Ditmas Park's PS 217 Teacher Named a Top Banana by Del Monte

Fifth graders at PS 217 raced with pineapples and cherry tomatoes yesterday, and even though they had a little fun with their food, they know the value of fruit in their diets. Teacher Andrew Portnoy has been holding Fruit of the Day Friday in his classroom for a few years now, sharing a a new fruit with students each week.

It’s such a hit that he was recently honored in the Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms contest by Del Monte, where he received $750 in cash to purchase school supplies and $250 in Del Monte fresh fruit coupons for classroom snacks and to use in fruit-related educational activities.

“The fruit has been a real hit,” said Andrew. “And when I heard about the contest, it was just the perfect fit.”

Because he was one of the top winners, Del Monte also came to the school this week for a Fresh Field Day, where the entire 5th grade class got to enjoy games, music, and, of course, an assortment of fruit.

Andrew explained his popular Fruit of the Day Friday in his contest entry:

Although I have always promoted healthy eating habits, “Fruit of the Day Friday” came about unexpectedly, and has been a hit ever since. Here’s the quick story: My favorite fruit is grapefruit and I had bought delicious grapefruits from the fruit stand by my apt. I gave a few wedges (“soccer slices”) to each student and they LOVED it. It was great to see. Due to my students’ love of the grapefruit, I decided to continue buying different fruits on the subsequent Fridays. And voila, that’s how “Fruit of the Day Friday” came to be. I have one other thing to share about the grapefruit. The children sit in groups and the group with the most points gets a piece of chocolate. However, after tasting grapefruit, I asked which students would rather have a grapefruit as their prize (instead of the chocolate). To my surprise (and delight), 27 out of 30 kids chose grapefruit! I now called fruit “Nature’s Candy”!

Congratulations to Andrew and his students!