[Press Release] : Media literacy education at West Boulevard Elementary School

[pr-l at news.gocolumbiamo.com]

You have received this message because you subscribe to the City of
Columbia's Web Mail service. To view linked material click on provided
links or copy and paste them into your browser's address menu.
______________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2006

CONTACT: Julie Tobias
Healthy Eating by Design Project Coordinator
(573) 446-2337

Media literacy education at West Boulevard Elementary School
								
	(COLUMBIA, MO) - A 12-week media literacy education class with
fifth grade students at West Boulevard Elementary School is helping
children think critically about the hundreds of media messages they
receive each day, specifically those related to food, nutrition and
health. The media literacy class is a component of the Healthy Eating by
Design (HEbD) Grant awarded to the PedNet Coalition, in collaboration
with the Columbia/Boone County Health Department.  
	The media literacy curriculum is included in the nutrition unit
for all 30 students of the fifth grade class at West Boulevard
Elementary. Jonette Ford, 5th grade teacher at West Boulevard
Elementary; Beth Federici, director of Columbia Access Television-CAT3;
and Melinda Hemmelgarn, registered dietician, have been working with the
students since early March.
  	After learning about basic nutrition, and persuasive media and
advertising techniques, students design and produce media messages which
teach their peers about the information learned in the classes. These
messages, healthy eating commercials and news stories will be shown at
the Ragtag Cinema in downtown Columbia on Thursday, May 25, at 5 p.m.
	Exposure to commercial media is identified as a leading risk
factor in the development of childhood obesity. The main goal of the
HEbD project is to increase awareness of good nutrition to young
children and their parents through exposure to different fruits and
vegetables, education and media literacy.  

- 30 -
______________________________________________________

Archived press releases can be viewed online at: 
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Public_Comm/Public_Information/Press_Releases/

______________________________________________________

If you would like to stop receiving messages, modify list options, or
subscribe to other lists visit the Web Mail section of our Web site and
follow the instructions provided. 

http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Web_Mail/index.php