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S ervin G S tarkville , O kti B B e H a C o U nty and M ississi P P i S tate University since 1 9 0 3

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STARKVILLEDAILYNEWS.COM

Monday, January 6, 2014

Volume No. 110, Issue No. 6

50 Cents

Dahl helps Fresh Start succeed

By STEVEN NALLEY educ@starkvilledailynews.com scratch, she said it made the difference between her sending her children to preschool and keeping them at home. And when Amanda Dahl took over as Fresh Starts coordinator, Buehler said Dahl made a huge difference beyond the one Fresh Start already made. She took it over and really expanded and institutionalized it at Emerson, Buehler said. She got a huge buy-in from some volunteers at (Mississippi State University), and they have really expanded it. She brought all the (Emerson) kids out to the homestead for a eld trip, and they just really got some top quality educational experiences because of her efforts. Its even better than its ever been. Dahl has used her expertise in nutrition and her passion for volunteering to help Fresh Start blossom into a comprehensive educational experience for Emersons preschoolers. Dahl took over as coordinator from original coordinator Lisa Long in spring 2013. Since then, Long said Dahl had taken Fresh Start well beyond her original vision for the program. She said it especially helps that Dahl is a nutrition instructor at Mississippi University of Women. Fresh

As co-founder of the Mississippi Modern Homestead Center, Allison Buehler places a premium on nutrition for her children. Through the center, Buehler specializes in helping people learn self-sufciency, including cooking home-grown fruits and vegetables. So, when Emerson Family Centers preschool launched its Fresh Start program in June 2011 and became the rst preschool in the state to replace processed foods with meals made from

Amanda Dahl became coordinator for Fresh Start at Emerson Family Center Preschool in spring 2013, and many report she has made a signicant difference for the program since then. (Submitted photo)

DAHL

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Start established a garden at Emerson where children could get hands-on experience with growing fruits and vegetables with help from volunteers, but Long said Dahl added new emphasis on cooking these homegrown foods. Because of her professional connection with nutrition, she had a lot of wonderful ideas set around cooking that could be done with children, ideas for parents and kids about how fresh vegetables could be used in everyday meals, and giving kids the opportunity to see cooking demonstrations, Long said. She also coordinated the Fall Festival. It had some shows put on by the kids and a huge buffet that Aramark at the university helped support. They had a market where you could buy gourds and pumpkins at a really low cost from one of the local vendors. It was a really great fundraiser for Fresh Start as well. Long said Fall Festival had guests not only from Emersons clientele but the whole community, and Dahl had also found other ways to extend Fresh Starts reach beyond Emersons walls. For instance, she said one of Dahls new additions to Fresh Start was a

newsletter that taught parents about ways to improve childrens nutrition, including recipes, parenting tips and more. She also has done quite a bit of speaking to other community groups about Fresh Start, the importance of healthy diet, and the education of children about fresh vegetables and fruits, Long said. (She teaches) parents how the palate is formed in early years to help (children) develop a preference and taste for healthy food. Emerson Preschool Coordinator Tiffany Fennell said Dahl also planned an entire week of activities for the national Farm To School Week. This week included preschoolers visiting the Mississippi Modern Homestead Center as well as a Breakfast of Champions featuring Starkville High School football players and cheerleaders. (Fresh Start) would not be anywhere near where it currently is without her dedication and her involvement and everything she has done, Fennell said. She has volunteered every Friday to implement the program with the children. She organizes larger festivals to raise awareness and also raise funds for Fresh Start. She works with the cook in the kitchen to make sure all

the meals (at Emerson) are healthy. Fennell said Dahl is also an active member of Emersons parent-teacher organization (PTO), and she frequently helped that organization plan events. She said she admired Dahl for maintaining such high community involvement while also working full-time and being a mother. She is an amazing lady and mother and friend, Fennell said. Shes always looking out for the betterment of others, not just herself. Amanda is always there every time you turn around, cooking special birthday cakes for the staff (and being) very involved in her sons class. Her natural leadership is amazing. She just never stops. Emerson Family Center Coordinator Elmarie Brooks said Dahls leadership had enabled Fresh Start to attract several loyal, dedicated volunteers, because Dahl led by example. She said it was clear Dahls passion for nutrition was genuine, sincere and came from the heart, and that had proven contagious. I have been really impressed with the whole Fresh Start program, and Ive been really impressed that parents initiated a program like that, Brooks said. It has made a tremendous difference in eat-

ing habits for at least 100 children. What theyve done, really, is start something that could be duplicated throughout the entire state. If you start with children at a young age, it can make a difference in the obesity problem Mississippi has. Greater Starkville Development Partnership CEO Jennifer Gregory said Dahl was a close friend of hers, and she was impressed with what Dahl had done with Fresh Start. Like Buehler, she said Fresh Start was one of the main reasons her son, Sims, went to Emerson. He has a food allergy, and Emerson is really one of the only child care facilities that focuses on healthy nutrition as part of the menu, Gregory said. Just knowing that he has a healthy breakfast and lunch at school Monday through Friday is really important to us, and the exposure Sims has had with the Fresh Start program to learn about farming and where food comes from has really been benecial in encouraging him to be a healthy eater and also a more well-rounded child. We love the Fresh Start program, and Amanda has done a tremendous job with writing the curriculum, recruiting volunteers and fundraising for the program.

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