In this episode of the FoodED podcast, we have Julie Thomas, the interim principal at the St. Philip Neri School, the elementary school she attended. She has had a 34-year teaching and administrative career with the pleasure of teaching multiple grades, particularly with middle school. She talks about the health and wellness habits she established in her school and what it looks like.

Listen in to learn how to create an appreciation and connection between healthy foods and students. You will also learn the importance of taking care of yourself as a teacher before teaching those habits to your students, so it comes off authentically.

What You Will Discover:

• 00:48 Julie’s career background, plus experience teaching at her former elementary school.

• 03:53 How to replace unhealthy foods with healthy foods and fun activities at school.

• 06:37 Ways to create an appreciation and connection between healthy foods and students.

• 09:34 The gardening and cooking classes St. Philip Neri offers students to bridge the gap.

• 11:16 How to improve health by incorporating healthy trends into the school community.

• 13:30 Julie shares what a healthy meal means to her coming from an Italian-Irish family.

• 16:00 The importance of taking care of yourself as a teacher before teaching it to your students.

• 19:02 The importance of prioritizing health, wellness, and nutrition as part of our culture.

Connect with Julie:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-thomas-ba78773b/

FoodED explores the vital role food plays in the classroom. Join us as we dive into the latest research, best practices, and hear from experts (like you) in the field. Let's work together to create a school environment where every student can thrive.

Let's become food educated together.