Wellness Forum - Children's Health

Mission Statement: Our mission is to improve the health of children and adolescents by providing education about nutrition, exercise and lifestyle choices from a holistic perspective.

Tools for Implementing School Change | Board of Directors | Success Stories

Success Stories

Janet Triner - A Persistent Teacher Shares Her Success

Janet Triner is a third grade teacher in the Chicago area who has become a great supporter of The Wellness Forum's philosophy and its programs for schools. This is her story…

I was introduced to Dr. Pam Popper through a mutual acquaintance, and signed up to get daily health messages from her through voice mail. I was really excited when I finally got a chance to attend her lecture in Chicago and meet her in person. I ordered her educational materials and was an almost immediate convert to The Wellness Forum's eating plan.

To further my education and to learn more about how to use this new information to help students, I attended the Wellness Forum Foundation's annual Nutrition for Kids Conference in Columbus, Ohio. This is when I started to get really motivated!

At about the same time, I had volunteered to be on the Science Committee for our school district, and to review our science and health curricula. The courses I took through The Wellness Forum convinced me that much of what we were teaching our students about nutrition was incorrect or outdated. I had already started sharing better and more up-to-date information with my third grade students, and they were quite receptive.

Another issue that I had become quite concerned about was the lunches we were offering kids in the cafeteria. I knew that serious changes were needed here too.

So, I suggested (over and over) that we form a school nutrition committee. At first no one paid much attention to me, but I think eventually everyone got tired of my nagging, and they finally decided to form such a committee. I volunteered to co-chair it with a friend immediately!

Our curriculum director became an early and strong supporter, and we had teachers from all grade levels, a school board member, and both a high school and middle school student all agree to participate. The state's mandating a wellness plan gave everyone extra incentive to make improvements.

We have decided that our first goal is to educate teachers and then begin to incorporate nutrition education into each grade level. Once these activities are well underway, we will start providing programming for parents. My experience, however, is that kids are really good at sharing the information they learn about good health and nutrition with their parents, so this process will probably start much earlier.

Many teachers have attended my presentations on the effect of food on the brain and learning. They are aware of my passion for good health and nutrition, and have come to me to learn more or help them to make positive changes in their own situations. For example, I helped one teacher to convince her children's daycare center to stop using sugary snacks and unhealthy foods as rewards.

I am so excited because this program will give me even more opportunities to share information with my peers and influence what children in other classrooms learn.

I hope everyone who reads this feels inspired to get educated about optimal health, speak up and share with others, and be persistent and insistent in pushing for change.

--- Janet Triner

For more information contact: The Wellness Forum