Washington State: Empowering Education: Fight Tobacco Use Through Assessments, Standards, Curriculum, and Partnerships
Wisconsin: 60 Minutes to Health and School Success
Strengthening Our Practice: Furthering Our Impact __________________________________________________________________________ Ask Us About - 5.0 CSH - Boston __________________________________________________________________________
New York CSH Providing the Tools for School Health Policies and Programming
A Toolkit was developed to assist eighteen Healthy Schools NY (HSNY) Coordinators in support of their work with school districts and schools to assess, develop and implement a physical education (PE) plan and other physical activity policies; policies to improve the quality of foods available on school grounds; and policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use. The Toolkit provides technical assistance to staff that are responsible for developing comprehensive school health policies.
In addition to the Toolkit, a brochure was developed as part of the funded work of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work Component grant to support the goals of HSNY. The brochure is used by HSNY Coordinators to communicate the benefits of a quality physical education program with Superintendents, school staff and school board members. It also helps to drive the target audience to the website, http://www.wheresmype.org/, where more helpful information is provided. Both the brochure and the website feature the “Mind and Body” Physical Education media campaign.
“Building Capacity for School Health Systems Change”
During the initial phase of the “Building Capacity for School Health Systems Change” project a series of community assessment activities were identified that would provide a clear understanding of the health needs and assets of the participating school districts and surrounding communities. Each assessment began with creating a community profile, based on data obtained online and through public records. This profile was followed by a windshield tour or a “drive through” of the community to look at such factors as: availability of sidewalks near schools, sound playground equipment, health clinics, and recreational facilities, along with economic factors like the number of empty businesses or houses for sale in the area. Wellness plans were obtained from each school and examined, using the WellSAT Assessment Tool out of the Rudd Center at Yale. Additionally, every school in each district had the eight components of their Coordinated School Health Model assessed using the CDC School Health Index.
The assessment data was completed after staff conducted a series of key informant interviews with parents, administrators, school nurses, local politicians and business owners. The individual interviews were followed by a series of focus group discussions, with parents, community members, school faculty and staff as well as with students. This concluded the data collection process.
