Tuesday 28 June 2011

Third Time's a Charm?

It has officially been three months since our class took on the challenge of changing the chocolate milk in our school.  We thought it was time for an update.

The numbers on the left side are the number of students.
We were having "technical difficulties" with our graph program.

Our goal was to change 60% of the students who drink milk to white milk.  Did we succeed?  Our final result for this year is exactly 60%.  It was difficult to keep track of the milk orders since some classes had students move away or move in while other classes had students go home to eat lunch when the weather got nice, so fewer students were in the lunchrooms.  If we did this again we might record the percentages of milk instead of number of students.

Friday, June 24, 2011 was the finale of Food Revolution and during the twitter party, Jamie Oliver tweeted out our address.  THANK YOU!  We had so many visitors from all over the world.

You can follow Jamie Oliver on Twitter at @jamieoliver or his Food Revolution Team at @FoodRevTeam

So what have we learned from running The Milk Revolution?
1. Make sure the camera is on if you are supposed to be recording.  You also need to make sure you actually press record.
2. Half of what the media (TV, newspapers and radio) says is actually true.  We've learned this because we know what was written or said about us and what is actually correct.
3.  Sometimes adults are wrong, but they listen when you give them information.
4.  Not everyone will listen to you and not everyone will like what you have to say.
5. It's ok to have fun while you work.
6. Quiet on the set means you actually have to be quiet and sit still.
7. Not everyone knows how to read the BIG stop sign on your door knob when you're recording in the classroom.
8. Even famous students have to do their math.
9. When in doubt, have a backup plan.
10. We could still learn all our subjects and do The Milk Revolution.

And to celebrate...
We are releasing our third episode of MooTV.
If you are having trouble viewing this video, try this link

Officially we are finished school on Wednesday, June 29, 2011.  We didn't want anyone to forget about the revolution, so we've written a bunch of extra posts that will run over the summer.  Please stop in and see them.  We'll be back in the fall with a whole new campaign.  We're hoping to have a Milk Revolution club in the fall so we can include younger students, too.

Don't forget you can be part of the Milk Revolution.  Feel free to send in a picture over the summer.  You can send pictures and emails to themilkrevolution@gmail.com
This photo was taken by Snotty Gizardchunks at Disneyland, California, USA.

Sunday 26 June 2011

What's Moo in Grade 2?

A few weeks ago we sent classmates over to a Grade 2 class in our school because we'd heard they were doing some a-moozing things to spread the word about The Milk Revolution.  We interviewed students and here are some of the great things they've been working on.

One group of students have written a really good script.  The grade four class has decided to help produce this clip for the next episode of MooTV.  We think you'll enjoy it.

Another group of students have designed stickers and buttons that students who have changed their milk can wear.  They sold these stickers and buttons to raise money for the Slave Lake Fire Fund.  Slave Lake is a town in northern Alberta where 1/3 of the town burned down May 16, 2011 because of a forest fire.  All together, they raised $156.13.  Great work!
This is an example of some of the cool buttons designed
by the Grade 2 students of Room 13.
MooSongs is a group of students who have been writing songs and jingles that we could use on MooTV.  Some of the songs are really cute.  One student has written out all the words to "One Glass at a Time" so the class learned all the words to sing.  Lots of students got together and sang in the gym together.  The video can be seen here.

Another hardworking group made posters. They want to help spread the word.  The posters are hanging all over the school right now.

Here is another creative photo courtesy of Cheeseball Gigglebrain.
Is your class doing something to educate people about the sugar in the milk?  We want to hear from you.  Send us your story.  You can even include pictures!  Send it to themilkrevolution@gmail.com

Keep the revolution moo-ving right along.

Thursday 23 June 2011

100 Things That Have Less Sugar Than One Carton of Chocolate Milk

One 250mL carton of chocolate milk has 26g of sugar.

People keep telling us that chocolate milk is a healthy drink, but here are 100 things that have LESS sugar than a carton of chocolate milk.  The things listed below are usually considered treats for people and wouldn't usually be considered healthy choices in lunches.
1.  A Crispy Crunch 48g chocolate bar has 25g of sugar.
2. A Strawberry Banana Donut from Tim Horton's has 22g of sugar.
3. A 42g Kit Kat chocolate bar has 20g of sugar.
4. A 25g chocolate, caramel Rice Krispie Square has 11g of sugar.
5. The baked apple pie from McDonald's has 14g of sugar.
6. A regular sized Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich has 20g of sugar.
7. An A&W apple turnover has 14g of sugar.
8. A 42g Reece Peanut Butter Cup set has 20g of sugar.
9.  The Taco Bell 35g serving of cinnamon twists has 10g of sugar.
10. A strawberry Timbit has 4g of sugar.  That means you can have 6-7 for the same amount as chocolate milk.
11. At McDonald's a child size (250mL) Nestea Iced Tea has 20g of sugar.
12.  At A&W the rootbeer lollypops have 6g of sugar.
13.  One Popsicle brand popsicle has 8g of sugar.
14. The Cinnamon Melts from McDonald's have 19g of sugar in a serving.
15. An Old Fashioned Chocolate Dipped donut from Tim Horton's has 16g of sugar.
16. The Burger King Hershey's Sundae Pie has 22g of sugar.
17. A fruit-in-yogurt parfait from McDonald's has 25g of sugar.
18. At McDonald's a baked quiche pie has 16g of sugar.
19. A Kellogg's Frosted Cherry Poptart has 17g of sugar.
20. A Mott's fruit cup has 22g of sugar.
21. A caramel chocolate pecan cookie from Tim Horton's has 17g of sugar.
22. At McDonald's Apple Slices have 17g of sugar.
23. One Kellogg's Poptart has 17g of sugar.
24. 50g of Lays Barbeque Potato Chips have 3g of sugar.
25. 34g of Butterscotch Sauce from Swiss Chalet has 18g of sugar.
26.  One sugar cube is 4g of sugar.
27. Lays Classic Potato Chips has 0g of sugar.
28. A 125mL Chocolate Ice Cream from Swiss Chalet has 14g of sugar.
29. A Junior Chocolate Frostee from Wendy's has 22g of sugar.
30. A 3/4 cup of Captain Crunch cereal has 12g of sugar.
31.A Large French Fries from McDonald's has 0g of sugar.
32. The Chocolate Sauce from Swiss Chalet has 15g in a 34g serving.
33. 1096g of Boston Pizza's Boston Smoky Mountain Spaghetti & Meatballs has 20g of sugar.
34. 161g of Honey BBQ KFC Sandwich has 21g of sugar.
35. 1/2 cup of Marble Slab sorbet has 19g of sugar.
36. 1 cup of Marble Slab Chocolate Swiss Ice Cream is 0g of sugar.
37. A box of McDonald's Chocolate Chip Cookies has 9g of sugar.
38. A Second Cup Cappucino has 10g of sugar in it.
39. Three Chips Ahoy! cookies is 32.4g and contains 11g of sugar.
40. A Dairy Queen 1/2cup of soft serve ice cream has 19g of sugar.
41. A Dairy Queen 1/2cup of chocolate soft serve ice cream has 18g of sugar.
42. A McDonald's Baked Peach Pie has 16g of sugar.
43. A 9oz small orange juice from McDonald's has 23g of sugar.
44. 3/4 cup of Fruit Loops cereal has 12g of sugar in it.
45. A slice of Earl's cheesecake has 0g of sugar.
46. McDonald's box of regular cookies has 9g of sugar.
47. McDonald's apple slices with caramel sauce has 17g of sugar.
48. A chocolate glazed Timbit from Tim Horton's has 5g of sugar.
49. An Old Fashioned Cinnamon Donut from Tim Horton's has 9g of sugar.
50. Cinnamon Poppers from Pizza 73 have 13g of sugar.
51. Pizza 73 plum dipping sauce has 22g of sugar.
52. A no-name brand Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich has 13g of sugar in a 125mL sandwich.
53. An 87g bowl of vanilla chocolate chip ice cream has 16g of sugar.
54. A 65g serving of Munchos Potato Chips has 1g of sugar.
55. A 250mL containter of Pepsi Max has 0g of sugar.
56. A 250mL serving of Fresca has 0g of sugar.
57. Coca-Cola Zero serving of 250mL has 0g of sugar.
58. A 44g Crunchie chocolate bar has 22g of sugar in it.
59. A 45g Caramilk chocolate bar has 25g of sugar in it.
60. A 25g package of Real Fruit Minis has 13g of sugar in it.
61. 157mL of Skinny Cow Caramel Swirl Ice Cream has 24g of sugar in it.
62. A 37g package of Malteser's Chocolate Malt Treats has 19.7g of sugar.
63. A Brown Sugar Kellogg's Poptart has 13g of sugar in it.
64. A one cup serving of Apple Jacks cereal has 13g.
65. A 39g Skor Chocolate Bar contains 24g of sugar.
66. 15 pieces of Candy Corn has 24.8g of sugar.
67. One serving fun size bag of Tropical Skittles has 15g of sugar.
68. A 35g Snickers Chocolate bar has 18g of sugar.
69. 4 pieces of strawberry Twizzlers licorice has 19g of sugar.
70. One Hershey Milk Chocolate Almond bar has 19g of sugar.
71. 6 Jolly Rancher candies have 22g of sugar.
72. One S'more Donut from Tim Horton's has 20g of sugar in it.
73. A Cinnamon Doughnut from Tim Horton's has 11g of sugar.
74. A Tim Horton's Blueberry Glazed dnout has 14g of sugar.
75. One Candy Cane doughnut from Tim Horton's has 21g of sugar.
76. One Old-Fashioned Dip Doughnut has 16g of sugar.
77. A Kids Meal Cheesy Pizza from Swiss Chalet has 3g of sugar.
78. Four Oreo cookies have 14g of sugar.
79. An Old-Fashioned Glazed Doughnut from Tim Horton's has 22g of sugar.
80. One Old-Fashioned Plain Doughnut from Tim Horton's has 7g of sugar in it.
81. One Peanut Crunch Doughnut from Tim Horton's has 13g of sugar.
82. One Twinkie has 15g of sugar.
83. One Apple Toaster Strudel has 8g of sugar.
84. One 200mL carton of McDonald's Chocolate Milk has 22g of sugar.
85. One 21g serving of Cherry Jell-o has 19g of sugar.
86. Three Reduced Fat Oreo Cookies has 14g of sugar.
87. One 24g Oreo Snack Cake has 9g of sugar.
88. One Pumpkin Spiced Doughnut from Tim Horton's has 22g of sugar.
89. The Sour Cream Sugar Doughnut from Tim Horton's has 12g of sugar in it.
90. One 34g serving of Frosted Flakes cereal has 25g of sugar.
91. One 31g serving of Trix cereal has 12g of sugar.
92. One Kellogg's Nutrigrain Cereal Bar has 13g of sugar.
93. One serving of 127g of Mrs. Smith's Apple Pie is 18g of sugar.
94. Jell-o Snack Pack Chocolate Pudding (99g) has 16g of sugar in it.
95. One 37g Hostess Cupcake has 10g of sugar.
96. One 49.5g Hostess Cupcake has 22g of sugar.
97. Two regular Chips Ahoy! cookies (20g) have 7g of sugar.
98. Teh R-r-r-roll-up Lemon Raspberry Doughnut from Tim Horton's has 19g of sugar.
99. The Blueberry Fritter Doughnut from Tim Horton's has 22g of sugar.
100. The Boston Cream Donut from Tim Horton's has 13g of sugar.

It took us a while to make this list and we are sure there are lots of things that could be on it.  We just wanted to show the adults that the amount of sugar in the chocolate milk is making the healthy calcium and vitamins unhealthy.

And guess what?
Nobody at our school STOPPED drinking their milk.

Chocolate-No-More-Woman gives new meaning to "milk mustache."


Monday 20 June 2011

The Milk Revolution Musical Edition


Room 13 won May's Photo Challenge.
 Last week was another busy week for The Milk Revolution.  The Milk Revolution Team caught many students drinking white milk.  There will be lots of new little faces in the dance sequence at the end.  We already know what the song will be.  Can you guess?  Episode 3 began filming last week and parts of Episode 4 are written and the grade 2 students made and sold stickers and buttons.  Kristilyn Robertson stopped by to award our winning group in the Photo Challenge. 

This was the #1 photo from Room 13.
This morning several classes got together to sing "One Glass at a Time (The Milk Revolution Song) by Kristilyn Robertson.  We were supposed to go outside, but it was raining really hard, so we sang in the gym instead.
If you are having trouble viewing the video try this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEka1ajbwTc

What about MooTV?

This is a LegoTV sneak peak.
LegoTV cast members are going to dub the voices this afternoon after school.  A new character named Gram-moo will join MooTV to tell some very interesting stories.  We are hoping to release it on YouTube on June 28, 2011.

And then...
Mr. James Hees and Mr. Jake Bradley from CBC dropped by this afternoon.  We were supposed to go a track meet, but it was raining so hard we couldn't go.  At first we were disappointed until we were intereviewed by CBC TV and Radio.  You can watch our interview HERE. We're on almost halfway through.  We are also mentioned HERE.

James Hees and Jake Bradley from CBC stopped by today.

Stay tuned for more from The Milk Revolution!

Thursday 16 June 2011

Mrs. Swelander Has Super Powers

This morning we were sent the article written about The Milk Revolution in the Edmonton Examiner.  You can read the article here.  It is a good article, but we laughed because it says Mrs. Swelander teaches grade 2 and is the principal.  No wonder Mrs. Swelander is so tired these days!  Even though it was a mistake, we just wanted to clarify that Mrs. Swelander teaches Grade 4 and that is all.  However, next year Mrs. Swelander will be moving up to grade 5 with The Milk Revolution students which means The Milk Revolution will be able to continue!

You can follow Jamie Oliver's team at @FoodRevTeam on Twitter
This morning Mrs. Swelander also received a tweet from @FoodRevTeam on Twitter.  They were tweeting out our MooTV address last night during a Food Revolution Twitter party.  We are so lucky to have their support.  It is so exciting to see all the hits from all over the world.  We could not be as successful without their support.

Westglen Students Get "Caught"!
This week we decided to "catch" students in lunchrooms drinking white milk and reward them with a chance to appear in MooTV Episode 3.  And speaking of MooTV Episode 3, it looks like we'll have it ready to go before the last day of school on June 28, 2011.  We've had to do most of our recording outside of class time, but it's been tricky with all the end of the school year events to fit it in.  Needless to say, Mrs. Swelander has needed her super powers this week.


Dallas from Alien In-Line Skating stopped by.
 We Have Wonderful Lunchroom Supervisors!
We shared our Milk Revolution message with our lunchroom supevisors.  We invited them to come into our classroom to learn about what we've learned.  They liked our presentation and even agreed to dance for us in Episode 3 of MooTV.  Our class ilso going to help update the weekly milk orders to help make their job easier and we're going to help out Mrs. Miner handing out milk in the Grade 2, 3 & 4 lunchrooms.

And More News Coverage...
We also appeared on Global TV Edmonton on June 13, 2011.  You can view the clip here.  We appear at the 28 minute mark if you're looking to find it.  Please let us know if the link no longer works.

Monday 13 June 2011

A Milk Revolution Video Game

One of our genius Grade 4 students designed a simple Milk Revolution Video game.  You have to chase the chocolate milk away.  Give it a try!

Scratch Project

How to Play: Your mouse is the little guy.  Chase the chocolate milk.  If the link doesn't work, try HERE.

Thank you to Pinky Chucklenose for designing the game.

And more good news!

Doofus Pizzabrain is interviewed.
Geoff from Global TV Edmonton came to our class today and interviewed us about The Milk Revolution.  He says it will be part of the Health Matters segment on tonight's broadcast.  When it goes online, we will post a link, too.  We took his picture with the milk carton.

Geoff Stickle from Global TV Edmonton stopped by today.


Friday 10 June 2011

Chocolate Milk is NOT a Recovery Drink

It has been another exciting week as part of The Milk Revolution!

Room 13 is a grade 2 class in our school.  They have been very involved in our Milk Revolution.  This report was written by one of those amazing grade 2 students:


Milky Kookybrain stopped by to help us write the post.

From a Dietician's View
By Milky Kookybrain


During a conversation about The Milk Revolution, Mrs. Flasha asked: ”Is chocolate milk a good recovery drink?”  I emailed Mrs. Flasha’s cousin, Jill the dietitian asking if chocolate milk is a good recovery drink. This is the response I received:

Thank you for your question.  I think "The Milk Revolution" is a great idea, and I'm glad your class is getting involved!

White milk and chocolate milk have the same nutrition:  lots of calcium, protein, vitamins and minerals.  However, chocolate milk has a bunch of extra sugar added!  After you do a lot of physical activity, it is a good idea to have a healthy snack.  It can be a drink (like milk), or it can be a healthy snack that has at least two Food Groups from Canada's Food Guide.  You could try:

  • A glass of milk and a banana
  • Crackers and cheese
  • A peanut butter sandwich
  • A homemade smoothie with milk, fruit and ice
So, you could have chocolate milk as a recovery drink after you exercise.  But white milk has all of the same nutrition without the added sugar.  Sounds like a better choice to me!

Let me know if you have any more questions!



Jill is a Registered Dietician

So...
Adults keep telling us that we need chocolate milk when we're being extra active, but a dietician (whose job is telling people what is good for them to eat) says that's not the best choice.  Chocolate milk is NOT a recovery drink.  We have proof!

Thoughts about the email:
~"I'm really happy that other people are getting involved."
~"Yes!  We were right!"
~" I feel relieved."
~"I told you so."
~"I feel like we've finally proved the grown-ups wrong."
~"Do you want to change your milk now for healthy bones and teeth?"

What is on the horizon?
Our grade 2 class is selling buttons and stickers during the week of June 13-17.  They are $1 and have a Milk Revolution message.  All the money raised will go to the Slave Lake Fire Relief Fund.

Today Mrs. Swelander did a radio interview with Dean Thorpe from CFCW Radio about The Milk Revolution.  It may possibly air on Monday, June 13, 2011 between noon and one o'clock.  You can visit their website here.  Mrs. Swelander also did an interview with The Edmonton Examiner.  You can read the article here.

Episode 3 of MooTV officially began filming today.  We hope to release it before the end of June.  Watch out for the return of LegoTV and Sassy Cow.  Episode 4 is half-written.  Do you want to be part of it?  You can film a video clip, or take a picture or send us a note and we'll include it.  Send it to themilkrevolution@gmail.com

Are you watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution?  It's assigned homework in our class.  You want to watch closely because you never know where the faces of our little Milk Revolutionaries may turn up next!  You can catch episodes in Edmonton on Access or ABC.


This entry for the photo challenge was sent in by Jessica at the Royal Alberta Museum.


Tuesday 7 June 2011

Our Photo Challenge Winners


White milk-it knocks you out.
Thank you to everyone who entered the challenge.  We would like to congratulate our Photo Challenge Winners, Mrs. Flasha's Grade 2 Class!  They've won autographed copies of Kristilyn Robertson's "One Glass at a Time (The Milk Revolution Song)" and will receive a special certificate.

It's never too late to take a picture and send it in.  We would like to keep posting all through the summer, so send in your revolutionary pictures that feature you being healthy and making healthy choices.  Be sure to include your name (or Superhero name) and the location of the picture.  You can email pictures to themilkrevolution@gmail.com  We will feature pictures all summer long!

We are working on episodes of MooTV that we can release over the summer, even though we're not in school during July and August.  Would you like to be featured in an episode?  First, make sure you have permission from your parents.  If you are a teacher and want to participate, you can think of a creative way to hide your students' faces.  Still photos can be sent to themilkrevolution@gmail.com  Video recordings can be saved in .wmv or .avi files and sent to themilkrevolution@gmail.com  If they are too large to send electronically, send an email for further instructions.  Be sure to include your names (Superhero names are acceptable), location and if you're a school, include your school name.  Maybe you want to dance for the dance sequence?  Maybe you have a segment that is educational or funny?  Maybe you have an idea, but don't know how to put it into action?  We'll help!

Thursday 2 June 2011

Surprise! Surprise!

Our morning started off like every other.  We were working and reading and learning to use a new computer application when Ms. Lundell (our principal) showed up at our door to say we had some very special guests to see us.  It's a good thing our classroom was clean because the District Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Mark Liguori and our School District Board of Trustees Board Chair, Mr. David Colburn stopped by to hear about The Milk Revolution.  We shared our blog, MooTV episodes and the progress we've made since Mr. Liguori's last visit.  After we presented everything, Mr. Colburn asked our class lots of questions about everything we've learned about health and wellness.  Mrs. Swelander was very impressed with how eloquent and factual students were with their answers even though they'd had no time to prepare.
Edmonton Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Mr. Mark Liguori (left) and District Board of Trustees Chair Mr. David Colburn couldn't leave our classroom without taking a picture with our milk carton.
Mr. Colburn liked our presentation so much that he said he wants to help us spread the word throughout our school district.  We are hoping this means we will be invited to present to the Board of Trustees.  We are so happy that adults are listening to our message and realizing how important this is.


Now, for the second surprise... Mrs. Swelander sent a very extra special permission form home with us today (that parents need to return by June 3 please) so we can record a important video clip.  We're not going to tell you what it's for yet, but it is going to be FANTASTIC!  Maybe you can guess by leaving us a comment below.


We also want to thank everyone who has visited our blog and MooTV over the past few days.  We were waiting to hit 15 000 visits so we could celebrate, but we missed it in all the excitement of our guest visits.  We'll celebrate at 20 000.  We love to read all the comments from all the people around the world.  Please leave us a comment or ask a question because it keeps us on our toes.