White Bear Lake Area Schools, Minnesota
Ted Blaesing, superintendent
For many years we have been blessed with several superstar teachers in physical education who are not only passionate about helping kids understand what they should do about their fitness, but also why they need to be concerned.
We began our change crusade to meet content requirements within our state’s graduation requirements. As we implemented a greater variety of fitness measures, especially in the cardiovascular category, we found high numbers of students who were completing their assessments at extremely unhealthy levels. We even had many varsity letter athletes who could not complete these fitness measurements. At the same time, the media was bombarding us with information about obesity in our children.
It was obvious that we had to enhance physical activity time as much as possible. We didn’t give up curricula; we scaled down some activities and enhanced others to offer more time for heart and lung activity. We really did not compromise anything; we simply organized our unit and daily plans differently.
We have seen small physical changes and larger social changes, and we think that — psychologically — students see themselves more positively. Our biggest dilemma is time. Time is expensive. For this to work progressively, students need to have a longer period of activity everyday, which doesn’t fit into the current school schedule and the national push for academic testing. So for now, we are maintaining what we have and trying to add extras. For example, many of us have decided to model healthy behaviors in the community.
We have made incremental changes by eliminating high-calorie beverages in the middle schools and substituting sugar-free flavored drinks with calorie counts ranging from 0 to 100. Snack offerings were changed to those with six grams of fat or less, such as baked chips, low-fat ice cream, fresh fruit cereal bars, and one-ounce cookies, in addition to cheese, crackers and yogurt-covered raisins.
These changes were made in part because of the national- and statelevel focus on student nutrition and in part due to the concerns of two school board members who had a high interest in this topic. The dilemma with food service is the need to manage the program so it at least breaks even financially and our desire to encourage more healthy choices for kids.
Prince Edward County Public Schools, Virginia
Margaret Blackmon, superintendent
We are a rural school division of 357 square miles in south central Virginia. Our student body — 2,740 students in pre-K-12 — is 59 percent African American, 40 percent Caucasian and 1 percent other nationalities. Sixty-five percent of our students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Our initiative on healthy food came from a school board member who is part of a healthy children committee that includes the local hospital and health department. The committee analyzed the foods and beverages in our vending machines and did a presentation to the school board. When one nurse held up a sticky bun sold in our snack machines and explained that it had 600 calories, almost everyone in the room gasped.
Needless to say, it was great to have this interest from the larger community. Next, we pulled together a team that included our food service supervisor, administrators, health teachers and even students. Perhaps one of the most successful strategies was to have taste tests of new foods in the cafeteria. Having students on the committee was especially smart because they communicated with their peers.
Our changes are primarily in two areas: vending machines and food in our school cafeterias. Today we have just water and juice in our drink machines and crackers, baked chips and similar items in our snack machines. In our fast food lines, we have salads and fresh fruit. We cut out empty calories.
One key to our success was, of course, involving students. The other was making decisions in the spring and incorporating them when students returned for the new school year.
Why are we doing this? I feel, and I believe my eight school board members feel, that because we serve breakfast and lunch five days a week to between 65 and 90 percent of our students, we have an obligation to provide them with the best food we can. Our students are pretty much a captive audience and will eat what we serve. So why should we lower our standards and serve the cheapest, most calorie-filled foods when we can serve healthier options?
Virginia state government is providing support, too. Lisa Collis, the wife of our former governor, Mark Warner, has chaired a statewide committee (Virginia Action for Healthy Kids) to urge schools and other agencies that work with children to help provide healthy alternatives for our young people. The group's nutrition template was suggested as a good model for school districts in a state board of education report on feasibility of developing an education curriculum for proper nutrition and exercise for students in grades K-12 (Virginia Department of Education, 2005).
Hampden School District, Maine
Rick Lyons, superintendent
As superintendent of the Hampden School District, I actively participate in and support the local Partnership for Healthy Communities, the Commission of Education’s School Health Leadership Network and the State of Maine School Health Advisory Council. Our district has taken many proactive steps to address this issue for both students and staff, including:
- Developing and implementing school board policy on nutrition and environmental issues;
- Implementing a comprehensive K-12 health/physical education curriculum accentuating lifelong activities and family life (a graduation requirement at the secondary level);
- Increasing nurse time by 40 percent; • Changing the content of all food offered in vending machines to healthy choices; • Negotiating “wellness incentives” for all employees; and
- Instituting a district wellness team.
For our work, we received the gold award from our local Chamber of Commerce. We were the only district so honored. Vermillion Unified School District 380, Kansas Elizabeth Reust, superintendent Our district is a small population (560 students), large area (402 square miles) district in rural Kansas. This year our physical education teachers and our curriculum director revamped our schools' curriculum for physical education. Our school nurse currently measures height and weight on all students and then does body mass indexes.
We are currently working on a districtwide plan to address student obesity that involves the following team: school food service, physical education teachers, education teachers, student organization sponsors, the school nurse, the school counselor, the local fitness center director, local healthcare providers, the school board, site council members, students, the county health department and city and county officials.
Maranacook Area Schools, Maine
Richard A. Abramson, superintendent
The Maranacook Area Schools are promoting health/wellness among staff, students, school board members, and town officials in several unique ways.
We are partnering with Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield and their Anthem Rewards Program to increase daily physical activity by 30 minutes for students. This is a first-of-its-kind program with BC/BS and features tangible rewards for students, such as water bottles, backpacks, basketballs, pedometers, hammocks, radios and watches.
An after-school coordinator was hired to develop an incentive program for all students K-12. This person works with the Anthem Program, all PE staff, and principals to ensure after school physical activity opportunities for all students. This is part of a long-term commitment by the school board to reduce childhood obesity and increase physical fitness for all students pre-K through adult education.
To reinforce the importance of tracking data, as well as a healthy lifestyle, our staff participated in a pedometer project in which schools and staff “walked” their way across America.
Our staff wellness committee was recognized by Maine’s first lady, Karen Baldacci, and received an award to continue its work to enhance the health and wellness of our staff and student population.
photo by:
jakesmome 
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