Brush School District serves 1500 students on the Northeastern Plains of Colorado. Located in the city of Brush, we serve students in Pre-K through 12th grade with 2 elementary schools and a combined middle school and high school campus. Teachers and administrators collaborate with families and community partners to safely engage every student, every day, in every classroom. 

Brush is a small but mighty district in Colorado. And Amy Windsheimer, Middle School Physical Education teacher is helping make sure Brush students are given every opportunity to be healthy and successful in school. 

Amy had some innovative ideas to get kids eating healthier and to help her bring those ideas to life, she applied for an Action for Healthy Kids district grant with emphasis on nutrition.  

With the purchase of a new refrigerator, some rolling carts and a few more items, her district was ready to begin!  

First there was making sure nutrition education was being taught.  

Lessons on nutrition are based on grade level standards.  For example, K-2 is learning about the different food groups based on MyPlate.gov.  Middle school and high school are focusing more on how advertisements can influence food choices, meal planning for healthy eating, how to read nutrition labels, the importance of staying hydrated, and the importance of balancing physical activity with eating healthy. 

Next is Amy’s favorite part – SNACKS! This is where students get to taste test new food items, learn where foods come from and take-home information on how to make healthy snacks at home. Did w

e mention Amy’s husband is a farmer? And that Amy also invites local agriculture folks to come in and share their knowledge of how things grow. Snacks can range from beef jerky to carrots and ranch to smoothies. 

Planning is underway for a Healthy Snack Contest over spring break.  This will start with a couple of videos shared to parents that teach them how to make an egg sandwich and a smoothie.  Parents and their children will be given the opportunity to create a healthy snack and submit a video of how to make the snack.  Students and parents who submit the video will be entered in a contest to win prizes.  The K-2 school has already rounded up donated family passes to the Denver Zoo for the top winners.  Grant funds will help purchase other prizes. 

She wanted to make sure she was inclusive of all students and the Middle School and High School Life Skills classes were truly excited when they were asked to organize snacks so teachers could serve them.

All Brush Public School students are learning how things grow, what is healthy and even how to make healthy snacks. This district truly models their statement: Teachers and administrators collaborate with families and community partners to safely engage every student, every day, in every classroom.