Bill Clinton To Honor Gables School For Healthy Initiative
CORAL GABLES (CBS4)- More than three dozen schools in Miami-Dade County will be honored by former President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Library Monday in Little Rock, Arkansas.
That's because the schools have transformed their campuses into healthier places for students and staff.
At Coral Gables Preparatory Academy students have planted an organic garden.
"It's a lot fun," said fourth grader Adriana Obeso. "You're actually getting to tend to live beings."
An eager class of fourth graders spent the school year watering and harvesting all types of fruits and vegetables from their school garden.
"Education is not just reading, writing and mathematics," said Veronica De Silva who teaches fourth grade and over sees the flourishing organic garden on the campus at Coral Gables Preparatory Academy. "It has to be holistic and eating healthy is vital to children."
And the children say they love eating the fruits of their labor. The garden even inspired some students to planted one of their own.
Organic Gardening isn't the only teaching tool Coral Gables Preparatory Academy is using to inspire a healthy lifestyle. On the middle school campus students work out in a wellness center as part of their physical education program.
"When I started the year I couldn't do much physically, "said Prana Vsharma who is a 6th grader at the school.
Now Vsharma says he's sailing through his work outs in the wellness center. Coral Gables Prep Academy will be honored by Alliance for a Healthier Generation founded by the Bill Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.. The goal is to combat childhood obesity.
"It's really a big deal because everyone in the school has worked so hard educating our children," said Cheli Cerra who is the principal at Coral Gables Prep Academy.
A teacher with the school will travel to Little Rock on Monday to be honored.
