Keyword/Tag: CATCH

Dallas Program Coordinator Named Texas CATCH Champion

Posted on July 20, 2016 by -

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Dallas Program Coordinator, Jacqueline Noyola (pictured above, second from right), will be one of six CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) Champions recognized this year in Texas by the CATCH Global Foundation for her relentless passion for advocating for children’s health and supporting healthy environments at the schools Brighter Bites serves in Dallas.

Over the course of her nearly two years with Brighter Bites, Jacqueline has become as a leader in the implementation of CATCH. Her mission is to encourage and empower faculty and staff in each Brighter Bites school to use the CATCH curriculum and get excited about teaching and modeling healthy habits for children and their families.

Jacqueline has excelled in her efforts to fulfill Brighter Bites’ goals through not only increasing access to fresh produce, but also educating children, families, and staff at schools on how to lead and promote healthier lifestyles. The Brighter Bites family is thrilled to have a CATCH Champion working with teachers and staff on coordinated school health!

Teaching CATCH at Lantrip Elementary

Posted on May 29, 2015 by -

This week, Molly, Mike, and I taught CATCH lessons to the 1st graders at Lantrip Elementary School in Houston. We each taught two classes about the CATCH concepts of “GO” and “WHOA.”  We discussed the importance of being healthy by eating GO foods and doing GO activities – the ones that a parent, coach, or pediatrician would green light or say “yes” to, instead of “not now” or “no.” The kids’ responses and feedback during the lessons created a fun and energetic atmosphere. Their eyes lit up when we talked about the fruits and vegetables they enjoy like strawberries, apples, broccoli, and carrots.

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They drew colorful pictures of healthy foods when we asked them to represent their favorite fruits and vegetables. I noticed their excitement when they spoke about activities like swimming, jumping, running in the park, and playing organized sports. The first graders at Lantrip have learned the concept of making healthy choices. The CATCH curriculum has helped light a spark within the students there and we at Brighter Bites hope to keep it going with the fruit and vegetables we give them in their bags each week.

Hunger Free Texans Conference

Posted on April 17, 2015 by -

Brighter Bites staff members attended the Hunger Free Texans Annual Conference in Houston this year. We were one of the many booths educating industry professionals on our efforts to keep Houston healthy. The conference afforded us the opportunity to build partnerships with other organizations whose goals mirror our own: improving food literacy and igniting a passion for fresh produce. It was inspiring for us to meet and collaborate with other people who are as equally passionate about keeping our community healthy. Our co-founder Shreela Sharma, PhD RD LD, from the UT School of Public Health presented her research on Brighter Bites. She described how our model incorporates CATCH for promoting healthier environments at school and at home to help fight obesity. Dr. Sharma’s presentation is available here in video format or here in PDF only.

Sneaking a Peak into the Lives of One KIPP Sharp Family

Posted on February 27, 2015 by -

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As a Program Coordinator, and fellow food enthusiast, I’ve built relationships with our families which has inspired me to share Valerie and Sandra’s story.  I asked Valerie how she would describe Brighter Bites to someone who has never heard of it before.  She said, “Brighter Bites is a program that my school puts on every year so people can get [fruits and] vegetables for free and live a healthy lifestyle.”  Valerie totally gets it!  The families at KIPP Sharp have put our not-so-secret formula into practice for 2 years now: eating fresh produce, learning about nutrition, and sampling our recipes!  Sharing Valerie and Sandra’s story gives us a better understanding of one family’s journey to better health and wellness. Access to fresh produce is the most inspiring and stimulating part of the program, because it promotes an exchange of ideas.   When I talk to Sandra, it’s usually about what’s for dinner and it doesn’t matter if it’s butternut squash or making a relish to top off your baked fish.  Sandra has a wealth of knowledge about preparing dishes for her family.  It’s one of the reason’s she and Valerie were so excited to participate in Brighter Bites again this year; they see it as an opportunity to save money at the store all while having their favorite fresh foods at their fingertips.  When they open their Brighter Bites bags, they’re thrilled to see oranges, strawberries, and broccoli!  They’re also excited to see unfamiliar items, like rutabaga.  Trying new things is part of the fun and Sandra embraces the challenge. And what about the nutrition education component you ask?  Well, KIPP Sharp integrated CATCH into not only their P.E. class, but also their food service.  Valerie’s teacher shows them the difference between GO, SLOW, and WHOA foods in the cafeteria then gets them moving with activities and games out in the field.  CATCH strategically approaches wellness from a multiple angles to improve the students’ overall health. Let’s not forget the fun food samples.  Our smoothies are always a big hit with the kids, and Valerie is no different there.  Sandra likes the fruit salsas and salads we make, much like the broccoli and grape salad we cooked up this semester.  The families are so open, eager, and enthusiastic when it comes to trying our healthful recipes. The stories Valerie and Sandra tell about Brighter Bites illustrate how we affect them and their community.  Outsiders looking in gain a better understanding of what it means to be a Brighter Bites family too.  Their stories promote our mission and support the program.   More stories to come…

Training the Trainer

Posted on February 6, 2015 by -

molly at catch Last week, I attended a three-day training to implement the CATCH Kids Club Program. For those who do not know, CATCH is the Coordinated Approach to Child Heath. CATCH is rooted in the belief that a healthy environment can decrease the current obesity epidemic in children. Currently, schools incorporate CATCH into the curriculum through nutrition lessons in class, morning announcements, games in physical education and take-home information for parents. The CATCH Kids Club is a curriculum used at day cares, schools and YMCAs to ensure that CATCH objectives are incorporated into after school activities, too. Because CATCH and Brighter Bites are focused on fighting childhood obesity, it is crucial that teachers, coaches and counselors who work at our participating school be well trained in CATCH and also understand how to successfully run the Kids Club. The training academy provided three days of teaching, physical activity and fun. The instructor taught us simple techniques, exercises and transition games to keep kids moving and entertained for hours! I learned how to create an activity session (warm-up, activity, cool-down) designed to increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). My favorite part of the training was learning how to “CATCH-ify” modern children’s games. For example, I can now make kickball CATCH friendly by integrating the following elements into the game:  fun, full student participation, skill development, and 50% MVPA for the duration of the game. Health programs in after school centers are essential for maintaining a kid-friendly, healthful environment. Not only do these programs reinforce the impact of physical activity and healthy eating, but they also encourage children to work together and develop new skills. I’ve already provided training sessions to physical education teachers and after school program counselors! Who else is game?

Discovering CATCH-y New Ideas

Posted on January 20, 2015 by -

At Brighter Bites, we support our schools however we can. One of the ways we do that is ensuring students receive nutrition education by supporting our schools’ Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) programs. To learn more about the program, we visited Anne Frank Elementary, a school in North Dallas that excels at CATCH! Alice Ball and Chris Nichols, PE coaches at Anne Frank Elementary, have been instrumental in creating a CATCH environment at their school. They routinely identify Go, Slow, and Whoa foods to encourage healthy choices and use MVP to help create models of healthy behaviors: Move and stay active, Value healthy eating, and Practice healthy habits. Alice created some great bulletin boards to remind the students of CATCH’s key messages, including one with a contest to create the best original CATCH poem or rap! CATCH Alice suggested that we create a recipe challenge for our Brighter Bites schools to target the CATCH goal of “Value healthy eating.” Our families are always telling us about the creative ways they use the produce from Brighter Bites, so we hope a recipe challenge will inspire them to continue to create healthy dishes. Thanks to the administrators, teachers, and students at Anne Frank Elementary for sharing their exceptional CATCH ideas with us! We can’t wait to share more Dallas Brighter Bites success stories in future posts!

My VISTA Story

Posted on July 14, 2014 by -

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Brighter Bites is a new program meant to create behavioral changes through education and access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Its founder and mom of two young boys, Lisa Helfman, found that having more fresh produce at home led her kids to make healthier choices. She has built a team to apply that same principle to Houston’s underserved populations. As a VISTA, I am responsible for taking Lisa’s idea and putting it into action. With a small team located at the Houston Food Bank (the largest food bank in the country) we serve 2000 students on a weekly basis for 8 weeks in the fall and 8 weeks in the spring. Brighter Bites supercharges the food bank’s own efforts to distribute more produce to combat hunger as well as obesity. Every week, the Brighter Bites students take home 30 pounds of fresh produce. We aim to give them a variety of items to expand their awareness of fruits and veggies. In the past we have included jicama, quince, kiwi, beets, kale, spinach, plumcots, and plantains as well as more familiar items like potatoes, onions, bananas, apples, and peppers. We want to expose them to new and exciting foods that they may not have the means to purchase on their own. In addition to fresh produce, the families receive recipes and food samples. We want to show them how to use these new items but we find that we are also learning new cooking techniques and recipes from our Brighter Bites parents. It is a give and take relationship. Without the parents bagging the produce and helping distribute it we would not have a program. Brighter Bites is a collaborative effort. Students are taught about health and nutrition through weekly CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Children’s Health) lessons at school. Parents are given a manual as well in the beginning of each 8 week cycle. This manual has lessons such as how to eat out, healthier cooking methods, juicing, snacking, and the importance of breakfast along with basic facts about each of the food groups. We believe that knowledge and access are the two factors which will produce a behavioral change. Each of the schools and YMCAs we go into have 90% or more of their students on free or reduced lunch. They are also located in food deserts. Brighter Bites began in 2012 and served 100 students per week. In our second year we have expanded to 2000 students per week. Next school year we intend to double here in Houston as well as move to Dallas by working with the North Texas Food Bank. As a VISTA, I am so excited to be a part of a program that collaborates with a great group of parents and students to work together to combat hunger. As a health enthusiast and foodie, I couldn’t think of a more rewarding program to develop.