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Florida elementary school stops serving Mountain Dew before standardized tests

Creel Elementary School will no longer give students soda before the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test each day.

By Evan Bleier
A man tries Mountain Dew's new KickStart drink in Washington, DC. (Billie Jean Shaw/UPI)
A man tries Mountain Dew's new KickStart drink in Washington, DC. (Billie Jean Shaw/UPI)

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MELBOURNE, Fla., April 23 (UPI) -- A Florida elementary school has decided to stop letting students “Do the Dew” prior to taking standardized tests.

Administrators at Creel Elementary have decided to cease their long-standing practice of serving Mountain Dew prior to administering the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

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The school had been giving students about three tablespoons of soda before the FCAT.

Officials at Brevard Public schools halted the practice after receiving complaints from a grandmother who was shocked at what her granddaughter said about her assessment test.

"She said every morning, they had Mountain Dew," Martha Thorp told News 13. "To me, it's a poor precedent. We're setting for young children that they should be hyped up before a test."

Creel has been serving Mountain Dew for the last 10 years because Principal Kathryn Eward reportedly read about its positive health impacts in an education journal, Brevard Public Schools Spokeswoman Michelle Irwin told Florida Today.

"She felt that it was a professional practice and implemented it," Irwin said. "Since then, there's been new information (about what's best for students). We've advised Creel Elementary to only provide water as a beverage."

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