DANVILLE – Evidently, you don't have to trick kids into eating vegetables. Just put them in a muffin.

Yes, a muffin made with vegetables.

And the kids enjoy eating them, according to Northeast Elementary Magnet School Principal Cheryl McIntire.

That's one of the many healthy food choices found on the menu at Northeast in Danville, and the healthy menu is just one of the many healthy changes Northeast has made in the last four years.

Their efforts are now being recognized nationally, becoming the first elementary school in America to earn the Gold National Recognition Award from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

"It's a huge achievement," said Jessica Donze Black, national schools director for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

She was at Northeast on Wednesday, talking to students and staff about their healthy school environment before attending the Danville school board meeting Wednesday night and presenting Northeast officials with the gold award.

Founded in 2005 by the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation, the alliance works to combat childhood obesity and empower kids to make healthy lifestyle choices by impacting the places that can make a difference to a child's health: homes, schools, doctor's offices and communities.

The alliance works with 10,000 school across the nation, and Northeast is the first elementary to achieve gold status, and the second school overall. A high school also has achieved the gold mark, which means the schools have met the highest requirements for health and wellness in eight core areas, which include meals and physical activity among others.

Donze Black said that children spend two-thirds of their waking hours at school and eat one or two of their major daily meals there, plus snacks, so it's a critical environment in which to influence their behaviors and give them a solid foundation for developing healthy habits and skills.

McIntire said school staff made the decision four years ago to be part of the alliance school program and within three years had achieved silver status, and this year, the gold.

One of the most noticeable changes is in the cafeteria where the menu includes foods cooked in low-fat or nonfat oils and various kinds of fish – not fried. Salads are available to kids every day with dressing in 1-ounce portions only.

The closest the menu gets to the more traditional, sugary-sweet dessert item is fat-free pudding. Bananas and oranges also serve as dessert.

"It's gotten to the point where it's the norm; they don't even think about it," McIntire said of students and staff. "When that's all you know and have been exposed to, that is the norm."

Visiting with Northeast students on Wednesday, some students told Donze Black that one of the things they like best is having salads offered every day.

"The great thing about young people is they have the tremendous ability to learn and adapt," said Donze Black, who explained that the often-repeated idea that kids won't eat vegetables or healthy snacks is usually tied to adult preferences. If kids are raised in a healthier environment where broccoli is delicious, they enjoy that, she said, and it becomes the standard.

But the changes made at Northeast go way beyond the menu. They have changed the way they do recess, physical education, staff wellness, after-school programs and even school fund raisers.

McIntire said fundraisers was one area the staff really had to think about, because their typical cookie and candy fundraisers wouldn't meet the alliance standards.

Last spring, the school held a walk-a-thon, and in the fall, a football frenzy event with various activity stations. Kids and parents sought pledges for both, and to the surprise of all, their fundraising efforts didn't suffer monetarily, raising $10,000 through both events.

"That really is one of the coolest things we have done here. And no one had to sell anything," said McIntire, who admits that staff and parents questioned whether they could still raise the dough without appealing to the sweet tooth.

The school also had to increase physical education classes from 20 minutes to 30 minutes, and did it without slicing into classroom time.

McIntire said it was more of a scheduling challenge, because Northeast's gym is also its cafeteria. Three lunch periods were condensed into two, which meant calling upon more parents as volunteers to help get 275 students fed in two half-hour periods.

"I'm just so absolutely proud of what everyone has done here," said McIntire, who has seen the healthy lifestyle rub off on her and other staff and students in their homes.

"I just lost some weight recently, and I think it's all part of thinking every day, 'What are we doing? Are we being healthy?'" she said.