Transcript Youth Creating Healthier, More active Environments

Youth Creating Healthier
Environments
Lamont School District
Yolanda Ramirez PHN M.S.N.
Project Coordinator
Manuel Ramirez- Adult Ally
S.A.S.H. Team
Young Champions for Change
Mt. View Middle School
 Lamont Elementary School District was
one of the 7 original pilot sites for the
Youth Empowerment Project.
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Lamont Demographics
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Pop. ~13,640
 Rural,
unincorporated
farming community
 District Enrollment
96.4% Hispanic
65.4% English Language
Learners
78.3% Free/Reduced meals
Background
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First group Mt. View Motivators 2006-2008
 Junior High students
 Researched the community and found that
there were not many healthy options available
in the area.
 The majority of the students reported that their
families would travel to Bakersfield (20 minute
commute) to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Because of their research findings,
their goals were to:
Increase availability of fruits and
vegetables in the community
 Increase awareness of the health
benefits of eating more fruits and
vegetables and being active
 Look at the possibility of opening
a Farmer’s Market in Lamont
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Participated in health promotion
activities 2007-2008
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Health Fair, Harvest Festival, Walk to School
Day, and a community wide campaign called
“Eat Right, Exercise!”
 720 families were reached during this
campaign
 Event ended with a ‘mini health fair’ where
people were screened for high blood pressure,
high blood sugar, and BMI –
 Nutrition Education-healthy snack
demonstration, games for children
Eat Right, Exercise! Campaign
Walk to School Day, 2007
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More than 200
students participated
 20-30 staff members
walked with the
students
 ~15 Parents came to
walk with the
students
Motivator Plot in the School Garden
Mt View Motivator Successes
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They learned about research, public speaking,
collaboration, and took a closer look at
nutrition and health promotion.
• They learned how to assess their community
from a new perspective.
• They discovered they could help create
positive changes in their community.
• Most of them reported making lifestyle
changes in their own lives and influenced
their own families to have healthier habits.
Most importantly, they left a
‘foot print’
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Communicated their research findings to:
Other students,
School staff,
The School Board of Trustees,
South Valley Neighborhood Partnership,
‘Eat Right, Exercise Campaign’ partners
Started developing partnerships and
creating awareness about their goals.
Developing Partnerships
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The partnerships developed are helping the
new group achieve their goals now.
South Valley Neighborhood Partnership
Cesar Chavez Service Learning
Dolores Huerta Foundation (HS Group)
Community Action Partnership of Kern
Kern County Dept. of Public Health
LSD Migrant Program
After School Program
KCSOS
The end and a new beginning.
At the end of the school year, the Mt.
View Motivators interviewed potential
team members and made
recommendations for the new team.
 Also needed new adult ally
for the new school year 2008-2009
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Choosing the Right Team
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Student selection requirementsGood students, eager to learn, enthusiastic,
have an interest in science/health, good
attitude!
Need recommendation by science teachers
Students apply for the position
 Adult ally qualifications neededGood connection with students, respected well
by the community, cares about the community,
cares about health promotion, positive role
model, good attitude!
New Adult Liaison
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Mr. Ramirez
Had helped with Mt. View Motivator selection
Knows the district staff, community, and
student body very well.
30 years of experience in Lamont School
District as teacher and administrator.
Science teacher
ASP Lead teacher for Mt. View Middle
Already aware of all previous Motivator
activities, goals, challenges, and successes.
Begin with Team Building
Build a sense of professionalism in the
group, use meeting agendas to help stay
on task.
 Team needs to ‘gel’ well together
 Ice-breakers, team building exercises
 Work on group agreements
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S.A.S.H.
Stay Alive, Stay Healthy
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Maintain old name or forge new identity?
Voted in a new name for themselves:
‘S.A.S.H.’
Healthy snacks and taste testing in every
meeting
Embedded nutrition lessons in
everything we do; taste testing,
reviewing brochures, posters, cookbooks
Next step is to help them assess their
community
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Community Mapping
Ideal vs Real
Look at all of the communities;
Home, school, and the larger community
Lots of discussion- about nutrition and
opportunities for physical activity (or lack of)
What influences the choices we have and
make?
individual, family, community, policies, laws
What’s does the team want to work
on?
The team begins to set goals
 Explore their own view of their
community
 “Youth led” ideas
 Challenge- Too many ideas and
opportunities for projects, and not
enough time
 Vote on what should take priority
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Stay Alive, Stay Healthy Goals
Increase community awareness of
healthy living habits; benefits of eating
more fruits and vegetables, and benefits
of being active everyday.
 Peer education to lower grades.
 Community service projects.
 Promote healthy fundraising in the
school community.
 Physical activity promotion in school.
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Fund-raiser
Fruit on a Stick for $1.00
Free veggie cup
Adding a twist of lime and chili
powder!
Raised $150 (twice!)
SASH team voted to donate money to a
community service project “United Against Hunger”
 Used money from the second fund raiser
to purchase raffle prizes
(used as incentive for students to
participate in a food drive)
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“United Against Hunger”
A Student Run Food Pantry
Project idea from the Cesar Chavez
Service Learning Foundation leader
 Idea discussed at the youth meeting
 Everyone wanted to help!
 SASH named the project:
“United Against Hunger”
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“Unidos Contra el Hambre”
“United Against Hunger”
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Many partners came together to help with
weekly project that will run from October 2008
through May 2009
Space- local church
Volunteers- many other community youth
groups
Food –local food bank CAPK
Funding- fundraising, food drive
Lets add nutrition education and a cooking
demonstration – partnered with
Kern Co. Department of Public Health
“Stuff the Bus” Food Drive
Partnered with KERO TV, TV Azteca,
Boys Scouts, CAPK Food Bank, KRAB
Radio, and other partners
>11,000 lbs of food, and $3,300 were
collected
 We collected over 2000 lbs food for the
food bank!
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Other projects planned
School wide ‘track and field’ day
 Nutrition education activities
 Create short video to take to lower
grades and do a fun, short nutrition/PA
lesson
 Give teachers additional
lessons/activities to do with the class,
(Harvest of the Month or MyPyramid)
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Successes and Outcomes
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Public speaking experience
 Experience with planning and conducting
presentations to the Lamont School District Board and
other agencies in the South Valley Neighborhood
Partnership
 The opportunity to produce a video promoting the food
drive which was viewed by all of the LSD students
 Sense of accomplishment and connection with the
community
 One of our Team members received the Young
Champion for Change Award
Media Exposure
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TV coverage of the opening day of the pantry
MAS! Magazine article
Cesar E Chavez Service Learning Newsletter
Lamont Reporter Article
TV coverage of the “Stuff the Bus” food drive
in Bakersfield
Meeting with Senator Dean Flores’ Staff at the
Capitol and received beautiful certificates
Stay Alive, Stay Healthy
Resources
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ExCel After School Programs
How to Start a Student-Run Food Pantry At
your School: A Resource Guide created by
AmeriCorpsVista Volunteers
SFUSD
California Project Lean @
www.CaliforniaProjectLean.org
Jump Start Teens
Resources cont.
Youth in Focus Curriculum
Handouts given out at the food bank are:
Discover the Secret to Healthy Living
How many cups of Fruits and Vegetables do I need?
Guide to Physical Activity
Loving Your Family, Feeding Their Future,
A Guide to a Healthy Family
All available in English/Spanish
(California Department of Public Health, Network for a Healthy
California)
(MyPyramid, USDA)
Thank You!
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Contact Information
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Yolanda Ramirez PHN, MSN
Lamont School District ,
Nutrition Program Coordinator
661-845-2724
[email protected]
Manuel Ramirez
Mt View Middle School
661-845-2291
[email protected]
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This material was funded by
USDA’s Food Stamp
Program through the
California Department of
Public Health’s Network for a
Healthy California. These
institutions are equal
opportunity providers and
employers. The Food Stamp
Program provides nutrition
assistance to people with low
income. It can help buy
nutritious foods for a better
diet. For information on the
Food Stamp Program, call 1888-328-3483.