Pioneer Editorial: Kelliher can teach us all some lessons

Congratulations to Kelliher for becoming the first school in the nation to earn a “gold” rating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthier School Challenge, measuring how schools work to improve nutrition and physical health.
Representatives from the USDA and the Minnesota departments of Health and Education traveled to the Beltrami County community last week to bestow the honor.
Kelliher students celebrated the occasion by dressing up as food items. Superintendent Tim Lutz wore a tie decorated with fruits and vegetables.
“It’s nice to be recognized,” Lutz told Pioneer reporter Kyle Farris. “It’s tricky when you’re a small school, but I think every school can do this.”
Students at Kelliher eat produce from the school garden: tomatoes, beets and squash that they grow and harvest themselves. They have the choice every day to eat at the salad bar, and in the classroom they take breaks to rest their minds and move their bodies.
 Thousands of schools across the country have applied for the Healthier School Challenge, hundreds of those in Minnesota.
“There’s a connection between health, nutrition and learning outcomes ” said Gail Anderson, team nutrition coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Education. “Schools are seeing it as a priority finally.”
Everyone can learn a thing or two from the Kelliher folks, whether it is about the importance of good nutrition or the effect of physical exercise and movement.
Way to go, Kelliher.