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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
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Circulation Manager
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Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
FDA promises to rewrite ‘added sugars’ labels
I
t’s good to watch out for too much
sugar, but cranberries need a boost
The Food and Drug
Administration is taking another look at
proposed nutritional labeling rules after
a hue and cry from cranberry, honey and
maple syrup producers.
This reexamination is a good thing,
too.
At issue is a proposal that would
require certain foods to include the
wording “added sugars” on their labels.
Beginning in 2020, pure honey and
maple syrup nutrition labels must have
the word “added” in front of “sugar.”
Producers and trade groups complained
that customers will naturally think
another sweetener is added to the natu-
ral sugars in honey and maple syrup.
That had us scratching our heads, too.
Pure honey and maple syrup are
sugar — fructose and glucose; and
sucrose respectively — and have none
added to enhance their sweetness.
In the typically tortured English
employed by bureaucrats, “added sugar”
in this case was meant to imply that
adding these products to other food-
stuffs or consuming them on their own
Sugar is added to cranberry products to make the tart berry equivalent to naturally
sweet berries.
will add sugar to your diet. According to
the FDA, unlike a piece of fruit or other
naturally sweet food, honey and maple
syrup are not “nutrient rich” foods.
The FDA at first tried to “clarify” the
rule by suggesting footnotes on labels
stating that the “added sugars” are
natural.
Washington state beekeeper Tim
Hiatt, a honey producer, called the label-
ing requirement, even qualified by a
footnote, “crazy.”
“It shouldn’t say ‘added sugars’ at
all,” he said. “The only ingredient in
honey is honey.
“The whole industry is up in arms
about this,” Hiatt said. “We’re strug-
gling in the industry to protect the image
of honey.”
Cranberry producers have a differ-
ent beef.
Cranberries are not sweet. Without
added sugar, cranberry juice — whether
straight or in combination with adult
beverages — would be pretty tart.
For cranberry juice the FDA sug-
gested this footnote: “Sugar added
to improve the palatability of natu-
rally tart cranberries. The 2015-20120
Dietary Guidelines for Americans state
that there is room for limited amounts
of Added Sugars in the diet, especially
from nutrient dense food like naturally
tart cranberries.”
Although they’re willing to go along
with that, cranberry producers say the
footnote suggests cranberries with sugar
added have more sugar than naturally
sweet fruits and berries.
So, the FDA is going to take another
look at how a label might provide valu-
able nutritional information without
leading consumers to false impressions
about honey, maple syrup and cranberry
juice.
Good writing is rewriting, even in
footnotes.
GUEST COLUMN
Mission Control launches in Seaside
S
chools are tasked with teaching reading,
writing and arithmetic, but it’s hard for
kids to get the lessons when they are
upset and misbehaving.
That’s why Seaside School District
launched an innovative approach to behavioral
health in the 2017-18 school year. Mission
Control is a calming room where kids can
focus on self-regulating their
emotions and behavior.
The payoff is better-be-
haved, happier kids, princi-
pals say.
Prior to this year,
“There was a real lack of
SUSAN
social-emotional education
CODY
that kids need to know in
order to function,” said
Rachel Whisler, a behavior support specialist
at Seaside Heights Elementary School.
“Behavior is a way of communicating that
affects friendships, learning and success in
a lot of ways” she said. Kids may wonder:
“Why am I out of control?” “Why do I say
things like that to my friends?” “Why am I so
impulsive?”
Beginning in kindergarten, students are
taught about brain function and how to iden-
tify and control their emotions and behavior,
using The Zones of Regulation.
After learning how their brain works, they
are better-equipped to regulate themselves
through calm breathing or holding something
in their hand or saying they need some space
and taking a walk.
“Those are opportunities kids never had
before entering on this journey as a school
district,” Whisler said.
Building a calming space
Seaside principals and other educators
visited Butternut Creek Elementary School’s
Wellness Room in the Hillsboro School
District and were sold on the idea of creating
a similar room at Gearhart Elementary and
Seaside Heights. Then the work began.
Finding space required relocating computer
and performance spaces, ordering supplies and
setting up Mission Control. Rooms at each
school feature strings of mini-lights, calming
stations with sand, theraputty, manipulative
items, larger motor challenges and enclosed
spaces like a tepee.
In addition to the Mission Control room,
regular classrooms have new flexible seating,
including yoga balls, standing tables and cush-
ions, so students can learn where they were
most comfortable.
“Children do well when they have the
skills,” said Gearhart Principal Juli Wozniak.
“We all want to do well.” The goal is to pro-
vide kids with skills they need.
Identifying emotions begins with looking
at facial expressions. Kindergartners and Head
Start teachers use the Pocket Full of Feelings
curriculum to teach kids about feelings.
“When we first started, if you asked a
7-year-old what they were feeling, they would
say: ‘sad’ ‘mad’ or nothing,” Whisler said.
“Now they can say, ‘I’m disappointed,’ ‘jeal-
ous,’ ‘betrayed.’”
Kids learn that all feelings are OK, she
said. What matters is what they do with them
and how they act. They can identify their feel-
ings and not let emotions run the show.
Susan Cody/For The Daily Astorian
Gearhart Elementary School Principal Juli Wozniak speaks about Mission Control to the State Advisory Council for Special Education.
choose one station and stay there for their
allotted time. From leaving the classroom to
returning to class is 15 minutes.
Mission Control remains silent. Kids do not
talk or interact with each other. When it is time to
check out, the monitor makes sure the kids can
follow instructions, such as “touch your nose” or
“wave your arms.” Then they quietly exit.
Now, the goal is to extend The Zones
of Regulation to parents, pediatricians and
families.
“We want to improve on creating a com-
mon language between school and home,”
McAndrews says.
DEFINITIONS
• Blue Zone: slow, tired, sick, bored
• Green Zone: “good to go,” happy, calm,
focused
• Yellow Zone: “slow down, use caution”
frustrated, overwhelmed, silly, wiggly, excit-
ed, worried, anxious
• Red Zone: “stop,” extreme emotions, un-
controlled anger, aggression, terror, elation
Trauma-informed approach
For two years Seaside educators have
studied trauma-informed practices that take
into account adverse childhood experiences. It
involves treating people with compassion and
understanding around traumas they may have
experienced.
“We are building a web of support through-
out the school that can help students when
they are not able to cope by themselves,”
Whisler said.
All staff members and students are trained
and familiarized with Mission Control. It is
open to everyone and is not used for punish-
ment or reward. It is a place where students
can self-regulate their behavior.
For the first couple months of the
school year, children stayed in their regular
classrooms.
Most classrooms have a Peace Corner
that students can access to self-regulate, said
Seaside Heights Principal John McAndrews.
It is part of the classroom but is a place where
the student can use sensory items or cushions
to feel more comfortable.
“This allows students to not feel so iso-
lated,” McAndrews said. “They are free to
rejoin whenever they want to come back to
class.”
Measuring success
A sand station and Sponge Bob pillow
welcome students at Gearhart Elementa-
ry School’s Mission Control room.
Mission Control Room
Teachers and counselors recommend
children for Mission Control. Kids may also
request a travel agent or navigator to take them
to Mission Control.
Students check in one at a time to Mission
Control. They need to follow directions,
There has been a significant drop in office
referrals for behavioral problems since imple-
mentation of Mission Control, both principals
say. Teachers report students are self-regulat-
ing better in the classrooms.
McAndrews said absenteeism is lower and
many students are reaching year-end bench-
mark goals mid-year.
“This is a game changer,” said Seaside
School District Superintendent Sheila Roley.
“Both principals are absolute rock stars,”
she said of Wozniak and McAndrews. “We
have a great leadership team. (Special Services
Director) Jeremy Catt is a visionary.”
Whisler said the school district can give
the tools of reading, writing and math, and
also what to do when those things frustrate
students.
“Instead of blowing out or shutting down
or stopping listening, kids have tools to keep
going, which builds resiliency,” she said.
Sue Cody is communications lead for The
Way to Wellville Clatsop County. She is a for-
mer deputy managing editor of The Daily
Astorian.