Green Bay Area Public Schools School Nurse Danielle Plennes wanted to make the vision of two fourth grade students with diabetes come to life: an opportunity to meet other students just like them.

Diabetes is a medical condition that is becoming more common in the elementary student population. GBAPS currently has 13 students in elementary school with this diagnosis. Often an elementary student with diabetes, may be the only one at their school. Diabetes is a lifelong condition that takes a lot of hard work, knowledge, and planning to control. Students may feel different from their classmates because they need to make a lot of decisions around the foods they eat and how their activity is going to change their blood sugar.  

Plennes submitted a grant request to the GBAPS Education Foundation to provide funding to take the elementary students on a field trip to Festival Foods. The Green Bay Public School District held a districtwide diabetic field trip for elementary students on March 19, 2026. Twelve students with diabetes were able to attend.  

The three main goals of this trip were for students to learn that others have the same health challenges as them, to explore good food options in planning their school lunch, and to have fun!  All  goals were met and so much more.

The students were able to get to know each other by participating in fun ice breaker games. A lesson was shared about the benefits and necessity of carbohydrates and proteins in meals. Finally students worked in groups for an activity that included planning their lunch and going through the store to calculate the protein and carbohydrates in their foods.

It was a successful and memorable day for the students. 

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