Obesity Issue

Since our first lady has taken on the Obesity Issue the national committee "Taking it to the Streets" (which has been focusing on the the H1N1 issue) is planning on adding Obesity one of their major issues and causes.

February 16th I attended a meeting with a local representative from Woodbury and addressed nutrition and obesity is support of physical and nutrition education. Cherry Cramer and Wendy Ambrose were also in attendance.

After telling stories from my classroom the representative asked me to write her about these stories so that she could share them with her committee members. The following is the letter that I sent. Jane Hinrichsen



It has come to my attention that there are bills being written to add standards to physical education to address the obesity issue that seems to be increasing in society.

I am pro physical education but I find that there should also be education on healthy eating in nutrition.

I am a Family and Consumer Sciences (formerly know as Home Ec) teacher at North High School in North St. Paul. (Grades 9-12) I live on the northern edge of Cottage Grove.

As a Family and Consumer Sciences Educator it has been well known that the image of what we do is "just cook and sew", it was often assumed that we just re-enforce what children learn at home and should know how to do these things because of the examples they see.

I can honestly say that this is no longer true.

I have countless examples of students growing up in environments where healthy food is not the norm and supplies that many take for granted are not available.

When a students misses a cooking lab they often have to make them up at home. I have had students tell me, "We don't have measuring cups and spoons and we can't afford to buy them what should I do?", "I can't make up a lab unless it's pre-made and goes in a microwave that's the only food we buy at my house." "I can't make that recipe we don't have sugar or flour at our house."

I could once assume many things in a classroom but I can no longer assume that a students knows basic things like, before you put hamburger into soup or chili it should be browned. Yes, I have had students put it in raw.

I can't assume that students know you should cook in a sauce pan or frying pan, I've found them cooking in metal bowls with the bowl on the burner.

Do I go through instruction before cooking? Yes. Do I require they read and write the recipe before cooking? Yes.

These are basic things that we once assumed that children and would know and learn in their lifetime from home. We can no longer assume that that is true. Students need Basic food and nutrition courses because society either does not have the means to cook at home or they choose not to cook at home and use convenience to make life simpler.

I hope that when congress works on budgets and education standards that we look at basic needs along with the test scores that seem to drive what is important in education today. We need to teach to the masses and requiring more difficult courses is not going to make our students smarter mostly just more frustrated.

Very sincerely,

Jane Hall Hinrichsen

Get "Fired Up!"

After attending the MAFCS State Conference, I have been inspired to get "Fired Up" and be proactive. I have made a list of parents and students (along with their address, phone numbers, and e-mails) who are supportive of Family and Consumer Sciences. I am also making a list of companies and organizations who I believe would be supportive of our area, and I have set a goal of writing at least one letter each week to a company or organization asking for their support. I challenge each of you to do the same. It is time for all of us in the profession to promote what we do. Given the economy and budget cuts facing our schools, it is to our advantage to be ready to have our statistics and supporters waiting in the wings if we need to call on them. I love interior design and textiles so my first letters will be to those industries. I will report back in a couple of weeks to let you know of any progress I have made. My challenge to other educators reading this blog is to do the same and report back in a couple of weeks.

Meeting with Senator addressing the obesity issue

If you are able to go to this session (listed below) on the obesity issue please do so. It is important that we join Physical Education on this campaign. I am trying to join forces with physical education in my school and propose an every other day course with them. One day would be exercise and fitness with Phy Ed and the other would be with FACS covering personal growth, self motivation, and nutrition with labs promoting healthy food choices and preparation.

Senator Kathy Saltzman and Representative Marsha Swails on February 1 6, 2010 from 5:30-6:30pm at Woodbury HP Clinic -- 8450 Seasons Parkway, Woodbury, MN.

Hope to see you there. Jane Hinrichsen

Productive and Informative MAFCS Conference

The Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, February, conference held in Bloomington, MN was a huge success. We would like to thank Linda Keller and Debbie Larson for their impeccable organization and coordination that was put forth as conference program chairs.

We would like to congratulate Marsha Chizek Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Donna Butterfield Friend of MAFCS award (Sew Easy Designs), Debbie Larson Business Leader of the Year award. Anupama Pasricha for the New Achiever award. Donna Butterfield and Alice Lysaker for the Service Award.

Marsha will represent us at the national level this summer in Cleveland, OH and Anupama Pasricha will represent us at the national level in 2011 for each of their awards.

We had many powerful speakers with informative messages. Once we receive the links for their power points I will post them on this blog.

Information for the Economic Benefits of Early Childhood Investments is at Minneapolisfed.org

Please remember to use the education guide that was placed in your packet at the conferences and use the reference tools and resources that were compiled and listed for you and your school programs. We would like to thank Donna Butterfield Debbie Larson and Cherry Cramer for their hard work on this project. We would also like to thank Donna Butterfield and her company Sew Easy Designs for funding the printing of the educational handouts.

One more conference for you to try

A reminder that the Minnesota Conferences is February 12 and 13, 2010. Dates were moved from March to February so that it would not conflict with school Spring Breaks so we sure hope to see you. If you need an alternative check out the following. Information for the Minnesota Conference is in one of the below posts.

Wisconsin has announced there state conference. If you are interested you can check out their web site for information at www.wafcs.org.

The dates are March 12,13, 2010.

Careers Conference in Madison Wisconsin

I just came back from the Careers Conference in Madison, WI. It was really quite a lovely experience. Well organized with great speakers that were inspirational and motivating. I hope that all members get the opportunity to experience that conference over time in their careers.

We have a conference in Minnesota coming up soon that you may want to attend. Check out three posts down and see how to attend the MAFCS conference in Minnesota.

Announcing the 2010 Teacher of the Year

It is with great pride that the Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences announce that Marsha Chizak has been named the 2010 Minnesota Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year.

Marsha is a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher in the Fridley school district at the high school level. Her Human Development (Foundations of Child Development) program is being recognized because of the outstanding work that she does with her high school students in this year and in the past by integrating the schools IB program with her curriculum.

Fridley School district is a second tier district independent of the surrounding districts (Columbia Heights, Hilltop, Spring Lake Park). This year Fridley High School has been a fully implemented International Baccalaureate (IB) World School with the full implementation of the Middle Years Program (MYP grade 5-10) and its Diploma Program (DP grades 10-11) and working on the Primary Years Program (PYP). The unique implementation of the International Baccalaureate Program into Fridley is that all principles and practices of IB into each area of their curriculum. It is not a “pull-out” program, but is school-wide. They were one of the first schools to do this in the United States. Therefore, all of their classes are taught with the IB Learner Profile (what qualities we want IB students to exhibit) in mind, taught through the Areas Of Interaction (lenses from which to look at your curriculum through), and taught with an international-mindedness that takes their suburban students into the world to solve real-life problems with good critical thinking skills.

Marsha is also on the MAFCS board of directors and has been actively involved in the association for many years. She will represent Minnesota at the National American Association of Family Consumer Sciences Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, June 2010.

The Minnesota Association of Family and Consumer Sciences will be celebrating her award at the state conference February 12, 2010 at a 5:45 p.m. reception at the airport Hilton, Bloomington, MN.