Teamwork Yields Healthy Change in Canton City

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1 Teamwork Yields Healthy Change in Canton City We are a health and wellness town, said Krista Allison, director of student, family, and community support for the Canton City School District. We are the Hall of Fame City and that means we have high standards when it comes to health and wellness in our schools. Canton, Ohio is well known to many as the home of the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the Canton City School District is quickly gaining attention for their work to create healthier school environments and support a culture of health in their community. In the last two years, five schools in the district including three high schools have received national recognition from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation s Healthy Schools Program. With approximately 9,500 students enrolled, the Canton City School District is the largest in Stark County and one of the Ohio 8, which is comprised of the eight largest urban school systems in Ohio. The district is diverse; more than half of the students are minorities and over 80 percent come from low-income families that qualify for free or reduced price meals. Traditionally, students from low-income urban school districts experienced a lack of nutritious food options and limited opportunities for physical activity. However, the Canton City School District has shown they are committed to changing the norm. We are vested in this work. As a new director, Allison was quickly tasked with introducing the Alliance s Healthy Schools Program. The superintendent at the time was familiar with the work of the Alliance and saw promise for the program in Canton City schools. Today, just two years later, health and wellness is integrated into the district s continuous improvement plan. One of their two top-level goals states that the district will cultivate a safe and supportive school climate and culture that nurtures the development of the whole child, an impressive goal. Now that health and wellness are tied to the district plan, that conversation is happening on a monthly basis, she said. We are creating a model for other districts and we continue to have a laser-like focus on improvement. The Canton City School District made the decision to implement the Healthy Schools Program district-wide all at once. Allison said, Things are usually rolled out and phased in. Normally, programs such as this would start at the elementary level, and then move to middle schools, and then up to the high schools. Rather than that, we decided to work in a way where everyone was getting the program at once. There was an element of sheer collaboration and effort across the district. We were all at that same starting point, working through, and trying to navigate the channels of how the program would operate at each level. We put a stake in the ground. Early on, they set their sights high. Allison and her team decided at least one school in the district would receive recognition in the first year, a goal not many districts are willing to set so quickly. Not our district; we were going to go for it! In our first year, we were going to have at least one building apply. Early College High School did apply and received a National Healthy Schools Bronze Award! she said.

2 To continue to coordinate efforts on health and wellness policies, Allison brought in recent graduate, Richie Harper, as a college intern with a passion for public service, health, and policy implementation. Richie worked with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the district s wellness leaders to help schools conduct health and wellness inventories, develop action plans, and form wellness councils. Harper also monitored school progress with monthly conference calls to school wellness leaders. In times when resources for wellness and other initiatives can be scarce, the use of an intern to coordinate efforts was not only economical, but also proved to be hugely successful. To date, every school in the district is working to establish a wellness council consisting of building leadership, wellness leaders, and school nurse, and every school has implemented at least one guideline in the all seven Healthy Schools Program focus areas. It s all about team work. Harper worked across the school stakeholder groups to support the incorporation of health education into existing curriculum and increase physical education minutes across the district. Through the Alliance workshops, we were able to emphasize teamwork and cooperation as beneficial ways to increase student activity, and even student test scores. Now that physical education and health education have become a team effort, schools have noticed an increase in student involvement, he said. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has given us a roadmap for every hurdle we come across. Where funding lacks, our staff has turned to their handbooks for ways to keep students encouraged. McGregor Elementary is one school leading the charge to increase physical activity for its students. Every morning, students participate in 20 minutes of physical education through their morning meeting. Melissa Warner, school health leader, explained, Students meet in the gym each morning. We start out our day with the entire school exercising together. We use fun exercise videos and on Fridays we have [Nintendo] Wii dance parties! Another initiative at the school, the Heart of a Hero program, teaches students the physical and emotional benefits of physical activity at an early age. It is an eight-week running program. They practice their running and each session features a physical lesson and a character lesson, described Warner. The program culminates with the Pvt. Heath Warner Memorial Four Mile Run and Two Mile Family Fun Walk a race in honor of Warner s late son, Heath, who was killed in during a mission in Iraq. This year the event hosted a field of 415 runners and walkers! Through efforts such as these and the use of Alliance FIT for a Healthier Generation instructional fitness DVDs throughout the school day, physical education minutes were increased in all schools. Two district middle schools, Altitude Academy and Early College Academy, have raised physical education to 135 minutes a week! Harper added, After the DVDs were implemented, our middle schools met not only state standards, but the national standards set by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. We continue to strive for healthier students, staff, and families. The staff at Canton City Schools is improving their health as well. Through our efforts, almost every school developed health and wellness activities such as a Biggest Loser challenge,

3 Zumba classes, healthy eating tutorials, fitness guides, and many more activities. Currently, we are working with the Eric Snow YMCA to get group deals on memberships, said Harper. Wellness leader at both Timken High School and the Early College High School, Wendy Lichtenwalter added, Because of the changes we have made to wellness, we cut out sugary snacks at faculty meetings. The staff really enjoyed the Biggest Loser competition too. At McGregor Elementary, the schools Biggest Loser lost 30 pounds! You should see her, she looks amazing! raved Warner. Using the Healthy Schools Program as a springboard, the district has implemented some nontraditional strategies to improve health, while building character in their students. The district has developed the Brighter Tomorrow Plan to realign schools toward an interest-based learning approach. The Canton City School District established different academies help prepare students for the future by tapping into their natural strengths and interests. The Altitude Career Tech and Wellness Academy at Crenshaw offers students in grades sixth through eighth coursework that focuses on academics through the lens of health and wellness, physical fitness and nutrition, and the love of competition. Not surprisingly, the Altitude Academy received a National Healthy Schools Award for We ve engaged our community and asked them to join us in this initiative. At Early College High School, Lichtenwalter is exposing students to new opportunities for physical activity and emphasizing community collaborations to change student perspectives and opportunities. Through a partnership with the Glenmoor Country Club, the school has developed a caddy mentor program. The program provides students each year a paid internship to learn to be a golf caddy. Students receive full training on the sport and then work on the golf course in 3-5 hour shifts as a golf caddy for Glenmoor members. These students are forging relationships with various mentors and building their networks, said John Sypek leader for the program. Sypek is proud of the personal growth the students have experienced. I am seeing them develop and grow in their own skins. They start out shy and unfamiliar being around successful individuals, but learn how to look people in the eyes, shake their hands, and they go out into the real world with the ability to handle and present themselves in a professional manner. Club members have embraced the program and started a scholarship fund for the students. The fund, which has grown each year, is up to $35,000 and already supporting their first two graduates who have been accepted to Ohio University and Kent State University for the fall. Every student in our schools has a story, deep in their hearts, to tell. Allison is proud of how her district embraced the Healthy Schools Program and its corresponding health and wellness initiatives. She is also very pleased with the reach this initiative has had in her community. We saw programming and this initiative as not just about schools. We also saw this as an extension of our staff, families, and communities and used a dual approach from a school perspective and a community perspective. One huge community connection is the district s Healthy Habits, Healthy You (HHHY), a student-produced health and wellness television program. The program is created in-studio on the Timken High School Campus and airs on public television throughout the city of Canton and surrounding communities. Each month the students select a topic, develop the content, and

4 invite student and community guests. It s a live show with a live studio audience, like Live! with Kelly and Michael, Allison said. HHHY is developed as the lab exercise for the 60 students participating in the district s broadcast journalism program, where students receive real broadcast TV experience. The show airs on Canton Time Warner Channel 11, seven days per week, about 150 times per month. According to Nielsen ratings, an audience of up to 1,500 viewers see the HHHY program every time it airs. In our program, we look for the ones that come early, stay late, and are part of the process. They put in long hours. It s hard, sweaty work, said Bill Weidner, coordinator of student, family, and community support and broadcast program supervisor. Students learn the creative process of developing a real television program, while gaining knowledge of life-long healthy habits. According to Weidner, broadcast journalism isn t always a glamorous job and it takes dedication and grit to make it in the business. I help them understand the last thing you do is pick up a camera. The first thing you pick up is a pencil and paper. At the end of the day, the only things you have to sell are the ideas that come out of your head, he said. Weidner credits Jacki Power, broadcast media teacher at Timken High School, for giving students the solid knowledge base and support they need to produce this student-driven show. The team partners with the local Aultman Hospital to create the Aultman HealthByte on critical health issues like breast cancer awareness, bicycle safety, and healthy fast food choices. The hospital, in turn, airs the program in their facilities. After one Byte on heart health, Allison remembers a woman from the community coming up to her to tell her how that segment impacted her life. I was out at an event and a woman came and told me she was going to go for her first stress test after she saw one on our show! She added, This is not just a show we are producing. We share important messages in hopes that our community can make lifestyle changes. New to HHHY for school year is a sponsorship from the Eric Snow YMCA. Located right across the street from the Channel 11 studio, the YMCA is a natural partner for this show and Allison hopes they will offer exercise tips and incentives for our students and staff to get healthy. Allison described additional opportunities to engage families in the community. We have focused on more programming around the whole social environment through more programming for our families. This is part of our work to meet the needs of the whole child, both in academic and nonacademic ways. Parent-teacher conferences now include health and wellness components, and community events include giveaways for YMCA memberships. The family pizza nights of the past have been transformed into family health nights, and now offer instruction on label reading, healthy taste tests, and opportunities for physical activity. Once a month we have a family night; we cook a healthy meal, or provide healthy snacks. We set up different snack stations, like a banana boat with peanut butter or yogurt parfaits. Then we share the recipes, Warner said. The families have grown to love it! They keep asking when the next family night will be. We are never satisfied with where we are. Families are encouraged to bring healthy treats in place of cake for birthday celebrations.

5 Teachers report that school parties and after school events now serve healthy snacks. Linda Rife, child nutrition supervisor, has met the criteria for the Alliance s Bronze National Healthy Schools Award for all school meals and competitive foods and is working toward meeting Silver. And, because Rife and her team began providing healthy meals and snacks early on, they are more than prepared to implement the new USDA Smart Snacks in School standards for à la carte and other competitive foods. It will not be hard for us to be compliant. We use the Alliance Product Calculator for Smart Snacks for quick reference. It really helps solidify your decision making, she said. Even providing school foods that meet the Bronze standard, Rife is always searching for ways to make her meals even more healthy and appealing. We look to other success stories for ideas. We are always trying to serve more fresh fruits and vegetables. We look forward to continuing to improve! [Our district has found that by working with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, things like] physical activity and nutrition are not only key ingredients to healthier students, but also to a more intellectually engaged student body. There is a direct correlation between health and wellness and academics, said Allison. Kids that are healthy, not hungry, tend to be more focused and more successful academically. Providing the support socially, emotionally, and in health and wellness is going make them more successful. The Canton City School District is proving this to be true. While many factors contribute to student growth, Allison believes the Healthy Schools program is a significant factor. Since joining the Healthy Schools Program, district-wide scores on the Ohio Graduation Tests have increased each year. Timken and McKinley High Schools, two of the three district high schools, which have received Healthy Schools Program Awards, saw large gains. This year, the percentage of Timken High School students scoring proficient or higher in each of the test s five academic categories improved, and McKinley High School students passage rates in reading, writing, and social studies increased. Achievement gains extend to the elementary school level as well. In the last year, the district s third grade reading scores improved by 2.3 percent. McGregor Elementary, another Healthy Schools Program award winning school, achieved over eight percent growth! Allison and her team are committed to wellness and the Healthy Schools program. Harper emphasizes, The program is what you put into it. The Alliance gives you the road map for success! And they will continue to press forward, according to Allison. There will always be some challenges, but this is what we are doing to overcome them. We continue to get better each year, along the way. It s not easy, but if you have commitment and stay focused, anything is possible.