Wee Otters got Cal Fresh!

The students and families at Agnes J Johnson School are excited about a new grant that we received from Cal Fresh. The funds from this grant are offered for a one year year period, but the benefits will carry out over the years to come. We will be able to offer our Wee Otters hands on opportunities to learn about health and nutrition, provide fresh snacks daily to each student, and three free, healthy meals to all AJJ families throughout the year.

The AJJ garden program will be receiving a makeover, creating a more sustainable, useful garden that will be used to provide healthy snacks to students, as well as experience they will be able to take with them. The garden will have an upgraded watering system, making it more maintainable, even during off-school seasons. We will also be purchasing the supplies to create a compost system that the students will be responsible for running, organic fertilizers, and a new refrigerator to keep our harvests fresh for snacks. 

Students will have opportunities to visit nearby farms, farmer markets, and grocery stores. The grant money will cover the most expensive aspect of such field trips, transportation. These experiences will give students a first hand sense of what goes into the foods they eat, where they come from, and how they get there. It will help them make more educated choices as to what they eat. 

The grant is also funding the hands that will run this new educational focus. We have been able to hire a healthy snack coordinator who not only purchases the daily snacks, but educates students about healthy eating and lifestyle choices. We are also able to pay our gardening teacher to work with the students in the garden, teaching them about the plant life involved, and the processes required to grow a healthy garden. The grant is also paying for a Cal Fresh Liaison who will be available to connect qualifying families to the Cal Fresh food program as well as plan the three family dinners.

We are extremely grateful for this opportunity and are looking forward to the continuous rewards for our families. Our first family dinner will be coming in October. We hope to see many of our WeeOtters their for a fun evening of visiting and sharing healthy foods.