A New Look on Nutrition

From poetry to soccer to nutrition and cooking, these kids do it all!

This Winter SCORES season at DC SCORES we have brought back the Common Threads nutrition curriculum to Lincoln Middle School. Not only are our poet-athletes learning about healthy eating habits, but they are getting experience creating snacks they can easily make at home.

So far this season, the kids have learned how to make things like fruit and cheese kabobs, lemon-parm popcorn, trail mix, and so much more. As middle schoolers, it is very important to incorporate a healthy lifestyle so they continue to grow alongside a nutritious diet and daily physical activity. That being said, soccer doesn’t just end in the Fall but continues into the winter season alongside nutrition class. Having both nutrition and soccer practices in the same season teaches our poet-athletes the balance of healthy living, but while also having fun with their teammates!

In one of our classes, we did seed tasting as our recipes for our lesson on protein. Seeds, beans, and nuts can all be great sources of protein, and in this lesson, we explored a few kinds that most of the kids had never tasted before. Blindfolded at the front of the classroom were three willing volunteer students who tasted and guessed which seeds they were tasting, which were pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds, and edamame. Meanwhile, the rest of the class knew the answers, making the experience very fun and interactive. Our poet-athletes were big fans of the pumpkin and pomegranate seeds…not so much the edamame, except for Amilcar, an 8th grader who found his new favorite snack. We all enjoyed the rest of the food together and discussed how protein is an important part of our diets.

It’s classes like these that can truly put an impact on how kids perceive food and snacking in a silly, fun and educational way!