Delaware County School Responsibilities

Attend Health Advisory Council Meetings

Each school corporation is required to form a Health Advisory Council comprised of a variety of students, staff and community members who work towards promoting coordinated school health within the schools and carrying out the school corporation's wellness plan. Councils meet with varying frequency throughout the year and LWRT attends as many council meetings as possible to offer support to the councils and remain informed about the activities and programs occurring in the schools. 

Help Schools Implement Activities

Many of the school corporations hold a variety of wellness related activities for students and staff throughout the school year. LWRT volunteers their time when available to help the schools coordinate and manage the activities successfully. Over the past semester LWRT has assisted with a student biathlon, an after school flag football event and assisted in measuring and recording the heights and weights of students. LWRT also contributed to staff wellness programs by providing presentations and group led physical activities. In the upcoming semester LWRT plans to assist various schools coordinate and manage an after school Elementary intramural program, a Relay For Life event, and monitor and assist staff and community members using school fitness facilities.

Present at Health Fairs and Family Nights

Many schools and local organizations periodically hold health and wellness fairs for students, parents, staff and community members in an effort to increase health and wellness knowledge, get parents involved in the health of their children, and give people resources for making healthy lifestyle changes. LWRT participates in many fairs through creating and managing their own health fair booth and giving oral presentations on a variety of wellness topics.   

Create and Produce Wellness Informational Materials

As schools plan and prepare for their many health and wellness activities and programs, LWRT is often asked to create informational materials and/or advertisements to help promote the programs. In the past LWRT has created posters, bulletin board displays, flyers, newsletters, program logos, and room decorations for various local schools.   

Present Professor Popcorn Curriculum

Professor Popcorn is a nutrition education program developed by the Purdue Extension Service based on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines and MyPyramid. The program is available for students in grades 1-6 and is presented once a week for five weeks. All LWRT members completed a training program given by Purdue Extension staff and have since been presenting the program to a variety of 4th grade classrooms in the local area. In the future LWRT plans to continue presenting Professor Popcorn on an as needed basis throughout Delaware County.

Assist Schools with Grant Writing Process

There are a number of grants available for schools to apply for to increase their funding available for wellness programs. The most popular in the Delaware County area are The Ball Brother's Foundation Grant and the Healthy Hoosier Award. LWRT acts as a grant resource for schools, helping them understand the requirements and submission processes, helping them with the actual grant writing, and helping them compile the information needed to complete the grant applications.

Fisher Institute Responsibilities

Give Lunch 'n Learn Presentation

Every Fisher Institute graduate assistant is required to give one Lunch 'n Learn presentation per semester. These 15-20 minute presentations can be on any wellness related topic of the student's choosing and is presented for other graduate assistants and Fisher Institute faculty. Recently, the format of the presentations was slightly changed to include a video recording of the presentations. The videos will be used for learning purposes and will be made available to the public via the Internet.

Recent LWRT presentation topics have included Exercise Myths, Benefits of Travel, Benefits of Art, and Non-Verbal Communication.

Create Bulletin Board Display

Another requirement of all Fisher Institute graduate assistants is the creation of one bulletin board display per semester. Again, the bulletin board display topics can be anything related to wellness. Each bulletin board design is on display in the Health and Physical Activity Building for one month. Recent LWRT bulletin board displays have included Writing for Wellness, Popcorn Poppin' Month, and Winter Wellness.

Host Workshops and Seminars

In working with the schools and other local organizations, the needs and wants of the individuals involved are constantly changing. In order to try and meet those needs LWRT hosts workshops and seminars on varying topics to provide information and resources to those in need of it. Last semester LWRT hosted a workshop to teach school teachers and staff about the School Health Index (SHI) and the Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT). This semester LWRT is planning on pursuing a school nutrition workshop either with school cafeteria directors and administrators or in partnering with the Purdue Extension Service.  

Attend Professional Development Sessions

Keeping up-to-date with current hot topics in the school wellness area and health and wellness in general is imperative for the development of successful wellness programming. As a result all Fisher Institute graduate students are required to attend two professional development sessions per semester. A wide range of lectures, seminars and activities can be considered professional development. The goal is simply to advance knowledge and further arm students with the tools they will need to be successful after leaving the Institute. Some of the professional development sessions attended recently have been the INShape Indiana Summit, Grant Writing Training, Website Content Management Training, and the Kirkpatrick Lecture Series.

Complete Individual Projects and Activities

In addition to the many team activities and projects that LWRT undertakes, students also have the opportunity to complete individual projects of their interest. Current individual projects include working with GoTrybe.com, United Way, Action for Healthy Kids, and managing after school student and staff programs. Links to many of these organizations can be found on the resources page.