Centennial Elementary

On Tuesday morning, December 15, I made a visit to Centennial Elementary for my first appearance as Miss Oklahoma USA 2010. Speaking on behalf of “Action for Healthy Kids,” my goal was to encourage and to inform the students of how to live a healthy lifestyle, while allowing them to have a ton fun in the process!

I really wanted to engage the children in everything I was teaching and do several “hands on” activities. I spoke to three separate divisions: The third grade, the fourth grade, and the fifth grade. The kids were all eyes and ears as I asked them an array of questions, called on numerous volunteers, played various games, and gave out a dozen prizes. The kids especially enjoyed the obstacle course I created for them. I had the students jumping inside hoops, shouting out their favorite fruits and vegetables, running through cones, and doing exercises like sit ups, push ups, and jumping jacks! It was a blast!

At one point in my speech, I demonstrated to the kids the outrageous amount of sugar within our soda drinks. The students were surprised to learn that a 24 fl oz bottle of coke contained 20 whopping teaspoons of sugar!

After I was done speaking, I visited a few classrooms and read a book to the third graders. Following the book reading, the students were open to ask questions. One young lady asked me if I would sing for her and I obliged! Once I began to sing, all of the kids joined in and we had a magnificent time singing Christmas carols together and getting even more excited for the arrival of the holidays. While many questions were clever and others very endearing, many were awfully humorous as well. One little guy inquired whether or not I had any poisonous turtles for pets. haha…Do those kids have large imaginations, or what?!

After it was all said and done I took a picture with every single child for Christmas. --Boy, were my cheeks sore afterward! Ha!

My time with the kids reminded me of exactly why the title of Miss Oklahoma USA is such an honor to hold and how much of an opportunity I have as a titleholder to influence others. There is nothing quite like being bombarded with dozens of hugs from a bunch of little boys and girls and being tackled by hundreds of elementary kids.

The students were so unbelievably eager to learn and I was extremely thankful for having their full attention throughout my entire visit. Visiting Centennial Elementary and having the opportunity to share with the students was an incredibly special experience.

A couple of days ago, I received loads of homemade thank you cards (those are the best kind) from the students. The pictures the kids drew for me were absolutely precious and completely made my day.

I truly believe that teaching our children healthy habits now will be incredibly instrumental in helping them to create and keep healthy habits later on in life. It was a blessing to be able to share with Centennial Elementary!

Conceive it. Believe it. Achieve it.

-Morgan Woolard