We love to hear the students chant "Who are we? Bright Fit!” It comes out in full force and with all that energy that we as parents always say we wish we could bottle. It makes us proud of the boys and girls and our school for making a commitment to being fit and healthy.

 

It's Bright Fit year. In April, there will be Bright Fit Night and an entire week when you and your kids can do lots of fun and active things together as a family. This newsletter will come out every month to get us all pumped up for Bright Fit. We’ll share recipes, tips, challenges, facts, and helpful information about ways you can stay active with your kids. We want to hear from you too! If you have a favorite recipe or suggestion for a great hiking trail or tip for fun and easy ways to stay active, send it to Sara Mingus at [email protected] and we will add it to our new resource page on the website.

Be Bright Fit!

Amanda Carmichael and Sara Mingus, Bright Fit Chairs

Coaches Ashley Linehart and Jeff McDaniel

Wellness Committee

We understand that eating healthy is hard . And aside from all the do’s and don'ts out there constantly changing, we have delicate and very finicky little taste buds to contend with. In this section we will share snack, breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes that we've made for our own kids and pass all the tests. To start, here's a snack recipe that's the perfect after school treat, plus it's dairy free, gluten free, and egg free in case you need to accommodate any allergies.

Chocolate Honey Fudge

2 ounces dark chocolate, well chopped

1/2 cup whole almonds

1/3 cup cocoa powder (natural or dutch) or raw cacao, plus more for dusting

pinch of sea salt

1/3 cup honey plus 1 Tbsp. 

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup crisp rice cereal

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate along the bottom of the pan. 

In a food processor or a strong blender, combine the almonds, cocoa powder and sea salt. Pulse the mixture until it resembles coarse sand, about 10 times. You want some crunchy bits of almonds. 

In a saucepan, combine the honey and coconut oil and bring it to a gentle boil. Stir to mix. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Add the almond mixture and the rice cereal into the wet mixture and stir to combine. Any extra add-ins would go in here. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, smooth the top and put it in the fridge to cool for at least an hour.

Take a walk! The Bright School track is always open and eight laps equals a mile. Especially as the weather begins to cool, a brisk walk in the morning after drop off could be the perfect start to your day. Or pack up some honey fudge and let the kids run off that last bit of energy after school before it's time for homework. Your challenge is to try to keep up!

The biggest favor you can do for yourself is start small! It doesn't make sense, nor will it be fun for anyone, if you try to make a ton of big changes or do too much at once. Maybe you don't have time for a full mile-long walk. That's okay. One lap is better than none. Maybe you aren't going to be able to squeeze making organic treats into your schedule. Who cares? Go buy some apples. Pick one thing you want to change or do and just do that for a week or even a month then add on.

It may have taken the Great Water Main Break of 2019 to help us realize how lucky we are to have safe and tons of water to drink every moment of the day. Let's try to not forget and take advantage of one of the best things we can all do for our health: drink water! Do you know how much water your body needs each day? An easy way to remember is to take half of your body weight and drink that many ounces. That's for kids and adults. For example, someone who weighs 100 pounds would drink 50 ounces a day. So grab a water bottle and fill it up every time you see a water fountain. HINT: There are water fountains all over school and students can keep a water bottle with them so they can keep hydrated too.