Collegiate Times

In an effort to reach out and effect a social change in the community, five marketing students gave a presentation about nutrition and exercise awareness to kindergarteners at McHarg Elementary School in Radford last Wednesday, April 9.

Thomas Shamburger, a senior marketing and management double major, said that he and the four other students decided nutrition was an important issue and have collaborated together since the beginning of the semester. They contacted the kindergarten teachers at McHarg to organize the event.

 "We wanted to do this because we figured that if we are going to tackle nutrition and exercise, we should talk to kids about it so it will have a longer impact," Shamburger said.

They prepared a 30-minute slideshow presentation to show to six kindergarten classes, a total of 120 students, about the different food groups, what vitamins and proteins are and what effects they have on the human body.

The Tech students told them what foods they can eat to fulfill each part of the pyramid and gave them recording logs in the form of coloring books. The kindergarteners were assigned to fill out the logs for a whole week and get a parent signature, and the class with the most participation will win a prize.

The marketing group got its information mainly from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Web site, which explains a new food pyramid that recently replaced the old one.

 "They talked about very basic information, mostly about making good choices with what we're putting into our bodies. Nutrition is important and it's a life skill that we need to teach as well as academic skills," said Kathryn Everhart, a kindergarten teacher at McHarg who previously worked for Virginia Tech's Child Development Center.

Donna McMillen, McHarg's school nurse, noticed that since the students started the SOLs, teachers "really began stressing academics, and we kind of pushed aside nutrition education."

McHarg established a "wellness policy" over a year ago asking that students pack only healthy foods for lunch. The school Web site has recommendations for a healthy bag lunch, such as tuna and egg salad sandwiches on whole grain bread.

In reaction to the nutrition presentation, the kindergarteners were "very enthusiastic and excited to put that new knowledge into action," Everhart said.

"They are always eager to hear and learn about new things," Everhart said.

She said the kids started filling in the healthy foods they had eaten that day before the presentation was even finished.

The marketing course - marketing, society, and the public interest - is taught by professor Jim Littlefield, and the focus of the class is to solve social problems through interactive marketing.

"I keep them in class three of four days, then I turn them loose and say, 'Save the world ... or your little part of it,'" Littlefield said.

In the first day of class, the students learn about social problems, such as recycling and AIDS in Africa. The students are randomly separated into five teams, and they work on their project the whole semester, meeting a few times in class to report on their progress.

"I want them to do something, instead of just have them write another paper. You're not learning anything if you're not having fun, and I believe that," Littlefield said.