Everyday Heroes Bob O’Brien and Vince Blancato are taking their skills to the classroom. Bob and Vince are both enjoying retirement, but still paying it forward at Gulfside Elementary School in Holiday, teaching students the joys of gardening and cooking.
“This is great! I like every minute of this,” O'Brien said. “This is a great thing to do. The kids really enjoy it. This is a chance to see you can grow things out here. We don’t use any kids of pesticide on them. This is all what you may call organic. So what you see is what you get and everything seems to grow pretty good.”
It’s also a chance for the young students to learn the importance of eating right.
“When Mrs. Obama created her initiative, ‘Let’s Move’, she called on the chefs of America to move into the schools and do something to combat childhood obesity,” Vince said.
Each student gets to plant his or her own garden and watch it grow. And Chef Vince says it makes a difference.
“They are changing their eating habits,” Vince said. “That’s just what Mrs. Obama said. It’s going to take a generation. So, if we teach the children now how to eat healthy, then, in 20 years, they will be teaching their children to do the same.”
And at the same time, it’s a class everyone looks forward to. It’s not only fun and educational, but the food also tastes good.