thanks to a class with Olga Goumas, our Dietitian and Assistant Director of Food Services through FLIK Independent School Dining.
In fourth-grade science, students started the year with Lower School Science Teacher Laura Pupillo learning about life on the planet. “We reviewed the needs of living things and learned about food chains and how energy is transferred through the foods we eat,” explained Pupillo. “We explored healthy foods and started seeds in the Grow Tower to grow greens for school lunch. Hopefully, we’ll have our first harvest in a couple of weeks.”
Connecting to healthy foods, fourth-grade science partnered with FLIK to learn more about nutrition and how our school works to plan and prepare healthy lunch meals. This week, Goumas explained the process of how to create a meal that will be featured on a menu. “This included touching on the five food groups that are needed to create a healthy plate (grains, proteins, fruits, vegetables, dairy), the importance of having a colorful plate for visual appearance and the added health benefits, and choosing fun, popular items to keep students excited,” she said. The students had to create a meal that included two proteins (one meat, one vegetarian), fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and, of course, dessert. “I also had them color code their items to truly see how colorful their plate was.” The fourth graders worked in small groups to plan a healthy school lunch meal using the information from Goumas and MyPlate, a resource that teaches about food groups and how much is needed from each food group to create a healthy, nutritious meal.
Throughout the winter and spring, these fourth-grade meals will show up on the Lower School lunch menu on Fridays. Students are always delighted when their meal is served to fellow Rams. These menus are still simmering, but check out some of the meals they’ve planned for the year:
- Manicotti pasta with meat sauce, salad with croutons, breadsticks, watermelon, and Italian ice
- Roast beef, mashed potatoes, tomato soup, pineapple, and grapes
- Poke bowl, white rice, strawberries, breadsticks, and vanilla ice cream
Goumas adds, “I hope that the students can see that there is a lot of thought that goes into meal planning and that there are many ways to make a fun, colorful, and healthy meal out of our favorite foods.”
Bon appetite, Rams! Thank you, fourth-grade meal designers and FLIK!