Students at Valley Vista Elementary School in Petaluma are scheduled to get a primer on nutrition and healthy eating from members of a child development class at Petaluma High School Tuesday morning.

Dana Dickinson’s introduction to child development class is using a $450 grant from the Sonoma County Office of Education to purchase local produce and products and give a presentation to two primary grade classes at Valley Vista.

“They planned healthy foods that they are taking to the elementary school kids,” Dickinson said. “We are taking food and doing some real simple cooking.”

The presentation follows a unit on child nutrition the class of 25 sophomores through seniors have completed.

“We did some talking about how lucky we are in this county to have all this stuff that is local,” Dickinson said. “You have a little bit more control about pesticides, too.”

The older students will work with second graders in Lori James’s class as well as one other class in a morning presentation that will feature the making of smoothies, sandwiches and discussion of local, in-season produce, Dickinson said. They will also host some games of nutrition bingo and discuss the nutrition pyramid.

“They are being little teachers to the kids, being mentors,” she said.