KMS, DeCA win partnership award

The partnership between Kaiserslautern Middle School and the Defense Commissary Agency was one of six partnerships recognized at a celebration dinner of more than 850 attendees from military communities around the world July 23.

***image1***Recognizing that more than one-third of the students in the KMC are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, Dr. Susan Hargis, KMS principal, and Kay Blakley, DeCA consumer advocate, forged a partnership to create a standards-based, data-driven, student-focused nutrition awareness program that not only educates students at KMS but also has the potential to benefit every military dependent child across the world.

Called “Food for Thought,” the program includes nutrition awareness in core subject areas and in health and physical education classes. Lessons were created by the sixth-grade teachers in all content areas and provided opportunities for students to demonstrate an understanding of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and eating habits.  The Vogelweh Commissary became an extension of the classroom where students, parents and teachers received first-hand knowledge of how to shop, prepare food and get the most nutritional benefit from their daily diets.

This program was enthusiastically endorsed by Col. Francis Brown, 431st Air Base Group Command. For more information, contact Dr. Hargis at Susan.
Hargis@eu.dodea.edu.

(Courtesy of Kaiserslautern Middle School)