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Corn silk was flying all over town as Somerville schoolchildren celebrated Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week (Sept. 24-28). Throughout the week, students were encouraged to eat fresh, locally grown items at lunch. These included pears, melon slices, apples, tomatoes, zucchini, and most dramatically, corn on the cob. Early on Sept. 27, kids of all ages at the Healey, Kennedy, Argenziano, Winter Hill, East Somerville, and West Somerville schools set to work removing husks from mounds of fresh-picked corn. Before class they had shucked enough for everyone to have a steaming ear at lunchtime. Veteran shuckers worked alongside novices, with styles ranging from meticulous plucking by younger children to high-speed shelling by seventh and eighth graders. Guest shuckers at the Winter Hill, Kennedy, and Healey schools included Superintendent of Schools Tony Pierantozzi and school committee members Mark Niedergang and Charlene Harris, respectively. In addition, a few ears were held over from the early morning shuck at the Healey School so that Mayor Joe Curtatone could participate at lunchtime. After shucking and comparing notes with students, the mayor pitched an inning of kickball in the schoolyard.
Kicking around ideas about nutrition and peak athletic performance at the Winter Hill Community School were celebrity guests Chris Loftus and Gary Flood of the New England Revolution soccer team. Loftus, a forward who loads up on fresh fruit each morning, said: “You’ve got to eat right to play at the level you want, and to be more awake and more focused in class. It’s important to seek out locally grown farm foods, for energy, and for your health.” Defense player Flood also urged students to “take advantage of the fresh foods, grown around here, that are in your cafeteria.” During a skills session, Loftus and Flood modeled placement shots and power shots, showed the “scissors” method of getting past an opposing player, and selected students for a game of “two-touch” and a few shots at goal. In addition, police officer Sean Sylvester joined the two pros in some drop-kick attempts at a basketball hoop.
Contributing to the success of Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week were Amber Espar of Groundwork Somerville, Tracie Gillespie of the University of Massachusetts Extension, Maura Beaufait and Abby Randall of the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts, a host of hardworking Somerville Foodservice employees, and numerous parent volunteers. Lanni’s Orchard of Lunenburg and Williams Farm of Deerfield, Mass., grew the corn, and the week’s events were coordinated by Claire Kozower, the Nutrition Outreach Coordinator for the Somerville Public Schools.