New Food Program Gives Boys A Healthy Start

When the Academy students arrived for the start of school this year, the first thing they detected was a change in breakfast. Low-fat, hormone-free milk, yogurt and granola, and whole grain cereal, bagels and muffins replaced an often more sugary and processed meal option. If that didn't catch their attention, their choices of hot or cold lunches that included fresh fruits, healthy carbohydrates and lean protein in  right-sized portions certainly did and by snack time, they definitely noticed that last year's cookies had been replaced with healthy granola snack bars or other nutritious treats. These positive changes are the result of the Academy's new partnership with Revolution Foods, a company founded in the summer of 2006 that is now providing 70,000 affordable home-made meals daily in 9 states and the District of Columbia; the Academy is currently the only school in Baltimore taking advantage of this unique program. Although offering this program at no cost to our students has added nearly $20,000 to the Academy budget, the alarming increase of childhood obesity which has almost tripled since 1980 and is particularly prevalent in children from low-income families created a sense of urgency to pilot this initiative. Four weeks into the program, while the students sometimes complain of missing the less healthy meals of the past, they are simultaneously scrapping the bottom of the bowl for one last bite of their new lunch.

Let's Go Fly A Kite! 

Miss Warner's 7th grade math students couldn't wait to get to class for their geometry project during the last week of September. Using geometric principals and good communication skills, the boys worked in teams to assemble tetrahedral kites. Learning about the tetrahedral kite, invented by Alexander Graham Bell in the early 1900's, helped our students understand Bernoulli's principle explaining why an object can fly. With nothing more than straws, tissue paper and string, the boys completed their kites and took them to a park in Mt. Vernon to test their creations. Despite the lack of steady wind (the ideal wind speed is between 13 and 17 mph), our students were able to get their kites aloft amid lots of cheers and laughter.  Who says math class can't be fun?

 A Busy Fall Lineup For GSP