CHANGE for the Health of It
This is the first blog on our new youth advocate page. The name was picked by our Youth Advisory Council members who are helping 9Health Fair to develop our youth programs (to apply to be a member of the YAC, call Teresa Jensen at 303-996-2124).
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| Youth Advisory Council Members 2012 |
We hope that you will find support in this blog to become an Agent of CHANGE either at your home, school or in your community. There is so much you can do to help people around you reach their full potential as human beings; being healthy in mind, body and spirit is an important place to start. Small change can add up to big payoffs so don’t be afraid to try something, even something that seems small.
Blog with us when you have questions or ideas you want to try and are looking for someone to talk with about them. Other students, as well as professionals in the health field can comment on your blog and be a lot of help.
Keep blogging as your project unfolds. We want to hear from you so other students can be inspired to help their family, school or community by seeing what you are doing. Great projects are not necessarily big projects and you may win an award from 9Health Fair. Click here to apply or find out what we are looking for.
Some topics to get you started:
- Eating for health
- Being active - exercise
- Sleeping enough
- Relax- keep stress at bay
- Have friends for support
- Create a culture where students can avoid addictive substances and behaviors (drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, and disordered eating)
Activities or projects you could do:
- Healthier lunch menu competitions
- Weekly exercise challenge (or just a yoga class)
- School wide commitment to respect and care
- Stress reduction practice
- Letting your School Board know about what you think is important to change.
Make your project relevant to your community, school or family and your own interests. Work with others, be an advocate for CHANGE! Look here for some of the activities others have done and tell us about your ideas… you can ask others to help you here too.
Here is a tool kit that shows one way to help your school have better lunches and healthier food "Peach" Tool Kit. You can use the same approach for many other topics.
The Wellness Program at our school is a student based committee of 14 students grades 9-12. Our mission is The Fit, The Proud, The Mighty Rams.
ReplyDeleteOur program started over two and a half years ago from an idea from our principal and has snowballed into a full blown, school wide program. He seleted top leaders in our school to head up the committee, and our students have ran with his idea, and far surpassed his initial expectations.
Our first and major step was to get things started. We contacted a major wellness corporation, Sonic Boom. They design wellness programs and competitions to encourage workplace wellness. We held a teleconference with our principal and four committee members with the Sonic Boom CEO's. It was decided on a contract for 140 peds and two ped monitors. We also had our own personal website to track our progress.
What sort of change did the pedometers make in the activity level do you think? Did you have a contest with them? And did the monitors download the amount each person walked? I have heard about those and they sound really motivational.
ReplyDeleteGood questions! The pedometers were a great incentive to start of the program because they were a new, cool piece of technology that everybody was interested in. They were round and black, so very simple and durable to wear. The two monitors were placed in the office and cafeteria. They downloaded all of the information tracked on the individual ped. Steps, miles, and aerobic activity are some of the things shown of the website. We created many contest. From decorating the peds, walking around the world, and most miles walked, all creative and fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your Committee working on this year? How is it going?
DeleteThis year our committee is working on stress relief and staying active. We hosted a month long contest in December on how to reduce stress. We held daily challenges that challenged us to relax for 15 minutes or to take technology out of our lives for an hour that day. All of the challenges were proven to reduce stress some way. At the end of our contest, a motivational speaker and dance instructor came to our school to help us "Relax away our stress." Currently we are working on a contest that promotes physical actevity, aerobics, strength building, and flexibility. This contest will be for 7 weeks. Also the wellness committee has purchased a green house to allow students to grow vegetables and produce for our school salad bar. We have worked hard this year to encourage nutrition, physical fitness, and stress reduction.
ReplyDeleteMerino, you guys are awesome! Really! What do you think other schools could do to have such a dynamic team as you have?
DeleteThank you! What has made our committee so unique is the variety of grade levels, gender, and diversity. The teams were created by classes and leadership styles. For example we have kids ranging from star athletes to shy underclassmen, all collaberating together. Their different outlooks gives the program dynamic ideas. Depending on the school size the number on the committee can vary.
DeleteAlso it is so nice to be at a small school because it is really easy for all of us to work together. Especially when we are all in sports and organizations together. I think that other schools could get to know each other and push each other to do their best no matter what the case is.
DeleteIn a bigger school they would probably have to have a larger committee so that they can reach out to all diverse groups. Also they may have more technology and resources to help promote their program. With prizes and incentives it pushes more people to participate bringing in many different dynamics. It may be hard to get going at first but as long as their committee is persistant and shows the way by participating then they too can be successful.
ReplyDeleteOur wellness committee also designated people to write challenges for our challenge. We made daily challenged based on physical fitness. We split up categories such as flexibility, strength, and aerobic. We all wrote daily challenges based on these ideas. We will start these in the middle of April. Most students get involved with these challenges during class and make it very competitive. Overall i think students like the variety of the physical fitness as well as the daily challenges.
ReplyDeleteRecently at Merino High School, the wellness committee received a grant from Colorado Lecacy Foundation to fund wellness activity throught the school which included a school garden for our FCCLA project. Phase one of the project was to aquire a greenhouse so that produce could be grown year round. This produce will be incorporated in the school's lunch program as well as in the science, agriculture, and wellness classes. One of the obsticles was writing a protocal for the proper processures for growing, harvesting, and handling our garden produce that would be acceptible to the public health department. Phase two is going to get a garden out side of the current greenhouse. Phase 3 outdoor classroom with benches and fruit trees and the fitness trail.
ReplyDelete