Incorporating Fun into the Nutrition Education Curriculum: Cooking Clubs and Girls’ Clubs
After School Programs in the School District of Philadelphia

Ann Marsteller , Drexel University

Eat.Right.Now. is the official nutrition education program of the School District of Philadelphia. Entering its eighth year, this unique program is funded by Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Tracks as part of the USDA Food Stamp Program and provides nutrition education programs and services to food-stamp-eligible adults and children in the Philadelphia community.

Drexel University is one of the community partners of the School District of Philadelphia. Drexel’s Nutrition Center employs fourteen nutrition educators, who together with teachers, nurses and counselors in sixty-eight schools, work to assist all students in eating healthy through both direct and indirect outreach programs and services which include, but are not limited to, in-class lessons, health fairs, assembly programs, newsletters, bulletin board displays, food tastings and demonstrations.

After-school programs have become very popular in our middle schools. Two unique, interactive clubs – a Cooking Club and a Girls’ Club – offer students the opportunity to stay after school, learn about healthy living and incorporate fun ways to eat healthy. The Girls’ Club also promotes a healthy lifestyle with fun activities that include physical activity. Students seem to enjoy these clubs as well as the teachers and nurses who help promote them.

Cooking Clubs are hands-on workshops in which students prepare healthy foods while discussing healthy eating. The series runs for seven weeks. Job cards featuring different job responsibilities for the students to role-play are created for each lesson. After the healthy food is prepared, the students taste the food and participate in a discussion of how they can recreate the recipes at home. As students are often disappointed when the series ends, there are now plans for the development of additional lessons during the summer.

Girls’ Clubs are presented as either six-week or twelve-week programs. School nurses are usually the contacts at each school for these events. Middle school girls learn how to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into their daily routine through healthy eating and physical activity. Discussions, activities and role-playing are included in the sessions, which end with everyone participating in making healthy food to share. Drexel athletes and dancers are invited to attend relevant sessions and share their college experiences with the girls. The Drexel athletes chat about training schedules, student life and what it is like to be on a college sports team. They engage the girls in fun drills and teach them simple ways to keep active. The Drexel dancers bond with the girls by teaching them a hip hop routine and sharing with them their experiences of being dancers. Both the six-week and twelve-week series culminate in an awards ceremony honoring each participant with a slideshow of the clubs’ activities and events.

Please enjoy our pictures below.