Chef Craig Sewell challenges 1st and 2nd graders at Tyler Heights Elementary to "drink white milk."
By Kyle Stewart
An energetic stream of 1st graders neatly filed out of their classroom situated down the hall from Tyler Heights Elementary’s multi-purpose gymnasium and lunch room late Friday morning. “Looking forward to lunch?” I asked one particularly chipper young lady as she bounced down the walkway. “YEAH!!” she replied with such speed and enthusiasm that it was absolutely clear she really was looking forward to the meal. Tyler Heights students did indeed have something to be excited about on Friday as local gourmet Craig Sewell began his tenure as the school’s chef-in-residence as part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Chef’s Move to Schools” program.
Sewell arrived at the school with fresh local peaches from Crispin’s Farm, a bevy of smiles and a challenge to students to immediately begin making healthier food choices. “I made a deal with several of the tables I stopped by to talk with,” he said afterward. “The next week we would drink only white milk instead of the strawberry and chocolate milks most children chose. One little girl remarked, “My mother only lets me drink white milk at home. I only can get this at school.” Your mother is a smart woman I responded.”
In addition to treating Tyler Height’s students to some delicious local fruit and encouraging them to eat more nutritious foods, Sewell had the opportunity to see first hand the school’s cafeteria staff hard at work serving the elementary school’s nearly 400 students. “The kitchen ladies were all quite dedicated to doing their best for the kids,” the chef noted. “Even working under difficult circumstances, where there aren’t always enough hands to efficiently serve all the kids, they were constantly encouraging them to eat some fresh fruit and vegetables.”
His first day on the job also gave Chef Sewell a better idea of how to tailor his plan to help the students eat and be fed well. Food and cooking education are going to be a significant part of that, he said. “I’m looking forward to the cooking classes for the children and their parents once the after school program starts in October.”
Ironically, Sewell and Tyler Heights principal Faye Daniel’s pioneering effort here in Anne Arundel County hit the ground running the day after USDA undersecretary Kevin Concannon visited Southern Middle School in Lothian, MD where he was photographed sitting down to a lunch of pizza and chocolate milk as part of an event to promote the USDA’s “Fuel Up to Play 60” program. When asked about the nutritional value of the foods on his tray, Concannon said that the calcium was a “net gain” over the high levels of fat and sugar in each, respectively.
Thankfully, Anne Arundel County is home to a number of educators and concerned citizens like Principal Daniel and Craig Sewell who not only recognize that national nutritional standards need to be significantly raised but also understand the crucial link between student health and academic performance. In a promising sign of things to come, AACS superintendent Dr. Kevin M. Maxwell was quoted this week in The Capital saying “Anytime we have an opportunity to help kids understand the link between good nutrition, physical health and learning, it’s a good thing.”
Stay tuned over the coming weeks and months as The Sound continues to follow the “Chefs Move to Schools” program at Tyler Heights Elementary.
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