By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— Valley Elementary School’s plan to promote physical activity and healthy eating habits among its students earned the school a $10,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.

On Sept. 3, physical education instructor Ginger Aaron-Brush and assistant principal Chase Holden accepted the Be Healthy School Grant from Blue Cross representative Jeff Adams.

“We are very excited,” Aaron-Brush said. “We actually won the same grant last year. It’s so exciting to see our students loving to move.”

VES submitted a detailed application for the competitive grant. Aaron-Brush said it was divided into three categories: Exercise, nutrition and parent involvement. VES had to address goals, a plan for implementation and how to assess progress in each of those categories.

Aaron-Brush said the largest portion of the grant will be put toward the exercise plan. Each of the classroom teachers will be given recess kits, providing students more equipment and opportunities to be active.

VES will also bring in a professional development expert who will help teachers use physical activity and movement in their lessons. Aaron-Brush said movement will benefit the learning process as well because it increases brain activity.

“Our goal was to increase physical activity throughout the school day,” Aaron-Brush said. “(We want to) increase the opportunities for students to be active before, during and after school.”

The second largest portion of the grant will go toward nutrition. This is even more important, Aaron-Brush said, when about 50 percent of the students at VES receive free or reduced lunches at school. Those students might not have access to healthy foods or snacks at home.

“We are going to provide all of our students with a fresh fruit or vegetable once a month,” Aaron-Brush said. “By making kids more aware about some of the fruits and vegetables they might not know, it gives them access and an opportunity to try.”

The school will also host two taste test programs during the school year. VES will purchase some foods kids may not be familiar with, and the cafeteria will prepare it for them.

To accompany the taste testing, VES will purchase a full curriculum from Healthy Eating Active Living Alabama to help teach nutrition to students. Aaron-Brush said the curriculum is mainly geared toward second-graders, but they will modify it for the younger kids.

The final category of VES’s healthy plan is parent involvement. Aaron-Brush said when parents are active and healthy role models, their children follow suit. To promote this healthy living lifestyle, she said VES plans to have opportunities once a month at the school for parents to be active with their students.

“Our goal is to give our students the tools and resources to be able to gown up and make healthy lifestyle choices,” Aaron-Brush said.