[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 11815]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRATULATING THE SNACKS 4 EDUCATION TEAM

 Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I am pleased to join the friends and 
families of four remarkable young Hoosiers in congratulating their 
team's success in the eCybermission science, math, and technology 
competition for sixth through ninth graders sponsored by the U.S. Army.
  Having won the ninth grade Northwest Regional Competition, the Fort 
Wayne-based ``Snacks 4 Education'' team of Allie Dembar, Andrew 
Reichle, Amelia Roebuck, and Darcy Whitney will now face three other 
teams in the National Competition to be held in Washington, DC, on June 
24. These four students have shown considerable insight and leadership 
in the execution of their project promoting proper school-time 
nutrition. The team is led by adviser, Larry Lesh.
  Each member should be proud of their accomplishments. I am especially 
grateful for their advocacy and the effort these young leaders have put 
forth to demonstrate the benefits of proper nutrition and healthy 
snacks on classroom education.
  I hope you will join me in offering congratulations to all the 
participants in this year's eCybermission competition and best wishes 
to the many finalists.
  I ask to have the following statement further detailing the ``Snacks 
4 Education'' project printed in the Record.
  The material follows.

                 (By the members of Snacks 4 Education)

       In American schools today, many students arrive ill-
     prepared to learn at their full potential. There are a 
     multitude of reasons for this, including not getting enough 
     rest, not eating a nourishing breakfast, and not coming from 
     a home that values education. As a result, these students in 
     particular, and probably all students, have a time during the 
     school day when they experience a low energy point. Our team 
     of four students, after noticing the same problem in our own 
     schools, hypothesized that having a healthy snack at or near 
     this low energy time would help students to be more alert, 
     more energetic, and better able to concentrate.
       For our project, the team experimented in eleven classrooms 
     in four schools, covering each grade from one through six. 
     The experiments were run during three separate time periods. 
     The team first had to determine the low energy time of the 
     class. This was accomplished by asking the students through a 
     questionnaire, or by allowing the teacher to make the 
     decision, or by a combination of these two methods. In two of 
     the experiments, snacks approved by the Fort Wayne Community 
     Schools' Nutrition Services were given each day at the low 
     energy time. Then for two weeks, snacks were not given. In 
     one case, the experiment ran for eight weeks, having two 
     weeks with snacks, then two weeks without, then two with, and 
     finishing with two weeks without.
       In each experimental snack week, dry snacks were given on 
     Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Fruit snacks were given on 
     Tuesday and Thursday. The dry snacks were packages of teddy 
     grahams, pretzels, and animal crackers. Fruit snacks varied 
     and included small packages of sliced apples, grapes, or 
     oranges. The dry snack servings all contained around 125 
     calories and were determined to be of healthy content by a 
     registered dietitian.
       Questionnaires were given to the students on each Friday of 
     the experimental weeks. On the final week evaluation, two 
     extra questions were asked. The first question asked whether 
     the students did better in their schoolwork during the weeks 
     they had a snack each day. The second question asked how they 
     felt after having a daily snack. In grade 1, 84 percent 
     thought they did better on their schoolwork, and 70 percent 
     said they felt better after having a snack. In grade 2, the 
     results were 60 percent and 70 percent. In grade 3, 84 
     percent and 70 percent. In grade 4, 88 percent and 78 
     percent. In grade 5, 84 percent and 86 percent. In grade 6, 
     86 percent and 91 percent.
       For overall results from all eleven classrooms in all six 
     grades, the actual number of answers were used instead of 
     averaging percents, as not the same number of students 
     participated in each grade. Overall, 81 percent of the 
     students said that while they were having snacks they thought 
     they did better on their schoolwork and 82% said they felt 
     better after having a snack.
       Following our research, we were involved in discussions 
     with the Indiana Parent Teacher Association, which passed a 
     resolution urging its members to support the concept of 
     healthy snacks in schools. That resolution will be considered 
     at the national PTA convention next year.

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