Students impress with smoothies

The Schofield Middle School students raced to the table, grabbing milk, fruit, honey and other sweeteners - four teams vying to make the best healthy smoothie in a "Smoothie Throwdown."

Personal skills teacher Jean Pesce and career specialist Helen Richard coordinated the project with Kim Beavers, a University Hospital dietician.

Richard introduced the competition at Paul Knox Middle School last year.

"It was a clever idea on her part," said Beavers. "There are a lot of nutritious products, and I tried to bring things they might not have tried - nonfat, almond, soy and regular milk; orange juice with calcium; honey and maple syrup; brown sugar and even plain white sugar; and papaya, pineapple, strawberries and mixed berries. The message is that good nutrition can taste good. We also had a discussion about being a dietician, as there are many different avenues in this career."

Guest judges selected the team of Emelie Alacon, Claire Turner and Carly Downs.

"It was definitely fun," said Turner. The girls experimented after the first effort, said Alacon, adding sugar and pineapple and getting on the flavor adjusted.

The other teams were Nicholas Smith, Malik Gardner and Noah Slate; Cassandra Negrete, Gillian Quinn, Austin Spann; and James Turner, Bria Andrews and Lauren Grimm.

"The kids have really enjoyed themselves," Richard said. "It shows that basic plain food can be creative, and they can eat well and live healthy."

The students are also finishing a unit on clothing and textiles and will participate in small sewing projects, Pesce said.

"We'll also make something that's nutritious and put together a whole meal, as well as study dietary diseases," she said. "That's helpful to know. This is another avenue for career exploration. A lot of the students didn't understand the connection here of science and math."

The judges were principal Jackie Barnwell, Aiken County Career Center director Brooks Smith and Meredith Anderson, a WRDW-TV broadcaster. They liked all the entries but especially favored the winning smoothie.

Claire Turner said she would liked to try the team's recipe at home, but only "if my mom lets me use the blender," she said with a rueful grin. "I was making vanilla pudding, and I didn't put the top on it."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.