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Healthy
Hearts for Life
Healthy Hearts for Life
is a
physical education project for Western U.P. students
grades K-12 and their teachers, schools, families and
communities. The goals of the Healthy Hearts project are
to enhance physical education instruction and to promote
lifelong physical activity and wellness in Western U.P.
children.
The
federally funded grant provides schools in the Copper
Country ISD and Gogebic-Ontonagon ISD regions with the
EPEC comprehensive physical education curriculum, heart
rate monitors and other equipment, teacher training, and
resources for school wellness programs including family
wellness nights and after-school fitness clubs.
New for
2007 - School Wellness Mini-grants
Three mini-grants are available to every school district
in the Western U.P. The three categories of funding are
described below. The grants are non-competitive;
districts will be funded after they submit one-page
applications that follow the guidelines and federal
rules. Anyone representing a district (teacher, parent,
wellness committee, administrator, even a student) may
complete the application, but all applications require
the superintendent's signature to ensure oversight and
coordination.
Family Wellness Nights
Family Wellness Nights, patterned after the Family
Science Nights and School Forest Nights familiar to many
Western U.P. schools, are a chance to open the
school-based physical education program to families and
community members, and to extend the learning experience
with fun, hands-on activities.
Wellness Nights typically take place in the school for
two hours in the early evening. Physical education
teachers use students (and their parents, siblings and
neighbors) to demonstrate lessons and equipment used in
the classroom, while presenters from the school or
community lead 20-30 minute sessions on physical
activity, nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and
other wellness topics. Local health providers may be on
hand to offer blood pressure, cholesterol and other
health screenings. Activities are repeated two or three
times so that families may attend the sessions that
interest them. Schools may combine the Wellness Night
with a speaker, open house, sports event or other
school/community program. Applicants
may request up to $900 for Family Wellness Nights,
to be used for presenter fees, adult health screenings,
printing and supplies, and staff planning time. Many
schools serve a light snack or coffee and juice at the
conclusion of the wellness night, but no Healthy
Hearts funds may be used to purchase food.
Wellness Speakers
In
the second mini-grant category, districts may request
up to $900 for Wellness Speakers and other resources
that help teachers, school staff, families and community
members pursue healthy lifestyle choices. Community
health partners and other health educators can provide
presentations at school open houses, teacher
in-services, evening community programs, and other
venues that reach teachers and/or families with health
and wellness information.
The
purpose of funding wellness speakers is to help create
an environment where teachers, parents and other role
models practice the kind of lifelong physical activity
and wellness habits that we want for our children. Funds
from this category could be used to bring more
presenters and services to the Family Wellness Night
(see above), to plan a second wellness night in a
different school building, or to support one or more
events or programs aimed at supporting staff wellness.
After-school Fitness
Clubs
In
the third and final category, districts may request
up to $750 for Fitness Clubs. A Fitness Club, which
typically meets one time per week or more often for at
least several weeks, gives students an opportunity to
exercise, play games and learn a lifelong physical
activity. Fitness Clubs should be open to all students
in a particular grade or grades (up to a registration
limit set by the school), not just athletes or students
who already own the right equipment. Spring varsity
football practice or a ski club only for those who own
skis definitely would not qualify. Activities
like snow shoeing on nearby trails, field trips to a
swimming pool, a square dancing club, or an intramural
broom ball tournament would qualify, as long as grant
funds are used to pay equipment rentals, fees and other
potential barriers to participation. Fitness clubs take
place after school, either in combination with an
existing latch-key program or as a stand-alone activity.
Funds may be used to pay an instructor, or for equipment
purchases that will help make the program sustainable,
but in order to qualify for a mini-grant, the school
must provide a club that meets regularly with adult
supervision, whether paid or voluntary. Requests for
equipment purchases without an accompanying program will
not be approved. As with all Healthy Hearts
grants, no funds may be used to purchase food. A
school may seek donations for healthy snacks, or
purchase them with matching funds or through a modest
participant fee such as $1 per session. |
