Dommerich Elementary Hosts Healthy Foods Cook-Off

Dommerich Elementary School will host “Ready, Set, Cook and Eat”—a celebrity chef and student cook-off designed to inspire healthy family eating—at 7 p.m. October 10 in the school’s cafeteria at 1900 Choctaw Trail, Maitland.

The event was created by Healthy Kids Challenge, a national, nonprofit organization led by registered, licensed dietitians dedicated to getting kids and families to eat healthfully and exercise. It will be emceed by the group’s Director, Vickie James, RD, LD. Dommerich’s Healthy School Team, led by Angela Goetz, is coordinating the project locally.

During the event, four teams of students and celebrity chefs will be given a mystery bag of ingredients and a few simple pieces of cooking equipment and kitchenware. They will then have 30 minutes to prepare a healthy dish in front of the audience.

While the teams cook, Ms. James will involve audience members in a food trivia contest and provide quick, healthy cooking tips for the audience. Everyone will go home with healthy eating tip sheets and ideas they can use at home.

Orange County Public School’s Food & Nutrition Services may use the recipes developed by the students for new menu items.  “The students are the customers in the lunch room and we want their favorite healthy foods on our menu.  This is a great opportunity to watch them in action and see what it is they really want to eat,” said Lora Gilbert, Director of Food and Nutrition Services.

It is all designed to showcase the idea that families can assemble healthy meals with limited time, money and ingredients, according to Ms. James.  It is meant to be “fun, edutainment,” she said, designed to get schools and their families excited about making healthy changes.

Community Embraces
Healthy School Team Activities

Members of the community, impressed with the success of Healthy School Team (HST) activities in local schools, are stepping forward with ideas to enhance them.

A Dommerich Elementary School parent, Scott Millson, recently met with HST leaders to get them involved in a Fast Start Invitational track event he is planning for January 28 at Showalter Field in Winter Park.

And the Track Shack has proposed a separate running program for Consortium students in elementary through secondary schools to begin early 2006.

Millson said that when he was in elementary school, a parent hosted a similar track meet and this ignited his love of running that continues today. According to Jana Ricci, Healthy School Teams Coordinator, Millson hopes the event will stir a love of running in local students.

The event will be open to all elementary students within the Winter Park Consortium, and each school will have its own team. There will be a variety of events for runners, as well as non-runners. HST leaders were enthusiastic about the event, according to Ms. Ricci.

Track Shack’s program involves inviting students to complete a half-marathon by pledging to finish at least one mile per week.  The program will last 13 weeks, and participants will be able to complete their miles in bits and pieces. 

For more information on these or any other HST activities, contact the HST Leader at any Winter Park Consortium school, or email Ms. Ricci at jana.ricci@ocps.net.

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