An amazing 140 parents and students came to the Tansey Elementary School on January 20, 2017 for a Family Fun Night organized by Partners School Wellness Coordinator Marcia Picard. The program engages both adults and children in some healthy movement while learning about nutrition and a range of community resources that they can access to maintain or improve their health. Participants learned about nutrition with Saint Anne's Hospital nurse Rose Couto and were led in some healthy movement by Fitness Leader Mike Ramos. Participants also had the opportunity to speak with representatives of twenty-one agencies including BMC HealthNet Plan, Bristol County Sheriff's Office, Child and Family Services, the Children's Advocacy Center, Fall River Parent Academy, Family Service Association, Head Start, HealthFirst Dental Clinic, Katie Brown Education Program, Mass in Motion/Walk Fall River, People Incorporated, Road to Healing, Saint Anne's Hospital, Samaritans, Southcoast Health, Stanley Street Treatment and Resources, Tansey PTO, Tufts Network Health, WIC, and the Women's Center, along with Partners for a Healthier Community covering its Sugar-Free Challenge. Click here for a 28-minute video of the event. Click here for photos and video of a similar event at Watson Elementary School. For more information, contact School Wellness Coordinator Marcia Picard at 774-319-0107.

(Top row) Tansey Elementary School staff members Arlene Dumont, Brittany Persons and Michael Scott sign family members in before they gather in the cafeteria where Partners School Wellness Coordinator Marcia Picard welcomes them. (Rows two and three Fitness Leader Mike Ramos leads each of the three groups in some fun movement to music while explaining how exercise doesn't have to be boring or expensive. (Row four) Saint Anne's Hospital nurse Rose Couto challenges the group to see what the difference between whole oranges and processed orange juice that contains too much sugar and very little fiber. (Row five) Amy Silvia of Road to Healing and Rene Rodrigues and Liz Greene of HealthFirst Dental Clinic talk with families while Pamela Martin of FRED-TV and her daughter, Amy, interview some children for The Thread TV Program. (Row six) Families look over items from the WIC, Head Start and Katie Brown Education Program tables in the resource room. (Bottom row) Ms. Picard points out the problems with sugar-sweetened beverages before she and members of the Tansey PTO and School Adjustment Counselor Sara Jane Nogueira hand out door prizes, including ten bags of groceries provided by Southcoast Health.