Students at Westpark Elementary had the chance to school their teachers earlier this spring. That’s when Westpark’s Blue Zones Project student ambassadors held their own cooking demonstration—educating faculty and staff about the benefits of scratch cooking and serving up easy-to-make pancakes from wholesome ingredients.
The cooking demo is just one of the ways the Blue Zones Project Student Ambassadors are supporting longer, better lives at Fort Worth ISD schools. Blue Zones Project is a community-led well-being improvement initiative that makes healthy choices easier. Student ambassadors help promote those healthy options on their campuses.
“Being a Blue Zones Project ambassador has helped me to connect with other students and work on ways to make our school even better,” Westpark fifth-grader Kyle Smith said. “It shows me there is another way of life and we can live a different, healthier lifestyle.”
Smith and his fellow student ambassadors are a visible part of campus life at Westpark. Their first project was encouraging an increase in consumption of water, fruits, and vegetables. They designed signs, made daily announcements, and conducted other campus awareness activities. When the student ambassadors heard about a donation that would cover the cost of salad bars in five Fort Worth ISD schools, they took their campaign to the school district.
“Our Blue Zones Project student ambassadors wrote compelling letters to the child nutrition department on why they should be selected for a salad bar,” said Cristin Stell, Westpark counselor and sponsor for the Student Ambassadors. “Because they took an active role in their own well-being, we rolled out our salad bar last spring.”
Student Ambassadors at Applied Learning Academy (ALA) are leading a variety of sessions on health and well-being during the first-ever ALA Symposium to be held in May. Last fall, the ambassadors held an annual day of celebration to promote Blue Zones Project principles. They’ve continued to host well-being experts and offer students an opportunity to get physically active. In addition, the ALA student ambassadors connect with students from Daggett Montessori School to challenge them in soccer, basketball, and volleyball events.
At Carter Park Elementary, students are also promoting the Blue Zones principle of moving naturally. Student ambassadors encourage their peers to take part in the new running club or another physical activity. They organize fun activities in the school garden and take part in Blue Zones Project events on the weekends.
“Student ambassadors are leading the charge of living longer and feeling better here at Carter Park Elementary,” said Marletta Watkins, Carter Park Wellness Committee team member. “They are setting a healthy example and gaining the foundation for a lifetime of well-being.”
That’s what it’s all about, said Stephanie Jackson, Blue Zones Project school manager. “We know that if young people develop healthy habits early on, they will be more likely to continue those habits throughout their lives.”
Since Blue Zones Project kicked off in Fort Worth in February 2015, 31 Fort Worth ISD schools have become Blue Zones Project Approved, and many others are working to achieve the designation. Adopting Blue Zones Project principles—for example, incorporating movement into lessons throughout the day, adding more fresh produce to the lunch menu, and teaching children techniques to downshift—is tied to higher levels of engagement and excellence in the classroom. Fort Worth ISD employees are also taking part in the effort through purpose workshops, mindfulness exercises, and plant-slant cooking demonstrations, among other activities.
“Schools play a really important role in our community-wide approach to improving well-being,” said Matt Dufrene, vice president of Blue Zones Project, Fort Worth. “When we work in our schools, we have a great opportunity to influence both the health and well-being of individual students as well as our community as a whole.”
To learn more about putting Blue Zones Project principles to work in your life, visit LiveLongFortWorth.com.