Healthy bake sale a success

CINDI GORTNER/Special to The Acorn GOOD EATS- Brookside Elementary School third graders Sophie Sigel and Lauren Bernstein are happy to offer sensible treats during the school's first healthy snack bake sale recently. The girls are members of the school's Wellness Council which is promoting good eating habits among students.

The inaugural Healthy Snack Bake Sale at Brookside Elementary in Oak Park on May 10 raised $250. Among the items offered were fruit kebabs, watermelon slices, homemade zucchini and carrot muffins, frozen bananas and juice bars, popcorn and trail mix.

The sale was sponsored by the school's Wellness Council and its third grade, under the direction of teacher Linda Glander and parent volunteer Cathy Harrison. Proceeds will be used to support council activities such as the printing of a student-written newsletter, posters and educational materials to promote good eating habits.

The healthy eating push is part of a districtwide effort. In the fall all schools in California will be asked to comply with a new state law calling for less fat and sugar in bake sale foods, according to Cindi Gortner, who oversees the Oak Park Unified School District Wellness Committee.

"Our Oak Park schools will be working on it, and next year all bake sales should be much healthier," Gortner said. "Cafeteria food already has to meet these laws."

Other Oak Park schools are pushing health awareness through such programs as an exercise club on Fridays at Red Oak Elementary and a wellness club at Medea Creek Middle School.

- Sophia Fischer