The Learning Well Resource Team has been involved with helping and serving as a resource center for several schools in the Muncie Area. The following stories are depictions of how a school health advisory council can positively affect schools, students, teachers, parents, and community members.

Expanding Physical Education

Cowan Community School Corporation has made many strides over the past few years in developing new staff and student wellness programs and improving existing wellness programs. As a result of the construction of a new auxiliary gym at Cowan Jr/Sr High School, the physical education curriculum was expanded to allow an advanced physical education program that targeted wellness and fitness activities. 

Members of the Cowan Elementary School staff became involved in a "Biggest Loser" contest early in January, 2008. Several staff members began walking and/or utilizing the fitness equipment in the newly-built auxiliary gym. 

The Ball Brothers School Wellness Grant is the first and only grant that Cowan has applied for and acquired for the 2007-2008 school year. Through the grant, Cowan was able to purchase a set of digital scales for the school nurse, heart monitors for use in a physiology classroom, and a Wii to provide a greater variety of physical education activities. In addition, a large portion of the grant will be utilized to pay stipends to teachers to lead students in a variety of after-school wellness, fitness and exercise programs.

Cowan Community Schools
1000 West Co. Rd. 600 South
Muncie, IN 47302
http://www.cowan.k12.in.us

Making an IMPACT

The Delaware Community School Corporation is making huge progress in promoting health and well-being for their students, teachers, faculty, staff, administrators, families, and community members. Since 2005, the Del-Com Elementary Schools have coordinated a Fitness Club for 3^rd through 5^th grade students.  They play a variety of sports and games and have added nutrition information to their sessions. As a result of the Elementary Schools' program success they decided to start a similar program for their Middle School titled IMPACT. 

Del-Com has also started an Adult Fitness Recreation Program that is open to the faculty and the community.  This program is held at the High School for two nights of the week and they offer variety of activities every time. Also, the faculty has started the Del-Com Challenge, which is a competition between the school buildings.  In addition to the school buildings, they formed a seventh team that consists of their central office and transportation building. By including their bus drivers they are attempting to reach out to everyone who serves as a role model for the students and are trying to build social connections with all workers.  Finally, in 2006, Del-Com started a Fitness Trail, which is located behind the High School and Middle School.  It is a walking trail, and their goal is to add exercise stations throughout the trail to offer multiple exercise activities.

Delaware Community School Corporation
7821 State Road 3 North
Muncie, Indiana 47303
http://www.delcomschools.org/

A Step in the Right Direction

The Garfield Elementary School began a walking club in September 2003.  The Club meets three days a week after school and walks are typically outside the neighborhood. On occasion, the Walking Club takes mini-field-trips to Muncie areas like the Cardinal Greenway, Oakhurst Gardens, and Minnetrista. Various grants in the past have been used to provide healthy snacks and incentives for the walkers. Selecting healthy snacks and reading nutrition labels have been topics of conversation among the Club members.

Incentives for the students include the following; for each mile completed, the walkers receive a token. When the students join the Club, they are given a chain to collect their tokens on. After walking ten miles, the participant is given a water bottle, a Walking Club t-shirt is given after walkers complete twenty-five miles and after fifty miles a pedometer is awarded. Thankfully, the Garfield Walking Club has been very fortunate to receive administrative support which has certainly contributed to the success of the organization. The founder of the Garfield Walking Club suggests utilizing walking-related incentives as a means of stimulating interest and maintaining participation.

Garfield Elementary School
1600 S. Madison Street
Muncie, Indiana  47302
http://www.muncie.k12.in.us/GARFweb/

Staff Wellness Challenge

With 125 out of 175 faculty, staff and even bus drivers participating, the Liberty Perry Staff Wellness Challenge is already a success.  Weekly log carrying cards help participants track points for physical activity, drinking water, fruit & vegetable intake, no tobacco, reading weekly wellness e-mails, and walking.  500 points earns participants a frozen fruit cup and a muffin, and 1000 points earns a $15.00 Wal-Mart gift card.

December 19^th was the open house for the new fitness room, which includes 3 treadmills, 2 elliptical trainers, 2 benches, weights, and a tracking board.  This will open up possibilities for additional competitions and incentives, as well as guest trainers and classes. The $11,500.00 in funding for the program is part of an insurance grant, and in addition to the equipment, pedometers were purchased for all 125 participants, and funds will also be used for cholesterol screenings, dietician counseling, incentives/prizes, free flu vaccines, a monthly health newsletter, and weekly healthy e-mails.  A spring outdoor walking club is also planned. In order for the program to become sustainable, the plan is for one teacher from each building to be part of the wellness team and take charge of their own building. 

Liberty Perry School Corporation
105 S. CR 650 East
P.O. Box 337
Selma, Indiana 47383
http://www.selma.k12.in.us/sms

B-WARE: Bearcats Achieving Wellness and Receiving Energy

Even before receiving the Ball Brothers Foundation grant, Central High School had a walking program in place with students and faculty participating. "The better you feel, the better you perform."  Three times a week the group would walk from the school, around Minnestrista and back.  Shortly before Christmas break exercise equipment was delivered for the new exercise room.   The room includes a treadmill, 2 elliptical trainers, a recumbent bicycle, an Aire Dyne, a Stair-Mill, an incline bench, weights and balance balls – and, of course, a television.  

The plan for the first year of the program is to start a "Biggest Loser" challenge – and this will include faculty, staff and students, and hopefully serve as a means of communication for the wellness program.  The after-school walking club will continue, "How-to" presentations will be offered on exercise, nutrition and other wellness related topics. The Assistant Principal is considering starting a class for men to encourage more participation. Still in the process of working a few things out, Central High School hopes to have the program underway the first of the year and is planning an orientation to familiarize participants with the equipment.

Muncie Community School Corporation
Central High School
801 North Walnut Street
Muncie, IN 47305
http://www.muncie/k12.in.us/chsweb/

Walking Around the World

The students, faculty and staff of Southside High School have been walking around the world and across the curriculum!  After purchasing 1500 pedometers using the Ball Brothers Foundation grant, Amy Oliver put the responsibility of picking destinations in the hands of the geography students, then the basic skills classes tallied and put mileages with the destinations – then the challenge began!  Each grade level has a team, and faculty and staff have a team.  The challenge has been to see which of the five teams could walk around the world first. 

Tracking sheets are filled out, and tallied once a week during class. While no team has actually made it around the world yet, collectively they've circled the globe more than once.  From the feedback so far, Amy Oliver feels that there has been a heightened awareness regarding exercise, and the participants have been motivated to see how far they've walked.  There are incentives every week, but interest seems to be waning so Amy will be looking for a new program to re-energize them for the spring semester. 

Muncie Community School Corporation
Muncie Southside High School
1601 E. 26th Street
Muncie, IN 47302
http://www.muncie.k12.in.us/shsweb/

Fruity Kids!

Wes-Del Middle School students have the opportunity to enjoy a fruity snack twice a week after Physical Education classes. Mondays and Wednesdays are the most challenging class sessions, so the students are served various types of fruit to enjoy. Health classes are also included from time to time. At the end of class, both P.E. and Health students are allowed about five minutes to unwind and regroup before going to their next classes while enjoying their fruit. During a typical week, the fruit ranges from apples to oranges, grapes to pineapples. The coordinator, one of the school's P.E. teachers, tends to buy whatever fruit is on sale at the local grocery store. The day the fruit is served, she, with the help of several others, cuts and prepares the fruit for the students.  At the end of class, the students line-up, cleaning their hands with an antibacterial sanitizer, and pick out their fruit from a portable cart.  Fruity Kids! introduces students to new fruits, so they can learn what they like and dislike. In addition, nutritional information is discussed and healthy diet modeling is addressed. The goal is to help students create lifelong habits which will benefit them as well as their families and friends.

Wes-Del School Corporation
10290 N. CR 600 West
Gaston, IN 47342
http://www.wes-del.k12.in.us

First Annual Health and Wellness Fair

In September 2008, the YOC conducted their First Annual Health and Wellness Fair. The event was open to faculty and staff at the center. Twenty-five vendors hosted tables during the fair; the presenters ranged from the American Red Cross to the Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology graduate students. Since the YOC operates twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, one challenge was overcoming three shifts of employees. In an attempt to attract a significant portion of the population, the fair was held a few hours before and after a shift-change. With a staff of 460, the fair was well attended with over 120 people visiting the gymnasium.

The YOC hopes to coordinate another fair in the spring; this event will be geared toward the youth rather than the adults at the center. If all goes well, both the fall and the spring fairs will become annual events. The YOC is also beginning a Lunch-N-Learn program. One of the first Lunch-N-Learns presented was about the Indiana Wesleyan graduate school program. In the future, other presentations will include an Introduction to Exercise and other wellness related topics.

Youth Opportunity Center (YOC) of Muncie
3700 West Kilgore Avenue
Muncie, IN 47304
http://www.yocinc.org/Contact/contact.php

A Win-Win Wellness Solution: Healthy Choices Café

The Healthy Choices Café was a response to parents being concerned that students didn't eat until almost 2pm on delay scheduled days. The Café was funded with a portion of the Ball Brothers Foundation wellness grant. The Life Skills class operates the Café under the direction of their teacher and receives $100 per semester for their efforts.  The Café operates as a business.  The Life Skills class only receives the money if the Café is making a profit.  A business meeting is held once a semester. At this time, the class receives about 20% of the profit.  The Café was established with the understanding that once it was making a profit, those profits would be used to fund mini-wellness grants.

Beginning the second semester of the 2008-09 school year grants are awarded.  The Life Skills class serves on the Board of Directors and reviews the applications. The final decision is made by our Wellness Director and the CFO of the Café.  As a result of the Café, students look forward to the Café and support it. More students are aware of the importance of eating in the morning, the Life Skills class is playing an active role in learning how to run a business, the Life Skills class provides a service that is unique to the school and the mini-grants are providing more students an opportunity to participate in wellness.

Mt. Pleasant CommunitySchool Corporation
1100 S. Tiger Dr.
Yorktown, IN 47396
http://www.yorktown.k12.in.us/wellness

Community Connections

For Daleville Community Schools many community members are taking advantage of the Fitness Area.  It has been a great way to unite the community with the school.  Many times adults will come to work out and see an athletic event going on and they will stay around to watch.  Also, the cafeteria has increased the number of Type A lunches served daily.  That means our students are eating healthier.

Daleville Community Schools
14300 West Second Street
Daleville, IN 47334
http://www.daleville.k12.in.us