Roy high school teens bring healthy, family fun to their community


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ROY — Lilly Greenwood, Sara Tesch and Zoe Heslop are student leaders from Roy High School's Family, Career and Community Leaders of America club who have teamed up with Utah State University Extension's service to bring a four-week health class to the community.

Dressed in their red jackets the three leaders give healthy tips and directions for the dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 13. On the menu? Pizza, with a healthy whole wheat crust and all the healthy toppings, as well as a green smoothie.

The kids voted on tonight's meal, but some of the little ones were not too sure about the smoothie.

So many Roy families have signed up for this free hands-on experience that there's now a waiting list.

Heslop said they sent out 3,000 flyers to all the different elementary schools to help promote the program. Katy Frandsen saw one of those flyers and said, "Oh good, it's healthy cooking, family cooking class and I thought that could be pretty fun, plus then I thought I don't have to cook dinner."

Tesch said they helped design the program because, "We noticed a lot of people were eating out, which adds a lot of empty calories to your diet." Tesch also said they wanted a project that "empowered people their age to be fit, healthy and resilient."

They teamed up with Teresa Hunsaker, the food sense adviser for Utah State University Extension. Hunsaker saw the value of this type of program. "Families that eat together and work together in the kitchen are higher functioning over all as far as grades in schools and just everything socially," said Hunsaker.

These classes get families cooking and eating together. "We're just helping families eat right and eat better," said Greenwood. They also focus on communication, providing conversation starters at the table.

Participant Valerie Ensign said, "If you're cooking together you're communicating, even if you're not talking about the food you're making."

Part of the two-hour class also includes activities for the kids and classes for the adults and teens. "They taught us we're supposed to be thinking about what we're eating, not just the fact that we're eating just to feed our faces, to feed our bodies, too," said Frandsen.

A "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" (TANF) grant funds the program.

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Erin Goff

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