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Indian Valley High School – Mifflin County S.D.
Making Connections, and Making It Happen! 04/05
Indian Valley High School – Mifflin County S.D.
Making Connections, and Making It Happen! 04/05
Indian Valley Student Health Council members spruce up the school's fitness center
Talk about a can-do spirit. Indian Valley High School is perhaps one of the most enterprising schools in the state when it comes to efforts to create healthier environments with better nutrition and more opportunities for physical activity. The school has met with “no” time and again, yet continues to find creative solutions to get to “yes.”
Changes in health insurance privacy laws meant the Medical Careers Club at Indian Valley couldn’t continue to visit certain areas of hospitals, so the club focused efforts inside the school – performing a needs assessment that led to the development of a number of healthy environment initiatives.
Indian Valley High School Guidance Counselors Kristen Salvia (left) and Jane Foor (right) as the Food Pyramid Inspectors to quiz students on healthy eating
The school didn’t have enough money for fitness equipment it wanted, so it mobilized a Student School Health Council which is raising the money itself and hopes to fill the center with treadmills and elliptical machines by the end of the school year.
The school found that students were much less active in long winters that seem to never end in Pennsylvania, so it mapped out a walking trail inside the school building.
And Indian Valley was disappointed it was not one of the 100 schools that received a mini-grant from PANA last year (we wish we had enough money to give to every school!), yet it continued to work to make healthy changes and has transformed itself into a school that makes good nutrition and physical activity a priority. The school’s work is also an incredible example of how to build partnerships with the community.
“I am honestly seeing the beginnings of change,” says Indian Valley High School’s nurse, Linda Wilson, who is one of the leaders of the school’s initiatives. Indian Valley is located in Lewistown, PA, in the Mifflin County School District. “Often times to make a goal reachable we have to start small. We have to reach adults, as well. And if we help just one child, then it’s all worth it. I feel like we’re truly seeing some positive change through community organization. We’ve identified a problem and now we’re working to address it.”
Indian Valley High School Health Council members Ted Stake and Shannon Silks demonstrate that physical activity can be fun! Courtesy of The Lewistown Sentinel
Indian Valley kicked off its efforts to make healthy changes with that school needs assessment in 2004, and discovered that a lack of good nutrition and exercise were problem areas, but students also identified stress and the fear of failure as a top concern. “The kids told us that they’d rather not try things because the standards had been set so high and they were worried about failing people. They also told us the world has gotten so intense that they’ve forgotten how to laugh.”
In response the school partnered with the American Cancer Society to form a School Health Council, and with a grant from ACS brought in a motivational speaker (who is also a comedian) to speak to students and encourage them to change their attitudes and outlook. As a result, the School Health Council began to meet and found ways to help the building adopt healthier habits and attitudes. Unlike many School Health Councils that are comprised primarily of staff members, Indian Valley’s Council is comprised primarily of students. Linda credits student involvement as one of the keys to the Council’s success.
Indian Valley High School students Chelsea Britt, Kolby Stuck and Danielle Wray (left to right) at the school’s student store where healthy alternatives like yogurt and fresh fruit are replacing chips and sodas. Courtesy of The Lewistown Sentinel
The Council assembles bulletin board displays in the cafeteria about topics such as Body Mass Index and healthy eating. It also sponsored a contest on how to calculate BMI, asking students to drop their BMI results at the nurse’s office for a drawing for Subway gift certificates.
The Council mapped out an indoor walking trail in the school that takes walkers on a low or high intensity quarter-mile loop, and created posters about how to measure your heart rate before and after the walk. The building is open to walkers after school.
The Council also worked with the National Honor Society to offer healthier snacks in its after-school store, which has made the switch from chips and sodas to yogurts, fresh fruit, and low-sugar fruit juices.
The Council has provided fresh fruit and vegetable snacks for students, and helped organize the school’s Go for the Greens event, in which students were encouraged to report their teachers in the act of promoting good nutrition and healthy habits. The staff members who received the most reports won fruit baskets. Guidance department staffers dressed up like pieces of fruit and called themselves the FPI – Food Pyramid Investigators, handing out fruits and vegetables to students and quizzing them on healthy eating.
Council members also provided the manpower to clean and paint the school’s fitness center and are raising money for treadmills and elliptical machines.
The healthy initiatives have extended to the staff, which has formed an Adult Wellness Committee. “It began when we recognized how out of control healthcare costs have become,” said Director of Human Resources Lisa Lyles. “We saw this as a way to address the health of our employees – not by just putting a band-aid on it.”
Indian Valley High School students Ted Stake and Dayle Shehan prepare for the district’s Health Fair by testing out a bicycle that will be awarded to a fifth-grader. Courtesy of The Lewistown Sentinel
The Committee includes a cross-section of teachers, administrators, business and custodial staff. “They’re excited about being fit, and they like to influence and motivate other staff members to focus on wellness.” The Mifflin County School District has set up wellness centers in each of its buildings with information on nutrition and physical activity, and has members competing in wellness challenges with prizes such as a free health club membership donated by a local health club, as well as other prizes from local businesses.
“These issues really need to be addressed on the community level, with the help of students, parents, and members of the community,” says Lisa. “They say it takes a village to raise a child – well, it also takes a community for a child to be healthy.”
And Indian Valley is doing just that – bringing the community to the school for an all-day “Mifflin County School District Health Fair” April 21. The Health Fair is sponsored by the Wellness Committee and School Health Council, is open to all community members, and the district is bussing its fifth grade students to the school for the fair. At least 40 community groups such as the local YMCA and a local hospital will host booths at the fair, and award prizes such as free fitness memberships.
Last year the school also began an after school Fitness for Life Exercise and Nutrition Program, funded by the American Cancer Society. It partnered with Lewistown Hospital and its cardiac rehabilitation nurses, transforming the fitness program they were using for cardiac patients into one for students. The eight-week program was offered to overweight students whom Linda contacted privately over the phone.
Indian Valley High School students play Simon Says at an assembly to reduce stress. Courtesy of The Lewistown Sentinel
“At first there was a stigma, like it was the fat club,” she said. “But the changes these kids saw were incredible. At first they’d go behind closed doors and didn’t want anyone to watch them exercise, but within three weeks they were going outside and walking, and they were making amazing changes that just blew me away. When you see a child’s behavior and attitude change and they just brighten up and light up, it’s incredible. It was really a transforming experience.”
The eight-week program required a five-day-a- week commitment from students, who received fitness and nutritional counseling, and asked parents to be involved. Linda says the program was very successful and several students who were not involved have asked her if they could join the program which will be held again this spring.
“I have been a nurse for almost 20 years and I love kids,” says Linda. “When I see children come into my office with problems related to obesity and I know that with just some simple behavior changes they could turn their life around, it drives me to keep working on this.
“If we can help just one child, then it’s worth the effort. It is my hope and passion that I make a difference in someone’s life each day.”
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