Pius X School welcomed a delegation of parliamentarians from Latin America and the Caribbean who are visiting Aruba for the Parlatino meetings. This visit focused on the educational center’s achievements as a “Healthy School,” an initiative in its third official year of implementation that is positively impacting both students and teachers.
Practical Health Education and School Agriculture Classes During the tour, the Parlatino parliamentarians observed firsthand how students receive health education (gezondheideducatie) lessons. Students demonstrated how they weigh fruit, read and analyze nutritional information labels on products, and learn the importance of a balanced diet.
The delegation also visited the school garden/farm, guided by teachers. There, they observed children actively participating in plant care and harvesting local fruits and vegetables. The visitors had the opportunity to taste part of the fresh harvest from the school’s papaya tree.
A Project Born After COVID-19 The Healthy School program began three years ago, initially focusing on teacher well-being:
“It came about after the COVID period when we started thinking about helping teachers feel healthy and safe at school again. After that, we began working on the well-being (welzijn) of both teachers and children at school. A healthy school isn’t just about healthy eating, but feeling good, getting along with one another, and the mental aspect, which is very important.”
The results of this project are visible in the children’s overall development. Many students tried local vegetables like local cucumber (concomber crioyo) for the first time in their lives and are now harvesting bananas, plantains, and papayas.
This learning reaches the students’ homes, where they share what they learned at school with their families. Furthermore, the school has noticed a positive shift in the children’s attitudes; they now display greater resilience, better interpersonal relationships, and increased care and consideration for others.
