Eyestone Elementary shares in wellness grant

February 11, 2009

By Brenda Rader Mross

The Wellington

 

As recently as the 1970s, “wellness” was a word heard mostly in alternative medicine circles. Society has come a long way since then in understanding wellness, and the newly formed (Wellington, Colorado) Eyestone Elementary School wellness team intends to make sure students get the concept, too, thanks to a new state grant.

Today, wellness generally means a healthy balance of mind, body and spirit resulting in an overall feeling of well-being. The National Wellness Association defines wellness as “an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a more successful existence.”

Eyestone wellness team leaders Deb Dale, Sandy Fetzer and Trina Garlo see wellness as a way of life and believe their students will benefit from knowing the choices they make now will affect them as adults.

“We really are just in the beginning stages with all of this,” Dale, a fifth-grade teacher, said. “A committee of eight volunteers from the staff, PTO and the community is meeting once a month to help with input and establishing a clear vision of why and how.”

Already, the wellness committee has arranged for Eyestone’s four kindergarten classes to have an every-other-week, 30-minute lesson about making healthy choices in their everyday lives. A fifth- and sixth-grade girls’ lunchtime walking club is underway, as well as improved salad bar options at lunch.

“We are also promoting healthy snacking, starting with treats for birthday parties,” Dale said, holding up a giant frosted cupcake that could easily feed two. “It really is all about balancing physical activity and healthy eating. Eventually we would like to add in the emotional piece.”

In December, the Colorado Department of Education awarded student wellness grants to five districts, including Poudre School District, as a result of a bill approved by the Colorado General Assembly. Each district will receive $50,000 per year for the next three years for physical education and nutrition improvements. Twelve Poudre schools, including Eyestone Elementary, will receive $2,500 a year “to improve the coordination between science, health education and physical education to emphasize student wellness.”

Grants coordinator Stacy Poncelow, who writes 75 grants a year for PSD, applied for a share of the student wellness funding so as to expand what the district was already doing through CanDo, the Coalition for Activity and Nutrition to Defeat Obesity.

Nicole Turner-Ravana was hired last month as district wellness coordinator, a new part-time position made possible by the state endowment. Turner-Ravana serves as liaison to the 12 schools, but says each site’s “wellness coaches” actually control the money, which will go toward two main areas: physical activities and healthy eating options.

The only requirement, she said, is that the grant not be used for staff wellness but rather be focused entirely on student wellness.

“It’s exciting to be involved in what is really a launching point for the district to make wellness a priority,” stated Turner-Ravana. “This grant will allow us to build policy and support to enable changes on a long-term basis.”

She praised the core commitment of the staff at Eyestone, saying they are going above and beyond.

Prior to receiving the grant money, Eyestone already had several wellness programs in place, including the 14-year “Cats on the Run” after-school running club founded by Fetzer, who teaches physical education and second grade.

“I really do believe health and fitness are keys to happiness,” Fetzer said.

Students regularly participate in “Pound the Pavement” in preparation for Eco Week, “Turn off the TV Week,” “Jump Rope for Heart,” and “Schools on the Move.”

Dale also started teaching “healthy” fifth- and sixth-grade enrichment classes last year, and the school is a member of the Healthy Kids Club, a community outreach program sponsored by Poudre Valley Health Systems. The HKC espouses adding into the school day 10-minute activity breaks disguised as fun games like “Fitness Simon Says” and “Trash Can Basketball.”

Dale and Fetzer recently attended an 11-hour training orientation for grantees, hosted by Colorado Connections for Healthy Schools, in Thornton. They brought home several ideas, including incorporating wellness into Field Day, hosting a Family Fitness Night and shifting toward healthier fundraisers like walkathons.

Part of the wellness grant allowed Eyestone to register for the Healthy Schools Program through the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. The organization’s goal is to eliminate childhood obesity and inspire youth to develop lifelong, healthy habits.

In the words of former President Clinton, “Every school day, 54 million young people attend nearly 123,000 schools across the country. Influencing and enhancing the ability of schools to provide healthy environments could become one of the most effective ways to shape the healthy education and well-being of our next generation.”

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a co-leader of the group, which aims to reduce the nationwide prevalence of childhood obesity by 2015.

According to statistics from the Healthy Kids Club, 30 percent of school-age children are overweight; 15 percent are obese. Turner-Ravana said recent body mass index (a measure of body fat based on height and weight) assessments by CanDo showed 21 percent of the students in PSD were overweight and at risk for obesity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, “Overweight children have a greatly increased risk for becoming overfat adults.”

The grant is designated for children, but what about the wellness of the adults at Eyestone?

“I know the staff thinks I am crazy healthy,” Dale joked, “but I’m really only moderately healthy. You know the 80/20 rule? I do what I need to do 80 percent of the time and then give myself a break.”

Dale acknowledged that it can be hard to find the motivation so she started an after-school exercise session for staff on Thursdays featuring a “good mix” of strength, pilates and yoga.

Garlo, a second-grade teacher, said 38 staffers now wear pedometers and it’s not uncommon to see a fruit basket in the teacher’s lounge.

Welcome to wellness, 21st century style.