The Colby Echo

Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Local News

Media Credit: File Photo

For participants in the popular Colby Cares About Kids (CCAK) program, getting to meet their mentee's parents is a very unique opportunity. The CCAK program matches students of the College with children in the local community and for two hours each week the pairs spend time together, developing a strong bond. Mentees got to introduce their mentors to their parents during a special dinner on Wednesday, February 25 at the gymnasium of the bustling George J. Mitchell School, a Waterville elementary school.

The family groups happily conversed, the parents just as eager to meet the mentors as the mentees were to introduce them. "It's nice to finally get to meet the person who your kid raves about at home. It's nice to be able to put a face to a name," one parent said.

Besides providing an opportunity for parents and mentors to interact, the evening focused on nutrition. Several community groups including Inland Hospital, the Waterville Health Department and University of Maine sponsored the event. Each of the sponsors set up booths in the hallway of the school, offering a wealth of health information and free gifts.

"We're trying to give back to the community, and to raise awareness about the importance of having a healthy lifestyle," a representative for Inland Hospital said.
Dinner consisted of spaghetti, salad and garlic bread, with fruit parfaits for dessert. Following the meal, Michelle Lake, the school health coordinator, presented an interactive presentation entitled "Go, Slow, Whoa!" The goal of the slideshow was to "expose parents to reading labels and making good choices about foods," she said.

To ensure that lessons about healthy food choices sank in, they gave each student a set of three sticks: one yellow, one green and one red. Colored like traffic lights, the sticks were intended to help students and their parents think actively about the food they ate. For each food item shown in the presentation, students had to decide whether it was a "go food" a "slow food," or a "whoa food" and hold up the corresponding colored stick.

The presentation seemed to hit its mark as one student said, "I never realized that a lot of the stuff my mom tries to make me eat is actually good for me."

While the theme of the evening may have been nutrition, the focus still remained on the opportunity for the mentors and families to meet. It was a night of praise for the CCAK program, highlighting its important impact on the community.

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