Ms. Rost's 4th and 5th grade writing class
Somerville Elementary School

In her Somerville, TX classroom, fourth- and fifth-grade writing teacher Sally Rost is known for concocting imaginative assignments that challenge her students to learn and express themselves in new and different ways. When she came across the Every Sandwich Tells a Story Contest, sponsored by Scholastic, Inc. and SUBWAY® restaurants, Rost was quick to discuss the opportunity with her students.

"This contest was just a great way to stress the importance of nutrition and the fun of writing about it too," says Rost.

At first, the part her students found the most enticing was the chance to win great prizes like athletic equipment for the school or see the winning story published on subwaykids.com and in Scholastic's Parent & Child magazine.

"Winning from a contest is the icing on the cake," she says. "It sparks most of my students into writing more willingly but I am thankful for all of the supporters out there, like SUBWAY®, that encourage young writers to be creative and expressive."

The contest asked students to write a story featuring a cast of edible characters and ideas for the SUBWAY RANDOM ACTS OF FITNESS FOR KIDS™ program. Rost used this opportunity to discuss the nutritional value of SUBWAY® meals, which many of her students had eaten."



"The chatter among my students was about how they should be eating healthier," says Rost.

The Every Sandwich Tells a Story contest was a new challenge for her students because most had not written a story using food as characters. According to Rost, the contest story starters, like "The Mysterious Meatball" and "The Race to Red Onion Ranch", were a good jumping off point and her students immersed themselves in the project.

Proud of their work, Rost eagerly shared it with fellow students, parents, and teachers by displaying the final stories, decorated as a SUBWAY® sandwich, outside her classroom. She hopes that publicizing their work might encourage the school community to think about proper fitness and nutrition and incorporate some random acts of fitness into every day.

"If we can teach our students how to eat healthy and become active, maybe this will trickle down to their own family," says Rost.

For her part, Rost wants to explore opportunities that promote healthy eating and exercise habits during the school day. As for her students, well, they can't wait for the fun and creative activity that she cooks up next.


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