Area Schools attend training on Physical Activity during the School Day!

Nine area schools attended a training in June with a focus on improving opportunities for physical activity during the school day. The day started off with Principal Gary Anger from Red Pine Elementary School in Eagan, MN. Gary talked about how his school has really championed wellness initiatives and how school administrators can really helped foster and encourage wellness as part of a school lifestyle. SHIP Supervisor Chera Sevcik provided an overview for attendees on the connection between academics and physical activity. Research continues to demonstrate the more physical activity provided to students, the better the test scores, academic outcome, attention spans and behaviors. Several research studies have been done which show this connection and were shared with the group. Scott Kelly from the Public Health Law Center (PHLC) provided an overview on developing gold standard wellness policies and discussed how schools can work towards good policy change. Several resources were shared from the center and schools are able to access the PHLC at no charge for consultation on their school wellness policies. The training ended with an overview of what schools can expect in SHIP 3 and a brief discussion of the timelines and funding available. About fifty participants attended the training including school physical education staff, school nurses, principals and superintendents, food service directors, community education directors and school teachers.

St. James School Recess Run improves mile run times in phy-ed!

 

St. James Northside Elementary School phy-ed teacher Marcia Eggen has spent the last year encouraging classrooms to be more active. In addition to providing active classroom resources on a monthly basis to all teachers, she encouraged classrooms to participate in the Recess Run challenge - which meant everyday, the participating classrooms would take their students outside and run - in the snow, rain or sun. Two classrooms faithfully participated in this challenge every day and the results are nothing short of amazing! Students mile run times were recorded in the fall as a baseline and then again in the spring. Of the students participating in the challenge, 92% had decreased their mile run times from the fall to the spring, with some students cutting their mile run time in half! The kids reported  that the challenge made them feeling better, running easier and was a lot of fun! In addition to improving student's physical health, research also shows that moving students more throughout the school day improves their mental capacity and improves classroom attentiveness and behavior issues. Northside also recently decided to increase physical education minutes next year! Great job Marcia and Northside Elementary!

City of St. James Kicks Off Employee Wellness Program with Wellness / Walking Challenge

The City of St. James kicked off their first wellness challenge on Monday, June 17th.  During their first week they had over half of their staff participate in the challenge. With SHIP funds they were able to purchase pedometers for each employee to encourage them to participate in the challenge by walking each day during work hours. The challenge entails for every mile they walk outside of work or on breaks they receive a point, if they visit their local fitness center they will receive 2 points and if they participant in healthy events (screening days or lunch and learns)  by the City of St. James they will receive bonus points! To start off the walking challenge they hosted their first screening day. This included utilizing city ambulance staff and volunteers to conduct free blood pressure and glucose reading assessments. If staff members blood pressure or glucose readings were not within a normal range they were referred to local resources for help in managing their health. Those staff members who participated in the screening were eligible for bonus points in their wellness challenge. Over half of the City Staff was screened at this event! The City looks forward to seeing this challenge continue throughout summer!