A group called the Nor­folk Nutrition Task Force was formed in January. The volun­teer

group consists of parents, school administrators and the food service director for the K-6 school district. The leader of the group, Jane Sylvestre, is a regis­tered dietician. According to Sylvestre, the group’s mission is to educate and encourage families to im­prove

their quality of life by choosing healthy foods and leading an active lifestyle while considering our impact on the environment. “I hope to help improve the health of families by teaching the value of an active lifestyle and the importance of good nu­trition. For children, we hope to improve both meals brought in from home and those served in the cafeteria,” said Sylvestre.

Some of the goals and ac­tivities of the task force over the next year are the following:

Publish the monthly Norfolk Nibbles newsletter;

Gather information regard­ing school lunch menu, eating and exercise habits through surveys;

Identify and implement short and long-term improve­ments to the lunch menu;

Develop and execute educa­tional programs for children in grades K-6;

Host a series of food tast­ings for school children in the cafeteria;

Host a Family Fun Day pro­moting nutrition and exercise;

Develop and execute educa­tional community programs;

Implement a recycling pro­gram; Implement a farm to school model.

“As a school administrator and member of the Nutrition Task Force, I wholeheartedly support the efforts of this group in their endeavor to improve the health of children and their families. My staff and I look for­ward

to working with the Task Force to plan and implement innovative nutrition, exercise and recycling programs,” said Linda Balfour, principal, H. Ol­ive Day school.

The Task Force will be hold­ing its first community program on Thursday, March 25. A pre­sentation

will be made on the topic of childhood nutrition in the HOD library from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Stay tuned for more details about this event. The first of four surveys on nutrition and exercise will be implemented on March 24. Parents should stay tuned to their Connect-Ed emails for in­formation

on completing these surveys.

Also, the Task Force, in con­junction with Whole Foods, will be running a recycling/nutri­tion program for 2nd graders on April 29. For more information or to join the Nutrition Task Force, please contact Jane Sylvestre at janesylvest@yahoo.com.