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It may have only registered about 20 degrees outside-- but Sunrise River Elementary School in North Branch enjoyed a nice sunny day at the beach last week.  

The school food service crew throws a beach party every February as the wrap-up event for a session of nutrition and fitness curriculm.  Students bring beach towels and wear summery clothes and get a special bag lunch.

At Sunrise school, Kindergarten through fourth grade students learn to eat five servings of fruit and vegetables and get 60 minutes of activity daily. They make fabulous paper bag hand-puppets, vying for prizes in each grade level.  Food shelf goods are donated by school families and the collection is delivered to the North Branch food pantry. This year it totalled 1,165 pounds.

Staff provides Beach Boys music and doing the limbo is a big hit.

Winners in the puppet judging were:  Daniel Monte, Jace Hofmann and Karli Folstad, Kindergarten.
Ayla Jenson, Madisyn Gruetzman and Payton Smith, First Grade.
Cadence Rundle, Gwen Dick and Ella Zierden in Second Grade.
Ava Schroepfer, Miranda Roberts and Madeline Grovender in Third Grade
Ella Dick, Isabella Menton and Brooke Giese in Grade Four.

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