Houston Texans safety Jimmie Ward says three things helped him get to the NFL: education, sleep, and healthy eating. That’s what he told a room full of students at Askew Elementary School on Wednesday, March 6, as he presented his new children’s book, “Jimmie Ward’s Nutritional ABC’s For Active Kids”.

Typically, it’s his teammates he’s passionately educating about proper nutrition, but Ward was inspired by his own two kids to bring his message to a younger audience and introduce them to new foods while combining the joy of reading.

“This is awesome. This is big for me and is just a way for me to give back some of the information I learned throughout my journey,” said Ward. “Being able to give that to some kids is big time for me.”

The visit happened to coincide with National Nutrition Month, an Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics campaign focused on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

“Our students, family, faculty and staff are thrilled to celebrate school nutrition, and we are honored to have Mr. Jimmie Ward come to our campus to share his wonderful, informative book and to talk to us about the importance of eating right and nutrition,” said Assistant Principal Leanene Garr Carriere.

The book takes readers through the alphabet, introducing them to a new whole food, eating behavior, or vitamin for each letter and encouraging them to make healthy choices.

“As a school counselor, I know firsthand how important it is to have healthy eating habits because that optimizes academic performance, brain function, and overall emotional wellbeing,” said Tyrone Shealy, counselor at Askew. “We’re so happy to have Mr. Jimmie Ward here to reiterate that to our students.”

Ward ordered signed copies of the book for each of the students of the students to take home.

HISD’s Nutrition Services department provided healthy options of mandarins and grapes for snack time.