MIAMI LAKES

PTA wins grant to help students get fit, eat healthy

With the help of a $1,000 grant from the national PTA, parents and teachers at Miami Lakes K-8 Center will encourage students to eat healthy and exercise.

BY ALEXANDRA FEUERMAN

AFEUERMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

The Miami Lakes K-8 Center PTA has won a $1,000 grant to help combat childhood obesity.

The parent group was one of 22 PTAs nationwide to win grant money from the national umbrella organization.

The Healthy Lifestyles Grant Program was created to encourage schoolchildren to exercise and eat healthy foods.

Only one other PTA in Florida won a grant: the Pine Forest PTA in Jacksonville.

The Miami Lakes K-8 Center PTA will use part of its money to buy healthy snacks for students -- a substitute for the chocolate bars and other sugary snacks kids were bringing in their lunchboxes.

PTA members are also going to bring in a nutritionist to teach the students the importance of physical activity and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

``It is going to be a helpful grant,'' PTA President Nelson Rodriguez said. ``I wish it was more.''

PTAs across the nation are working to address childhood obesity.

``Statistics show that over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled and nearly one in three American children is overweight,'' national PTA President Charles Saylors said.

Miami-Dade Council of PTAs/PTSs President Carolyn Nelson-Goedert was thrilled a South Florida PTA was among the winners. ``We are very proud of Miami Lakes for working on the behalf of our children, not only now, but also as they grow older and maintain healthy habits,'' she said.

The PTA at Miami Lakes K-8 has already started to work with second-graders at the school to promote a healthier lifestyle.

``We tried to do it for the whole school, but logistically it didn't work out,'' Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez plans to expand the program by asking local supermarkets to match the grant money and provide additional healthy snacks for the kids.

Miami Lakes K-8 is also planning to sponsor ``Just Run,'' an afternoon program that encourages students and teachers to run laps at the school.

``We will work with [the kids] and teach them about moving their bodies, having a healthy lifestyle and exercising,'' Rodriguez said.

Last year, the Miami Lakes K-8 Center PTA won the Standard of Excellence Award from the county council of PTAs.

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