Students offer healthy advice to Frosty in essay contest
West Chicago, Illinois: December 4, 2014 - Holiday excitement came early to three West Chicago elementary schools when City of West Chicago Mayor Ruben Pineda paid a visit to announce the winners of a city-sponsored essay contest and to extend a personal invitation to each to help him light the official tree in downtown West Chicago at Saturday's Frosty Fest celebration.
The following students submitted award-winning essays for their age category on the theme "If You Had to Give Frosty the Snowman Some Advice on Being Healthier, What Would You Tell Him?"
• Grades 1 & 2: Sneha George - Wegner School
• Grades 3 & 4: Kylie Doyle - Gary School
• Grades 5 & 6: Carlos Espinoza - Pioneer School
The essays, which are posted on the city website, www.westchicago.org, included wonderful advice on nutrition and exercise. Specific examples included running four laps around Santa's sleigh, mixing some berries and icicles for a winter smoothie, staying away from sick people, getting rest once in a while, eating fruits, vegetables and dairy products like milk and yogurt which are good sources of calcium and would help Frosty's twig arms to be strong.
According to Mayor Pineda, "The theme was chosen to connect school-age children to Healthy West Chicago, the citywide initiative to encourage people of all ages to make the healthy choice the easy choice when it comes to good nutrition and increasing physical activity. It was an opportunity to get students thinking about forming healthy habits that will hopefully last a lifetime."
All essays received from the community were judged by staff at the West Chicago Public Library. The contest is an established tradition of the City's annual Frosty Fest event which is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6, from 4 to 7 p.m.
The seasonal celebration takes place downtown and includes a Frosty procession, grand tree lighting, visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, live reindeer, an ice sculptor, and more. Winners of the contest will ride with Mayor Pineda and Mrs. Pineda in a horse-drawn carriage and help "magically" light the official Christmas tree and all of downtown West Chicago. For a complete schedule, visit www.westchicago.org.