Brockton Office

Nutrition with a Twist

NEP’s family nights make eating right and twisting the night away something to celebrate.

Learning to eat your vegetables may not sound like much of a party, but the 10,000 parents and children who’ve attended NEP’s family health nights in Brockton over the past 12 years are sure to disagree.

“They love it,” says Andrea Gulezian, Brockton NEP Program Supervisor.  Her office, in collaboration with the Brockton public schools, offers 10 yearly family nights in area public schools, each year based on a festive theme. Whether grooving at the “Heart Rock Café” or hopping to “Dance Dance Evolution,” NEP Educators manage to slip in lessons on healthy eating and physical activity that keep families engaged and everyone on their feet.

This year’s evening began with interactive games like hula hooping, fruit and vegetable twister and “fishing” for nutritional facts. Next came a theme-based skit, written and performed by NEP Educators, and hands-on cooking demos with delicious and healthful food-tasting for all.   This was all followed by fun in the gym led by physical education teachers in the Brockton schools. “Our main goal is to bring parents and children together to learn and hear the same message about the importance of healthy food and physical activity choices,” says Gulezian. “We’ve found that when the family learns at the same time, the message is reinforced.”

In fact,  Jane Feroli, Specialist for Parent Involvement in the Brockton Public Schools points out that studies show children whose families are involved in these programs eat better, do better in school academically, socially, and behaviourally, and have a greater chance to move on to higher education.  And it’s hard not to get involved in irresistible activities like dancing to “food and health” tunes from the ‘50s to the present, from the “Mashed Potato” to “Stayin’ Alive.” “Kids jump up from their chairs and dance and parents get up and show them how to disco,” says Gulezian. “We don’t let anyone get away with just sitting around and watching!”

It’s no wonder that NEP’s family nights were awarded the national Jeanne M. Priester award for Extension programs that positively impact health, that Jane Feroli received last year’s UMass Amherst Distinguished Community Partner award, and that Mary Ellen Kirrane, Department Head for Wellness, K-8 received the award in 2003 for her work with NEP. "The parent liaisons in each of the schools are essential for getting parents involved,” says Gulezian. “Just look at the number of families who attend!”

Best of all, once parents are there, they’re hooked—like one grateful mom whose children came down to the table the day after the program asking not just for breakfast (a first!), but for a breakfast containing at least three food groups. “We’re reaching people who love getting this information and really have a desire to learn and be part of their children’s education,” says Gulezian. “Their children may drag them there at first, but in the end the parents are having just as much fun,” she adds. “No one ever leaves early and everyone leaves happy!”

School and community partners who make this program so popular and successful are the Brockton Public Schools: Wellness Department, Physical Education, Nursing Department, Parent Involvement Program, Chartwells, B.H.S. Key Club, 21st CCLC, Peer Leader Program and the Eat Well Keep Moving Initiative.