Active Early in the News!

Active Early is making news!

Check out the state news release about Wisconsin child care providers joining the fight against childhood obesity.

"We know that focusing on nutrition and physical activity in kids before age 5 promotes life-long healthy habits," said Karen Timberlake, Department of Health Services Secretary. "With hildren spending, on average, more than 30 hours per week in child care centers, these providers are well placed to help get kids moving and enjoying physical activity."

Update:
"By participating in Active Early, I hope it will bring more activity into the daily lives of the children in my care," said Darlene Tanck, owner of Dolly’s Daycare in the Merrill Foto News.

Read the full story here: http://www.merrillfotonews.com/usersubmittedstories/113078704.html

La Crosse County: Early Farm-to-School Successes

Since the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, the La Crosse County Communities Putting Prevention to Work program has already coordinated the purchase, processing and distribution of more than 6,000 pounds of fresh local produce for more than 9,300 students in four La Crosse County school districts.

By the end of 2010, the four school districts will have served the following local, minimally-processed products:

• 3,700 ½-cup servings of fresh carrot sticks
• 4,200 ½-cup servings of frozen carrot slices
• 4,500 ½-cup servings of frozen, ready-to-roast multi-colored potato mix
• 2,200 ¼-cup servings pre-roasted, heat-and-serve Red Kuri winter squash wedges
• 3,500 ½-cup servings of broccoli florets

“We’ve always served fruits and vegetables," said Joni Ralph, La Crosse School District nutrition supervisor. "What this is bringing them is local, seasonal produce. Kids will get to experience a lot more choices of different produce they may not have tried before."

The CPPW Farm to School Coordinator, Josh Miner, built a network of new partnerships between more than a dozen area producers, local food wholesale distributors, and a new community access kitchen based in Mineral Point (http://www.wi.innovationkitchen.org/) to handle food processing.

Challenges remain, but by the end of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant period in March 2012, La Crosse County hopes to have demonstrated that a coordinated, local supply chain that delivers locally-produced, minimally-processed, heat-and-serve produce products to school districts is healthy for students and staff, the local economy, and the community at large.

For more information about La Crosse County's F2S efforts, contact Sara Tedeschi at the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems or Amy Alvig at the Department of Health Services.

Photo: Students in the La Crosse School District's Franklin Elementary after-school program taste test apples. Photo courtesy of La Crosse County Public Health Department.

Using policy to promote community use of schools

On November 15, Communities Putting Prevention to Work invited Dr. John Spengler from the University of Florida to discuss his research on school joint-use agreements (recently published as “Policies to Promote the Community Use of Schools: A Review of State Recreational Use Statues,” in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine).

Dr. Spengler outlined the different types of joint and shared use agreements that school districts and communities can adopt, and discussed the benefits and challenges facing these partnerships.

Strong relationships exist between policy issues, characteristics of natural and built environments, and personal levels of physical activity. Joint-use agreements can create or improve safe places for people to be physically active.




School districts and communities weighing joint or shared use agreements must address real and perceived barriers related to:

• liability


• maintenance


• vandalism and crime


• scheduling, and


• costs associated with normal operations (staff time, utilities, etc.).

Among the benefits of thoughtful joint-use agreements — beyond the obvious benefits of providing safe places for community members to be physically active — school districts and communities cited increased community collaboration and strengthened ties between schools and families.

To hear a recording of this call, please dial toll free (888)567-0476. The entire call lasts approximately one hour.

Online resources:

- Public Health Law & Policy’s Joint-Use Toolkit
- NPLAN (National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity) Joint Use Resources , including checklists for developing joint-use agreements, model joint-use agreements, primers on liability, etc.
- Unlocking the Playground: Achieving Equity in Physical Activity Spaces from the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network



What experiences, if any, do you or other members of your coalition have working with school districts to craft joint-use agreements?

Making Schools Active Schools: Connecting with Local Schools and School Boards

Nov. 16 Teleconference Highlights

What's going on in schools?
DPI is working on improving physical activity opportunities in schools using a variety of strategies, including:

• Physical Education Requirements
• Active Schools
• Movin' and Munchin' Schools
• Health Education Standards

Each of these areas offers opportunities to coalitions to interact with schools. Some examples include:

• Assessing the school board's knowledge of and attitudes toward programs and/or policies related to physical activity
• Educating school board members on available resources (e.g. Active Schools toolkit or training on active recess strategies)
• Encouraging districts to review policies and plans reguarly to improve implementation

What's going on in Active Schools pilot sites?
Active School pilot sites are up and running in 21 sites across the state.

• Schools have collected Activity Logs from students and sent fitness assessment results to the state
• Coalitions have collaborated with schools on disseminating communication materials about district efforts, assisted with surveys and program planning, and assisted with programs

How can our coalition connect and work with schools on policy issues?
All Active Schools coalitions are asked to connect with local school districts, here are some tips for getting started:

1) Consider which districts you have already worked with.

2) Questions to think about when approaching a school …

• What does our coalition want from schools as part of a partnership effort?
• What can our coalition offer schools as part of a partnership effort?
• How does Active Schools fit the educational mission of the schools?

3) Conduct an assessment of your selected district to understand what they already are doing related to physical activity policies in their district. Some ideas of places to start include:

• Request a copy of your School Wellness Policy
• Interview with school district contact on your coalition or a school official (local policymaker assessment) – what might encourage the district to initiate an Active Schools policy?
• Understand the context of your selected district:
  - Who are the key education leaders in your district?
  - If school board action is necessary, what are the best ways to approach individual board members and/or the board as a whole?
  - Who do your district’s key leaders and school board members need to hear from?

Teleconference Share Back!
Help and learn from each other by leaving a comment responding to the following question:

How will you connect with your school district in the next month?