On November 16, 2017, Midlo students Elise Pritchard and Britton Baltich from TrojanLive Network visited Mrs. Michele McMullen’s kindergarten class at J.B. Watkins Elementary School to make a video to submit to a competition to win a Tower Garden by Juice Plus. This competition challenged participants to promote healthy lifestyles in children and in the classroom environment at school.

After the high school day ended, Pritchard and Baltich went to J.B. Watkins to film the kids preparing a healthy snack that was easy and fun to make. The recipe called for a chocolate protein powder that includes seven types of plant proteins. Pritchard said that “they seemed to love it because the powder seemed like a dessert.” Pritchard hung out with the children all afternoon, asking them about their favorite foods and their reaction to the activity.

Mrs. McMullen promotes a healthy lifestyle in the classroom by encouraging some sort of physical activity and teacher exercises like calisthenics, high knees, and planks. Mrs. McMullen told Pritchard that “the nature of kindergarten is very active as well.”

Pritchard really enjoyed “connecting with the kids and learning more about them.” She said that they were a bit shy in the beginning, but as the afternoon progressed, they became chattier and talked about some of their favorite snacks. The majority of the kindergarteners shared that their favorite snacks were strawberries and different fruits. The TrojanLive students enjoyed the experience immensely and had a great time helping the students embark on a healthy lifestyle and hopefully providing a winning video for Mrs. McMullen and her students. Results come back around December 15.

Mrs. McMullen was very pleased with the efforts of the TrojanLive students and appreciated their help in conveying the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Of the message, she shares, “You want to live longer. You want to enjoy life, and the best way to do that is to be the healthiest person you can be.”