December Calendar

October Calendar

LUNCH PLEDGE!!!

On Friday September 16, Carly Sopko, RD, in-store dietitian from ShopRite of Washington visited every lunch at Oxford Central School. She taught the students the importance of including fruits and veggies in their lunches every day. Each student signed a pledge stating they would try to eat at least one fruit or vegetable with their lunch everyday. Carly collected 342 pledges from students and staff and submitted them to Produce for Kids. Produce for Kids is running a campaign where every healthy lunchbox pledge that is collected, they will donate $1 to Feeding America. If you'd like to sign the pledge as well, click on this link to support a wonderful cause:http://poweryourlunchbox.com/take-the-pledge/You just type in your first name and the number of family members you are pledging for and that's it!
Thanks so much!
Carly

Welcome Back!!!

We hope everyone has had a safe and happy summer. We are underway and look forward to an exciting and energetic school year. Students have received all necessary instruction for safety drills and the day to day routines for successful classes.
Students will be participating in fitness assessments in grades 4-8 physical education classes. This is the first of four assessments they will have during the school year. This will help students track their progress towards fitness goals.
Family Life classes are working towards understanding Safety, Wellness and Health.
If you have any questions regarding our classes please contact us by email:
Renee Hart rhart@oxfordcentral.org.
Rob Causton rcauston@oxfordcentral.org.
We are ready to have another great year in our PE/FL classes. Information will be distributed during our Back to School Nights, that will allow us greater access to communicate with parents. If you cannot attend Back to School Night, please drop us an email and we will give you all the necessary information.

June Calendar

7th Grade Class Trip

Our 7th Grade classes had a very successful trip studying the unique habitats surrounding the shallow bays of New Jersey. The students were provided with a tremendous amount of information regarding ecology, resources, human impact, career choices, service to our country and contrasting environments. Many thanks to the staff who helped make this such a successful trip.

May is Allergy Awareness Month

http://www.foodallergy.org/food-allergy-awareness-week?gclid=CKHrod-vrMwCFU88gQod85sORA#.Vx9o_dQrJdg

April's Calendar

We hope everyone enjoyed their Spring Break and have their batteries "recharged" for the final part of the school year. Eating healthy is a large part of preparing your body and mind for optimal performance.

Another Great Opportunity from Our Friends

Good afternoon,

    I just wanted to highlight our upcoming adult cooking classes as we have some excellent healthy menu selections. Our adult cooking classes are taught by a professional chef and I am there to offer nutrition tips regarding the ingredients used in the recipes. The classes are on Tuesday evenings 7-9 pm and the cost is $20 per person. The class is interactive so everyone gets to participate in preparing the meal in our culinary demo kitchen and then you get a full plate of healthy food to eat at the end. It's a great girl's night or a mom & me activity to do with your teens. Here are the menus that have been selected:

Tuesday April 12  7-9pm

Loving Legumes

-Red Lentil Hummus

-Lentil-Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

-Chickpea-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tuesday May 10   7-9pm

Brunch Skills 101

-Spinach and Chickpea Frittata

-Apricot-Banana-Flax Nut Bread

-Cantaloupe Parfait

-Homemade Bloody Mary Mix

Tuesday June 14   7-9pm

Feel-Good Fiesta

-Cantaloupe Margaritas

-Mahi Mahi Tostadas with Black Bean Salsa

-Fresh Pepper Hot Sauce

-Grilled Mangoes with Spiced Glaze

You can sign up for any of these classes at our courtesy desk

Thank you and have a great week!

Carly

Carly Sopko, RD
Retail Dietitian
Village Super Market, Inc.
ShopRite of Washington
2 Clubhouse Dr
Washington, NJ 07882

Direct phone: 908.689.3249
Store phone: 908.835.0761

March's Calendar from our Friends at Shop-Rite

Important Information from our School Nurse

Signs and Symptoms of Celiac Disease   From the desk of: Robert Sheeler, M.D.  Medical Editor — Mayo Clinic Health Letter   Hello No doubt you’ve noticed the recent wave of gluten-free products in health food stores, supermarkets, and even restaurants and bakeries. Best-selling books, popular magazines, websites and TV news programs are all talking about the benefits of avoiding gluten, a protein in wheat, rye and barley. For people with celiac disease and for those with other types of gluten sensitivity, the newfound interest in avoiding gluten has been a boon. A gluten-free diet is the only effective treatment for celiac disease. Signs and symptoms What has surprised doctors and scientists in recent years is the range of symptoms that celiac disease can produce. Here are some of the ways in which celiac disease can appear: Gastrointestinal symptoms — It’s not uncommon for people with celiac disease to have regular bouts of diarrhea, often with mushy or bulky stools that float due to large amounts of unabsorbed fat and other nutrients. In addition, the bowel movements can be very odorous, which comes from the inability of the intestines to absorb fat. The fat stays in the gut (intestine) and becomes part of your stool, a condition known as steatorrhea. Unabsorbed fat also makes you need to empty your bowels more often, sometimes as often as 10 or more times a day. On the other hand, some people are bothered by constipation rather than diarrhea. Malabsorption of nutrients, inflammation in the gut, and altered nervous system and hormone regulation may all contribute to making your bowels more sluggish than normal. General belly pain, bloating and excessive gas (flatulence) also are common symptoms of celiac disease. When unabsorbed nutrients such as carbohydrates arrive in your colon, bacteria in your colon will break down these nutrients. This fermentation process creates large amounts of gas, which can make you feel bloated and uncomfortable, and result in excessive flatulence. Damage to the small intestine also can make it more difficult to digest dairy products. That’s why a number of people with celiac disease are also lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance can in turn contribute to diarrhea, pain and bloating. People with celiac disease are more likely to experience heartburn than are those who don’t have the disease. Why this occurs isn’t clear, but the heartburn usually goes away after starting a gluten-free diet. It may be due to inflammatory changes and unabsorbed nutrients in the upper intestine. However, people who have heartburn aren’t more likely to have celiac disease. Skin rash— Sometimes celiac disease reveals itself by way of a skin disorder. Dermatitis herpetiformis is an itchy, blistering skin rash that’s found mainly on your elbows, forearms, back, knees, scalp or buttocks. The rash may come and go, but rarely resolves for good. Although the rash is pretty common in people with celiac disease, those who have the rash usually don’t have any gastrointestinal symptoms. Even so, they eventually experience changes to the lining of the small intestine that are identical to those of celiac disease. Most commonly, the rash first develops around ages 40 to 50, but it can occur at any age. To treat the rash, the oral antibiotic dapsone is often prescribed. A topical steroid may improve the rash, but it won’t do anything for intestinal damage. A gluten-free diet is necessary to remove the root cause of the rash and keep it from coming back. Brain and nervous system disorders — It’s not unusual for people who’ve just been diagnosed with celiac disease to describe having migraine-like headaches. The headaches may occur every now and then, or they can be severely debilitating. Once celiac disease is treated, the headaches typically go away. Numbness and tingling in your legs or hands (peripheral neuropathy) is a common nerve-related symptom of celiac disease. It usually comes on gradually. The symptoms tend to happen every now and again and can’t be easily explained by another condition. Many conditions can cause similar nervous system symptoms, so it’s not an easy jump from having numbness and tingling in your legs to suspecting you have celiac disease. Because of this, diagnosis is often delayed by many years. Celiac disease is also associated with other neurological problems. Deficiencies in certain vitamins that can occur with celiac disease — in particular vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6, vitamin E and copper — may affect various nervous system functions. In addition to numbness and tingling in the feet and hands, the deficiencies can produce signs and symptoms such as a decline in hand coordination and difficulties with balance and walking, as well as generalized loss of strength (gluten ataxia). Some vitamin deficiencies can affect mental (cognitive) function and contribute to fatigue. It’s not clear exactly how celiac disease impairs brain and nervous system functions. In addition to causing nutrient deficiencies, it may be that celiac disease leads your immune system to attack not only the small intestine but other parts of the body as well. The longer the disease continues untreated, the harder it becomes to reverse the damage. A person with gluten ataxia may not recover completely. Fatigue and depression — People diagnosed with celiac disease often describe feeling tired all the time, despite getting enough sleep. In addition, a majority of adults with celiac disease have low iron levels (iron deficiency anemia). A celiac disease-damaged gut may not be able to absorb enough iron. Without adequate iron, your body can’t produce enough of a substance in red blood cells that enables the cells to transport oxygen throughout your body (hemoglobin). As a result, iron deficiency anemia can leave you feeling tired and short of breath. Fatigue can also result from depression, anxiety and lack of sleep, all of which have been associated with celiac disease. It’s difficult to determine whether these symptoms are connected to the disease itself or whether they’re due to the stress of coping with a lifelong illness. Musclerelated or severe fatigue may be related to other disorders that can accompany celiac disease, such as an adrenal or other endocrine disorder. Bones and teeth — Celiac disease can prevent you from absorbing calcium and vitamin D — essential elements for strong bones. Immune system and inflammatory changes also may contribute to bone loss. Evidence indicates that among adults with celiac disease, about a third have bone mineral density that’s lower than normal (osteopenia) and another third have progressed to serious bone loss (osteoporosis). An increase in fractures often accompanies low bone density. This increased risk may persist after the diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease, especially among adults who had celiac disease for a long time before they were diagnosed with it and aren’t able to fully recover a loss of bone mass. This can also be an issue for people who’ve had celiac disease since they were children and didn’t achieve the peak bone mass they should have. Other problems that are common in people with untreated celiac disease include painful, aching joints and recurrent mouth sores. As with other signs and symptoms of celiac disease, these may be caused by nutrient deficiencies or immune system irregularities. Why is celiac disease on the rise? Doctors are trying to determine why the number of people with celiac disease is getting bigger. Part of the increase is due to greater numbers of people being diagnosed who previously would have slipped under the radar. But improved diagnosis doesn’t account for all of it. One theory is that when and how gluten is introduced in early infancy may play a role. However, recent research didn’t show a benefit of delaying or reducing gluten dose in infancy. Another theory, commonly called the “hygiene hypothesis,” proposes that because our environment is so much cleaner and more sanitary than in the past, the balance between microbes and the human immune system has been thrown off, making people with less exposure to infectious organisms more susceptible to autoimmune diseases, such as celiac disease. Other theories revolve around changes in the past few decades in how wheat is grown, processed and consumed and whether these changes may put genetically predisposed individuals at greater risk of developing celiac disease. For more information on celiac disease and a guide to living gluten-free, check out the book, Mayo Clinic Going Gluten-FREE, written by Medical Editor, Joseph A. Murray, M.D. Yours in good health, Robert Sheeler, M.D. Medical Editor — Mayo Clinic Health Letter   Note — As our health tips are shared with thousands of readers, please understand we are not able to respond to individual questions or requests for consultation. The information provided should always supplement the advice of your personal physician, whom you should consult for personal health problems or questions. You are subscribed as: Jsvercauski8@msn.com. If you no longer wish to receive special offer email announcements on valuable products from Mayo Clinic, click here to unsubscribe. Or send a blank email to:leave-mayo_consumer@listmanager.mayoclinic.com. Please do not reply to this email, as we are unable to respond to messages sent to this address. Please send inquiries tocustomerservice@mayopublications.com. Mayo Clinic I 200 First St. SW I Rochester, MN 55905

Important Dates

The Archery Team is working very hard and sharpening their skills as they prepare to defend the New Jersey State Title for the 10th straight year. The archers have been been practicing morning and afternoons as they get ready to represent our school and community in the state tournament. If you would like to come out and support the team or just see what archery is all about we have a couple of shoots coming up.

Scrimmage with Brass Castle School  Thursday February 18th 3:05 PM - 4:45 PM

New Jersey State Shoot  Tuesday March 15th 3:05 PM - 4:10 PM

We hope to see you there!

Archery Try-Outs

Archers are preparing for "Try-Outs" to represent the Oxford Central School this year for the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). The archers have been working very hard, meeting both before and or after school to practice their skills. The competition level is very high and it is an honor just to have the opportunity to participate in "Try-Outs". The scores will be tabulated and the 2016 Archery Team should be introduced by the end of the January.
We have 2 scrimmages with Brass Castle School
2/2/2016 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
2/18/2016 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Both of the scrimmages will take place in the OCS gymnasium and all are welcome to come out and support this years team.

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a relaxing and fun filled winter break. Here is the Shop-Rite calendar for the month of January. Stop by and see Carly and let her help with your New Year Resolutions!!!