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Indiana Action for Healthy Kids Success Stories
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Healthier Evansville - Evansville Courier & Press On January 12, Healthier Evansville, in conjunction with the Evansville Courier & Press and courierpress.com, presented a brand new health event. Live It Up! Evansville, a new event for the Tri-State area focused on health and wellness, featured more than 70 area health and fitness businesses and kicked off with a two-mile run/walk through downtown Evansville. Approximately 300 people turned out for the beautiful morning run, and approximately 80 children took place in the free kids’ dashes that followed.
The interactive health event, sponsored by Deaconess Hospital, Fifth Third Bank, and other area businesses, featured The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan as a keynote speaker. Other attractions included fitness demonstrations by area gyms throughout the day, presentations on senior scams, disaster planning, child helmet safety, healthy cooking, and more. A representative from Indiana governor Mitch Daniels’ office spoke to the crowd about INShape Indiana, the state initiative to become healthier and fitter.
Event organizers estimate attendance for the first-year event at 3,000 attendees who took part in the interactive displays throughout the event venue. Various area businesses and organizations taught children and adults alike about outdoor activity, healthy hearts and lungs, fitness facts, and much more. Several booths, such as Healthier Evansville’s display, encouraged children to move through popular technology like Dance Dance Revolution and the Nintendo Wii.
Throughout the day, children of all ages took advantage of the various demonstrations and inflatable attractions at the expo, racing one another on a side-by-side inflatable obstacle course, watching youths of all ages demonstrate their tumbling techniques, and learning about how and when to apply sun block.
Event organizers were very pleased with the inaugural event and hope the event will, this year and in future years, help to increase health and fitness awareness and activity among area children and adults.
Amada Goings courierpress.com
John Strange Elementary - Washington Township School plants nutritional seeds Students learn to combine exercise, fruits and veggies By Gretchen Becker Topics Newspapers March 21, 2007
Students at John Strange Elementary in Washington Township are learning firsthand that healthy eating and exercise go together. "I used to eat unhealthy stuff," said Queshia Bankhead, 9. "Now I eat five fruits a day, and I play outside more often." Queshia, who likes to ride her bike and run outdoors, also asked her family to buy more fruit and make healthy lunches on the weekends.
"When you eat more fruits, you don't get tired in class and you learn more," said classmate Benjamin Phillips, 9. "I normally ride my bike a lot and my scooter. I do extra brain-teasers so I keep my mind sharp."
The students are learning the importance of nutrition and exercise from cafeteria manager Yolande Blase and physical education teacher Jack Baumgardner, who partnered for a program in March, also known as National Nutrition Month.
In a relay game March 14, the students formed teams that carried pictures of meat, vegetables and bread from one end of the gym to the other. The students had to place the photos inside a Hula-Hoop that represented a specific food group in the food pyramid. Blase -- wearing a colorful apron and hat covered in fruit and vegetable cutouts -- explained the importance of eating five fruit or vegetable servings each day. She suggested that students try to eat different colors of fruits and vegetables, and everyone received a sample of a banana, strawberry, blackberry, kiwi and pineapple. "It's a nice snack to have because it gives you energy," Blase said. "No foods are bad. Just sometimes if you eat something, you might need to take a walk around the block." Second- and third-graders learned the lessons on exercise and eating right, but Blase also shared the information on the school's morning news broadcast.
"If the body is not well nourished, the brain cannot learn," said Principal Mary Anne King. Teachers and staff discuss the importance of good nutrition and exercise throughout the school year, King said . Parents also can pick up informational pamphlets near the front office, and posters show good foods, the food pyramid and how to compare portion sizes to everyday objects. For instance, a half-cup of pasta is about the size of a computer mouse.
Baumgardner and Blase said it's important to present nutrition and exercise together. "The kids are kind of couch potatoes," Blase said. "We have a program in place. One has to go with the other. If you get the right food in there, you feel better."
North Elementary - Noblesville, IN Recently, one Indiana school was awarded with an Action for Healthy Kids/Anthem School Nurse mini-grant. North Elementary in Noblesville, IN is very excited about the opportunity to offer students the opportunity to participate in a fitness club that provides more daily physical activity, enhances knowledge about fitness, and gives students creative workout techniques that they can use at home.
School Nurse, Lea Bergman, says the funds will be used to purchase heart rate monitors in order to measure resting heart rate as well as recovery heart rate. Data will be collected for 2 months where the heart rates will be compared pre- and post-program.
Because of these funds, the FitClub can be implemented each year. Additionally, the heart rate monitors will be utilized during daily Physical Education classes.
Congrats to North Elementary!
Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation is the third largest urban school district in the state of Indiana with a 50% free and reduced lunch rate. We have been working for the past 3 years to develop some coordinated school health plans for individual schools and want to tell you a little about Plaza Park Middle School’s successes.
Sunman Elementary School Sunman Elementary School is located in southeastern Indiana. The school has an enrollment of 451 students in kindergarten through fourth grade, with 21% receiving free or reduced lunch and breakfast.
Prior to 2004-05 school year, students reported to lunch, were required to stay for 20 minutes, then were released to 30 minutes of recess. Few students chose to stay longer than the 20 minutes allotted. While on duty in the cafeteria, the principal noticed that children were talking and visiting with friends instead of eating lunch.
Staff members considered changing to Recess before Lunch over the summer vacation in 2004. Teachers viewed research regarding the potential benefits as well as complications, and they submitted their opinions to the principal. The decision was made to try the change for one school year.
The results have been phenomenal! At the end of the recess, students were anxious to line up because they were going to lunch, not back to class. Students came to lunch hungry and thirsty! The noise level in the cafeteria had decreased greatly since the students have already had the opportunity to visit with their friends while at recess. Many students have ordered extra cartons of milk as well as extra entrees, vegetables, or fruits. The cafeteria manager reports a large decrease in food waste too.
Some unexpected benefits have occurred in conjunction with this change. Lunch recess discipline problems have dropped dramatically. Mrs. Disney, a fourth grade teacher, reports that relaxing during her lunch after recess-duty helps her to be better prepared for the afternoon. Other teachers report more settled students returning to the classroom after the lunch period. Additionally, students who had a problem at recess are not missing from class when the afternoon begins because their problems were solved over the lunch period.
Franklin Township Community School Corporation 2005-06 - Exciting changes are happening. Due to the Corporation's concern regarding obesity in children, the food service department will be operating all snack vending in the corporation. All child accessible vending has 75% of its items at less than 30% fat and 10% saturated fat. At the elementary level, bi-monthly placemats were given to students to help educate the kids on making healthier choices. The placemats will feature healthy lifestyles and provide games, facts, recipes, and a picture drawn by one of the students. To further encourage healthy eating, a minimum of six fruit and vegetable choices are available daily to include 2 fresh fruit choices and a fresh vegetable choice.
2004-05 - Because of a new vending program, all foods offered are to be less than 30% fat and 10% saturated fat. Healthier items are being found all the time as there is already an 80% compliance rate. Their vendor has been wonderful in helping them make the change successful! In the cafeteria, monthly placemats are given to students to help educate the kids on making healthier choices. The placemats feature a fruit and provide games, facts, recipes, and a picture drawn by one of the students. Additionally, more fruits and vegetables are being offered daily. The food service department is currently working on different ways to market fresh produce to its children.
Amy Beverland Elementary School In the Fall of 2003 a group of parents at Amy Beverland Elementary (Lawrence Township, Indianapolis) attacked rising childhood obesity by founding the "Healthy Kids Club (HKC).” The 2005-’06 school years marks year three for HKC, which continues to make a positive impact on the school’s 500+ students. Ongoing programs and accomplishments to date include:
Establishing and monitoring a school walking track used during outdoor recess, and an indoor-recess exercise program featuring fun videos; changing the school's cafeteria menu, with the input of a Community Health Network staff member, to include more healthy options, i.e. more vegetable and fruit choices and less sweetened milk; conducting HKC in-school assemblies that emphasize making the right choices about eating and exercising featuring speakers like Jared Fogle (Subway guy) in 2004, and Colts Tight End Ben Hartsrock in 2005; providing each student with a rubber bracelet emblazoned with "Make The Right Choice" to help students remember their healthy eating and exercise habits (red in 2004; green in 2005); including healthy recipe and snack tips in weekly and other regular communications sent home from the school.
The Healthy Kids Club at Amy Beverland Elementary school is made possible through the commitment of administrative staff, teachers and volunteer parents. For more information please contact Lorene Graves at lorenegraves@comcast.net or 317.695-1058.
Christian Park School #82 Christian Park School #82 is a Healthy Hoosier School. Winner of the Gold Level of the Healthy Hoosier School Award 2004-2005, Principal Dahncke and gang are making fabulous efforts to see to it that their environment is a healthy one indeed. Find out why.
Yorktown Middle School Members from Yorktown Middle School’s Healthy Choice Committee will be presenting two sessions at the Association for Indiana Media Educators conference in November. It will be the first time this conference has a Wellness strand. The first session, called Maximize Your Energy, will provide participants with information and tips regarding their work day. The second presentation will explain how other schools and teachers can become involved with the state committee and provide leadership.
Additionally, the Healthy Choice Committee will be launching the YMS Café this September. The Café will be available to students (grades 6-8) before and after school as an alternative to vending machines. The Café will be an economic endeavor that will eventually be operated by the eighth grade students. The PTO provided the seed money to begin the program
Finally, YMS eighth graders worked hard at creating the below contemporary art pieces through their art curriculum as awarded by the Dairy grant. Students were able to perform research on dairy products and create marvelous pieces good enough to eat!
Walk & Talk Club at Yorktown Middle School Yorktown Middle School had over 100 students turn out for the new Walk & Talk club. The purpose of the club is to promote non-competitive walking and spending time with friends. Two members of the school’s Healthy Choices Committee sponsor the club. The two requirements of the club are: 1) Must have appropriate walking or running shoes and 2) Must move throughout the duration of the meeting. The club meets once per week. For further information, please contact mwatkins@yorktown.k12.in.us
MSD of Decatur Township A new program called “Eat All YOU Like” has been started to encourage the kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. There are EIGHT fruit and vegetables selections, including three fresh offered every day. As part of the program, kids are allowed to take as many fruit and vegetables selections as they like. The response has been wonderful! There has been a large increase in the consumption rate of fruits and vegetables. NOTE: MSD is not receiving any government funding for the project. They are making it happen from their very own budget! Amazing considering the district is at almost 40% Free and Reduced!
St. Mary’s Catholic – New Albany, IN At St. Mary’s Catholic school they have been very busy making successful changes to better school lunch. In the cafeteria, the K-8th graders have four entrees each day to choose from. When hot dogs and turkey franks are served, they are 99% fat free and served as an alternative to the menu item. Chicken patties come either fried or baked along with 100% frozen juices. The hard working food services employees have used government recipes to cut down on the level of sodium, fat and portions in foods prepared and served. They prepare a nutritious salad bar everyday and offer fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis. Because of all this hard work and dedication, over 90% of the students participate in school lunch on a daily basis! Wonderful work St. Mary’s! Vending Machines
Mishawaka High School – In the Adult Role and Responsibilities class, the state standards suggest an option of doing a community project/volunteer activity that is run by the students. The class was divided into four very different groups, and they brainstormed things that could in some way be an outreach to the community, school, or volunteer opportunity on their part, etc.
The class has done several things including sending letters to Iraq, sending Valentine notes to veteran’s hospitals and inserting homemade Christmas cards in food baskets that the school sponsors at Christmas time.
We the class was writing their proposals, one student mentioned her family had taken advantage of some of the items in the food pantry. Thus, realizing the good they could do in their own community, the class decided to hold a food drive. This Spring food items will be collected for one week. Lots of advertising is in the plans to kick-off the collection week. This really helps the food pantry stay on top of providing food to in-need families throughout the entire year.
Ms. Smith, please keep up posted on the success of the drive this April!
Madison Grant Junior High School – In the 8th grade classes, they perform a 2-week activity called, Nutrient Bodies. Each student works with a partner to draw a body, cloth it and include all the body’s needed nutrients on the model. The 7th grade classes study the food guide pyramid and plan a healthy meal including all the food groups. This meal is then prepared and consumed by the class using appropriate table manners. The students dress up for the meal which makes it a huge success. Many former students claim this was their favorite Junior High memory!
Fort Wayne Community Schools – FWCS coordinators are meeting with students in three of the six high schools to share information about AFHK. The students are asked for ideas on how they might make a difference (i.e., challenge another high school to miles walked). The students are also provided our current AFHK information. Ms. Metzger, please send more stories as they arrive!
Nutrition Jeopardy – Create a school Nutrition Jeopardy game by having the students and teachers write the answers to nutrition-related questions. This activity will get students to do some research on nutrition and their health. Prizes can be awarded to the students who ask the right questions to match the answers. Contact local organizations for nutrition education materials, such as the Dairy Council or the local chapter of the American Cancer Society.
What Are You Eating? – Analyze your school’s lunch menu and find out exactly what you are eating. Foods can be entered into a USDA-approved nutrition analysis software program and evaluated for its nutrient contribution. Provide each student with a copy of the Food Guide Pyramid handout, and have them fill in the names of the school lunch foods in their respective food groups. Students can also fill in the number of foods they eat over an entire day to see if they are eating the Food Guide Pyramid way. Discuss the importance of eating according to the Food Guide Pyramid and the nutrient contributions of the five food groups. Contact a local dietitian to get help in analyzing your lunch menu.
Student Teachers – Solicit a group of the local high school students to create a nutrition lesson for middle or elementary school students. Student teaching not only helps regular classroom teachers, but also provides a valuable learning opportunity for the older students. Also, younger students love to hear what their high school role models have to say. Topics can range from sports nutrition to how to fit in at least five fruits and vegetables a day! This will provide an opportunity for the high school students to become confident leaders and offer healthy, positive peer influence for the younger students.
Fruit and Vegetable Festival – Celebrate health with your students by coordinating a Fruit and Vegetable Festival. Organize the festival in your school with the help of the foodservice department and other partners, such as the local farmers, the American Cancer Society or the state department of food and agriculture. Activities may include an all-you-can-eat fruit and vegetable bar, fruit preparation demonstrations, fruit collages and other creative art projects, or a sampling of unfamiliar fruits and vegetables. Students and teachers can dress up in costumes of their favorite fruits and vegetables. Provide giveaways for your students, such as 5-A-Day fruit and vegetable pogs, stickers and fruit-filled goody bags. End the activity with a healthy treat and serve fruit pizza for lunch!
Pyramid Power Pack Lunch – Students can draw pictures of a Food Guide Pyramid on a brown paper bag to create a lunch pack. They can then fill the Pyramid lunch pack with foods from the five food groups that will be featured in a special school lunch or school picnic. Invite parents to join their children for the Pyramid pack picnic. Parents can help their children differentiate among the five food groups. Together, children, parents, and teachers can picnic on the school’s lawn or even in a nutrition-theme decorated cafeteria. After lunch, students and parents can play fun games, such as Food Pyramid Bingo and nutrition hopscotch. This can be a fun way for students and their parents to experience healthy eating together.
“New Food” Fair – Getting children to try new foods may be challenging, but success can lead to a lifetime of healthy eating habits. Organize a school-wide New Foods Fair so the students can gain hands-on experience trying new foods. Activity ideas can include sampling new and exotic fruits and vegetables, a variety of yogurt flavors, turkey dogs and burgers, soy foods and healthy snacks like Chili Popcorn. To round out the fair, invite an aerobics instructor to lead the students through fun dances and get their hearts pumping. Other partners such as the American Cancer Society and Dairy Association can supply nutrition information for the students to take home and share with their families.
Swinging Dance Party – Are your students too cool to hang out with senior citizens? Organize a swing dance for your students and their grandparents and seniors from the local senior center or community center. Serve nutritious snacks to teach everyone how easy it is to eat healthy wherever you are! Snack ideas include frozen fruit juicers, herb-tossed popcorn, mini-bagel bites and vegetable dippers. Dancing the night away will help everyone realize how good it feels to be active.
Fruit and Vegetable Market – Most students do not eat enough fruits and vegetables each day. Promote how tasty fruit and vegetables can be, by having the students prepare snacks to sell during school breaks or after school. Fruit and vegetable snack ideas include: “Ants on a Log” (celery with peanut butter and raisins), strawberry and pineapple kabobs, fruit slaw cups, mango slices and slushy fruit juicers. Not only will this teach the students that fruits and vegetables can taste good, but it will also help them learn how to prepare these snacks and how to promote the sale of fruit in the school, which can benefit other school activities.
Top Ten List…”Why Eating Healthy is Cool” – High school students can make great teachers for their younger counterparts. Have a group of high school students prepare a nutrition lesson such as “Why Health Eating is Cool” and teach middle or elementary students why that’s cool. The lesson can be made into a guessing game and prizes can be awarded for right answers. This activity will inspire younger students to start eating healthy now so that they can be cool role models when they get to high school.
All Aboard the Nutrition Express – All Aboard! Use a train theme to motivate the students into jumping on the Team Nutrition train toward healthy eating and energy. Promote the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs in your school by having a prize drawing for students who participate in the school nutrition programs. Award prizes for participation in the school nutrition programs with the toy train as the grand prize. Another activity that can illustrate how eating well affects health involves having the students measure their growth on their own personal growth chart. This is a great way to interest students in eating well. After all, who doesn’t want to grow up to be big and strong?
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