Elizabethtown Middle School Girls With PEARLS recently had two guest speakers to share important tips about healthy nutritional choices and success. The first speaker was Mrs. Stacie Kinlaw, 4-H Youth Development Agent. She conducted a three day series using lessons from the Speedway to Healthy Curriculum developed by NC A&T State University. The nutrition focused lessons included information about applying the My Plate guide to meal planning; reading nutrition labels, importance of calcium for growing bones, choosing the healthiest milk, and eating and exercise for heart health. In addition, funding through SNAP – Ed for the TRY HEALTHY Program at NC A&T State University was able to provide healthy snacks and educational tools for the Girls with Pearls including water bottles, bags, and healthy eating magazines.
Mrs. Kinlaw provided models of healthy organs to talk about the heart and lungs and demonstrated the amount of calcium in healthy bones. She encouraged the girls to follow an 80/20 rule when it comes to choosing healthy foods, especially when it can seem difficult to always make the right choice. Kinlaw said that making a right choice 80 percent of the time is much better than none of the times. Dr. Renee Steele, organizer of Girls with Pearls, said the information gained from the sessions is valuable because it promotes making better choices to improve the overall quality of their lives.
The second speaker was Ms. Rocio Bollinger, ESL/MEP Lead Teacher for Bladen County Schools. She presented an interactive session by showing the girls personal pictures and sharing lessons she learned throughout her life. Bollinger told the girls that they have everything inside of them to be successful; however, they must believe in themselves. Steele said, over the past two years, the girls have been exposed to women who overcame challenges in their lives. This exposure is important because it has allowed the girls to understand that challenges will occur in their lives but if they persevere, they can be successful.
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