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Wednesday, October 10, 2007 The Braselton News Page 7B Gwinnett proposing major redistricting plans Gwinnett County Public Schools is proposing new attendance boundaries that may affect up to 23,000 students — including those in the Mill Creek cluster. Gwinnett County Public Schools will open 12 new schools and three replacement schools over the next two years. The new attendance boundaries will deter mine where students will attend schools in three new clusters. The redistricting process will be “much more extensive and far reaching than those done in recent years as it involves a large number of existing schools,” according to a statement by the school system. Gwinnett County Public Schools is seeking input from the commu nity for the proposed redistricting plans. Public meetings on the proposal will be held in the board room at the Instructional Support Center, Suwanee, on Tuesday, Nov. 13, from 7-9 p.m., and Thursday, Nov. 15, from 7-9 p.m. Public comments from Mill Creek High School, Jones Middle School, Osborne Middle School, Duncan Creek Elementary School, Ivy Creek Elementary School, and others will be taken at the Nov. 15 public meeting. The Gwinnett County Board of Education is expected to vote on the proposed redistricting on Thursday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. Complete details and the pro posed attendance boundaries are available on the school system’s website at www.gwinnett.kl2. ga.us. NEW SCHOOLS The following schools will be opened in 2008: •Trip Elementary School in the Grayson cluster •Puckett’s Mill Elementary School in the Mill Creek cluster •Rosebud Elementary School in the Rosebud cluster •Benefield Elementary School will remain in the Berkmar clus ter •Lanier Middle School in the Lanier and North Gwinnett clus ters The following schools will be opened in 2009: •White Oak Elementary School in the Lanier and North Gwinnett cluster •North Gwinnett Middle School in the Lanier and North Gwinnett clusters •Archer Higher in the Archer cluster, which will affect Central Gwinnett High School, Dacula High School and Grayson High School •Mountain View High School in the Mountain View cluster, which will affect Mill Creek High School, Collins Hill High School and Dacula High School. RAISING ‘COINS FOR A CURE’ The West Jackson Middle School Beta Club sponsored a service project in September to help fund researchers who are looking for a cure for cancer. With the help of Mayfield Dairy, who donated all the jugs, the Beta Club members were able to give each homeroom a milk jug for a “Coins for a Cure” competition. The total raised to donate to American Cancer Society was $2383. The sponsoring teachers are Emily Pendergrass and Chris Pendley. The students shown are (front row, L-R): Kalee Baggett, Alex Fleeman, Deborah Thao, Morgan Elliot, Richie Coulhurst, Christi Spence, Erin Jenkins and Drake Corbin; and (second row) Andy Williams (president), Jennifer Deardoff (vice president), Beth Bates, Clare Nunley and Stephan Boroday. Teachers of the year selected in Gwinnett Gwinnett County Public Schools has announced its 2007-2008 Teacher of the Year recipients for each school. Carla Evans, a mathematics specialist, was named the Teacher of the Year at Duncan Creek Elementary School. Joseph Nunn, an eighth grade physical science teacher, was named the Teacher of the Year at Frank N. Osborne Middle School. Mill Creek High School named Rhonda Zambo, a special education teacher, as Teacher of the Year for its school. All local school honorees will be considered for the systemwide honor of GCPS 2007-2008 Teacher of the Year. Twenty semifmalists for the county title will be cho sen in early October. Six finalists will then be named in mid-October. The annual Teacher of the Year banquet and the announcement of this year’s Gwinnett County Teacher of the Year will be held on Nov. 1. Pre-packaged lunches not very healthy for kids BY DAN RAHN Prepackaged lunches are just so convenient and so appealing to kids. But are they nutritious? Are they a good buy? For that matter, are they really easy for your child to take to school? No, no and no, says a University of Georgia nutritionist. “They’re pretty low on the totem pole when it comes to lunch foods for school children,” said Connie Crawley, a UGA Cooperative Extension food, nutrition and health specialist after a review of products such as Oscar Meyer’s Lunchables. Nutritious? For the most part, “they don’t even pretend to be,” Crawley said. “Generally, they’re very high in sodium, low in fiber and very high in fats, particularly saturated fats.” Some of the products have as much as 50 percent of the daily value for saturated fats. “And that’s the daily value for adults,” she said. “That’s a lot of saturated fat to be feeding a child.” PROS? Crawley was asked to study the pros and cons of such prod ucts but found few pros to point out. “They’re a good source of sugar,” she offered. Of course, so is candy. The nutrition content of the prod ucts varies greatly, she said, but all on the poor end of the scale. Most are low in calcium, an important nutrient for growing children. “They have no milk,” she said. “Some of the products have choco late pudding for dessert, but most have some kind of candy. Some have cheese, but it’s processed cheese.” Prepackaged lunches are notable for what they don’t have. “They generally have no vegetables, if you don’t count salsa, and no fruit,” she said. “The drinks are mostly sugary fruit drinks instead of fruit juice.” What they have is a lot of pro cessing. Nutritionists tend to be leery of food products with more than five ingredients. “Some of these have 30,” Crawley said. “They’re highly processed.” All that processing isn’t cheap, either. The products Crawley checked were $2.50 apiece if you bought two. “You can buy a lot of good food for $2.50,” she said. For the cost of these products, she said, the buyer gets more pack age than food. “You’re definitely not getting a bargain,” she said. But Crawley sees an obvious flaw in even the fancy packaging. “Most of them need to be kept cold, but they wouldn’t fit easily into any insulated lunch box,” she said. Besides all that, “they’re not even appetizing,” she said. “And they’re hard to eat without making a mess.” So what’s a parent to do? “First, establish good eating habits at home,” Crawley said. “Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer salty foods.” FOR THE BEST BUYS, READ THE CLASSIFIED ADS NOW ACCEPTING PATIENTS Hours: Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. AcsLic /H. 7>ills, D/HD Dcntlslvvi 706-335-7793 215 Mercer Place, P. O. Box 1241 Commerce, GA 30529 Website: drlpitts.com Email: drlpitts@drlpitts.com Then when you pack your child’s lunch, include some raw vegetables such as carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and cherry tomatoes. “Kids will enjoy those if they grow up eating them,” she said. “And fruit is one of the most portable foods there are.” Include nonfat or low-fat milk with a cold source in an insulated lunch box, she said. Or have your child get milk at school. Leftovers can be good lunches, too. So can a cheese sandwich, peanut butter and jelly or a bagel with cheese. “Kids like plain, basic foods with some variety,” Crawley said. That’s not the fare in prepack aged lunches. Checking for nutri tion information on Lunchables, Crawley visited the product Web site. But it offers no nutrition information and hardly anything even about Lunchables. “It doesn’t say anything about the food at all. There’s nothing there but video games for kids,” she said, laughing. “The home page does have a little food pyra mid icon, but when you click on it, you leave the site.” The site seems to say, “Want to know about nutrition? Don’t look here.” Dan Rahn is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. CARRILLO-GARCIA HONORED Jose Carrillo-Garcia, a senior at Jackson County Comprehensive High School, received the September Student Panther Pride Award. Student award recipients are nominated by faculty, staff and students at the school. Shown are (L-R): Joe Lancaster, Dr. Todd McGhee, Jose Carrillo-Garcia, Laura Ruffin and Kendra Phillips. LEIGH HONORED AT JCCHS James Leigh, head of maintenance at Jackson County Comprehensive High School, received the September JCCHS Faculty/Staff Panther Pride Award. Award recipients are nominated by faculty, staff and students at the school. 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