Last Friday afternoon, the students at Cranston West got a treat from the faculty and students in the Family and Consumer Sciences classes: free samples of their latest creation, a low sodium, high protein corn and black bean salsa.

"Especially with all of the emphasis put on the childhood obesity problem, we're trying to be very involved and on the forefront of promoting healthy eating," said Audrey Guttin, the citywide program supervisor and faculty member on the Cranston Public Schools Wellness Committee. "It's important to show the students that we can eat healthy and the food can be tasty at the same time.”

She explained that her Family and Consumer Sciences program has been promoting healthy eating alternatives for years.

"We have always been really involved in these initiatives," she said.

According to her colleague, Susan Burke, the students prepared everything for Friday's snack, cooking up several batches of the salsa, with each batch yielding 44 servings. The salsa was offered to the students at each lunch period, along with a copy of the recipe.

"Even the sports coaches recommend that their students take our classes, because of our emphasis on nutrition and the importance of sleep, stress management and staying properly hydrated," said Burke.

The students at the Cranston Area Career and Technical Center's Graphic Communications program pitched in with this effort as well, using their talents to create a new banner for the Family and Consumer Sciences classes to hang behind the snack table, promoting the event.

Both Burke and Guttin say that they plan to host a healthy snack event frequently throughout the school year.

"We'd like to do this every couple of months," said Guttin.

Text and photos by Jen Cowart.