Transparency, Recognition and the role of eSealing - Ildiko Mazar and Koen No...
Fitness at nbjh3
1. Better Health and Fitness
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Continuing Today
A RECAP of How We’ve Made Health
and Fitness a
Top Priority at Northbrook Junior High
Over the Past Several Years
2. The Fitness of our Youth
59% of Americans overweight or obese
Sedentary Death Syndrome (SeDS)
Heart Disease number one killer of
Americans
Type II diabetes and high blood pressure
increase in children and teens
Physical activity declines dramatically during
adolescence
Youths of today need to understand why
staying fit is important for their future overall
health
12/05/14 10:08 PM
3. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
NBJH’s Progress
1. In the area of nutrition
2. In the area of health and wellness
3. In the area of fitness
a. Skill-related fitness
b. Health-related fitness
4. Curricular updates
5. Sound plan for change
4. Food and Nutrition at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Cafeteria overhaul
Healthy Eating class for
all 6th graders
Weight management
and body image unit for
all 7th graders
Healthier offerings
around school
Carol Wagner doing
nutrition lectures
district-wide
Healthy Living Club
5. Food and Nutrition at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Cafeteria overhaul
Healthy Eating class for
all 6th graders
Weight management
and body image unit for
all 7th graders
Healthier offerings
around school
Carol Wagner doing
nutrition lectures
district-wide
Healthy Living Club
6. Food and Nutrition at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Cafeteria overhaul
Healthy Eating class for
all 6th graders
Weight management
and body image unit for
all 7th graders
Healthier offerings
around school
Carol Wagner doing
nutrition lectures
district-wide
Healthy Living Club
7. Food and Nutrition at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Cafeteria overhaul
Healthy Eating class for
all 6th graders
Weight management
and body image unit for
all 7th graders
Healthier offerings
around school
Carol Wagner doing
nutrition lectures
district-wide
Healthy Living Club
8. Food and Nutrition at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Cafeteria overhaul
Healthy Eating class for
all 6th graders
Weight management
and body image unit for
all 7th graders
Healthier offerings
around school
Carol Wagner doing
nutrition lectures
district-wide
Healthy Living Club
9. Food and Nutrition at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Cafeteria overhaul
Healthy Eating class for
all 6th graders
Weight management
and body image unit for
all 7th graders
Healthier offerings
around school
Carol Wagner doing
nutrition lectures
district-wide
Healthy Living Club
10. Food and Nutrition at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Cafeteria overhaul
Healthy Eating class for
all 6th graders
Weight management
and body image unit for
all 7th graders
Healthier offerings
around school
Carol Wagner doing
nutrition lectures
district-wide leading to
Healthy Living Club
11. 2. Health and Wellness at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
We now meet or
exceed all state
standards for health
education
We are helping our
students to achieve
health literacy
Students gain
knowledge, skills and
practices that are
health-enhancing
Students set individual
health goals each year
12. 2. Health and Wellness at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
We now meet or
exceed all state
standards for health
education
We are helping our
students to achieve
health literacy
Students gain
knowledge, skills and
practices that are
health-enhancing
Students set individual
health goals each year
13. Physical Education at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Outstanding job with
skill-related fitness
Many sports units
Most students enjoy
P.E. class
Many excel in sports
GBN has noted high
skill levels
Builds confidence in
a percentage
students
14. Physical Education at NBJH
Health-related fitness is also taught
Muscular strength and muscular endurance
Cardio-respiratory fitness
Target heart rate
Flexibility
How to safely and effectively use fitness equipment
Focused on improving body composition
Outcomes are more health-related and less
performance-related
More individualized to meet students’ all students’
needs
Easing the philosophy shift from Elementary to Jr.
High
12/05/14 10:08 PM
15. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
Plenty of Challenges
Lack of usable space
Up to 100 students at a
time- 130 on full fitness
days for health class
Extra NSSED students
and staff
During inclement
weather (about 2/3 of the
school year)
Space and/or supervision
issues when one whole
class is upstairs in the
fitness room
Hallways are sometimes
used
16. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
More Challenges
Outdated equipment
Most fitness equipment
over 14 years old
Not motivating to
students
Safety issues
Equipment not the right
size for kids
Some of our equipment
can no longer be fixed
hodge-podge of
equipment some
donated, some
purchased
17. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
More Challenges
Electrical issues
Ventilation issues
Not inviting to staff or
students
Storage not meeting our
needs
Some equipment not
secure like it should be
Some equipment not
suitable for heavy
usage
18. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
More Challenges
Technology issues
Lack technology to
obtain certain pieces of
fitness data
Lack technology to
analyze and store health
and fitness data
P.E. teachers have the
oldest computers in the
building
Students go from using
heart rate monitors and
computerized fitness
data collection system to
cardstock
Cannot properly assess
students efforts in a
quantitative way
19. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
Thinking of their Future
Students more likely to keep fit for the rest of
their lives using the kinds of equipment we
find in a health club
Students are more likely to work to stay fit if
they feel at home in a health club setting
Students will be more likely to keep moving if
they can see the results of their efforts
Students with injuries and/or disabilities are
better able to be active with proper equipment
Students are more likely to see working out
as a pleasure and a part of their every-day
routine if they can use equipment that they
find motivating
20. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
Our Proposal
We want you to make
health and fitness
a top priority in District 28
so we can have the tools we need to
properly teach our students to
make health and fitness a
top priority in their lives.
21. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
How Did We get Here?
Health Committee to research best practices
Rewrote our Physical Education and Health
curriculum in 2005 as an extension of the
elementary curriculum
Shows need for new fitness equipment to carry
out our goals
Shows need for new technology to carry out our
goals
Wrote a 74-page federal PEP grant last year
22. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
The Federal PEP Grant
P.E. and Health Departments worked
together along with Carol Wagner, Joe
Mazza, Kathy Horvath, Russ Jensen and
others
Contacted fitness experts in the area planning
on making their fitness expertise available
Spent countless hours researching and
writing this grant
23. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
The Federal PEP Grant
Made a case for our need
Created a plan to address gaps and
weaknesses
Formulated a detailed budget to meet our
needs over the next 3 years
Ultimately our grant application was not
chosen
54 out of 1,069 across the country were selected
Only 5 from Illinois- most community centers
24. Some of our PEP Grant Project
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Objectives
•In crease the amount of time students spend involved in
physical fitness activity (with the goal of 225+ minutes per
week in mind)
•Create a first-class equipment-filled work-out space (the
fitness room) for students to use during PE/HF class time,
as well as before and after school
•Better enable teachers to educate their students on the
principles of training (FITT principals)
•Provide ample developmentally appropriate pieces of
fitness equipment for students to engage in moderate to
vigorous physical activity and practice the FITT principles
25. Some of our PEP Grant Project
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Objectives
•P rovide technology tools for teachers and students to use
to collect, keep, analyze and report valid fitness data
•Enable students to view and analyze their fitness data to
assess individual fitness levels
•Students will set goals based on fitness profiles and
develop and monitor individual improvement plans.
•Update teachers on the latest research and current best-practices
in physical fitness education
•Improve instruction of physical fitness practices in PE/HF
classes and enable NBJH to meet ALL Illinois State
Standards for PE and Health
26. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
The Federal PEP Grant
Judges comment: “…did not build a solid
case for the magnitude of our problem.”
Competition was fierce and many populations
are much worse off then ours
This is the only substantial grant of its kind
PEP grant not being offered for 2007
Wait until 2008?
If we tried again, chance would still be slim
that we would be chosen
27. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
Why Now?
We can’t afford to wait years for our dreams
of a quality fitness facility to become a reality
A quality P.E. and Health curriculum
demands it
Health and fitness is on the hearts and minds
of all Americans -> community support
The part of our building that we’re talking a
about is being renovated soon anyway
We currently have the plan to put in place to
create an fabulous program with an amazing
facility
28. 12/05/14 10:08 PM
PE4Life
PE4Life Video Clip from The News Hour with Jim Lehrer,
29. We need your to help
us make this happen.
12/05/14 10:08 PM
32. An Idea of What Could Be at NBJH
12/05/14 10:08 PM
33. “We don’t stop playing
because we grow old. We
grow old because we stop
12/05/14 10:08 PM
playing.”
Ben Franklin
34. “Provide a teaching learning
and caring environment where
all children benefit from a
commitment to excellence.”
School District 28 Mission Statement
12/05/14 10:08 PM
Editor's Notes
Make and bring 30 copies of this presentation (slide style)
Make and bring 30 copies of our grant, hand write the changes for the budget so the CC understand that we are asking for the ford version - Dale has done
Thank you for the opportunity to present to you today. We hear that you are an influential group in the District 28 community
First and foremost, we want you to know that we care deeply about improving the health and fitness of our District 28 students and staff.
-The information we’ll share in this proposal represents years of research , hard work, communication, and planning.
We hope you understand that the requests that we are making today are not on a whim, and are not simply on behalf of Dale and myself
-In regards to fitness education at Northbrook Junior High and our fitness facilities, we hope to provide you with a sound rational for change, a brief synopsis of how far we’ve come, and an explanation of the direction we’d like to take.
There are many staggering statistics out there when it comes to our nations current state of fitness.
-According to the Center for Disease Control, well over half of Americans are overweight or obese.
-People are at much greater risk of dying from heart disease, the number one cause of death in this country, if their weight is higher than it should be.
-Health experts across the nation have expressed concern for the raging epidemic of obesity among children and adolescents. Some researches believe that for the first time in American history, the children that are currently in the school system will have a shorter lifespan than their parents. Some have named this killer as Sedentary Death Syndrome.
-Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, once considered adult-onset diseases, have increased dramatically in children and teens.
Many teens are busy with video games and the internet, and are therefore less active than the adolescents of our era. And research shows that people tend to get less active as they age … we all know how the schedules and pressures of life can tend to get in the way of an active lifestyle.
-In order for our students to stay fit into adulthood, it is vital to have a physical fitness program that can be individualized for each child. When kids feel successful at an early age, it will make them stay with a fitness regimen for years to come.
We’d like to begin with referencing how far Northbrook Junior High has come in these areas. (point to screen)
-We take great pride in the fact that over the last 5 years, we’ve made positive strides in our cafeteria, in our curriculum, and in the overall focus on health and fitness in our school.
.
-There have been sweeping changes in our lunchtime cafeteria offerings at NBJH over the last few years.
4 years ago, when we had our first 8th grade Health and Wellness fair, I asked our food service provider if we could simply NOT sell French fries and soda for just that one day. Their answer was no. We’ve certainly come a long way!
Since 2004, a nutritional task force has met to plan and enforce continuous health improvements to the cafeteria menu, ensuring a healthy balance of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and quality fats for all hot lunches.
Also, we’ve eliminated the less-nutritious ala carte items to limit student opportunity for poor nutritional choices.
-We’ve removed the deep fat fryers from the cafeteria kitchen and replaced them with commercial grade steamers.
-We’ve made sure that all ingredients and entrees served in the NBJH cafeteria are free from hydrogenated oils and or artificial food colorings
-We’ve replaced vending machines offerings of soda and sugar/dye-based drinks with water and 100% juice offerings.
-We’ve coordinated efforts from community resources and wellness experts to bring good things to our cafeteria, such as Tallgrass Beef and special meals prepared by the Prairie Grass Café.
If you were to check out our cafeteria during lunch periods, you would even notice
many more adults from the school and the district office frequenting the cafeteria.
-The students response to these cafeteria changes have been increasingly favorable. Perhaps that is due in part to the success of the Healthy Eating class which is required for all 6th graders
In healthy eating students learn how to make good food choices and how these choices help maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Topics covered include; the role of nutrients, serving size and correct food proportions, developing food choices, reading nutrition labels, the food guide pyramid, personal eating practices, and cooking healthy. Activities help enhance and expand student knowledge of these concepts.
-For example, students have a chance to develop a menu suggestion for the school cafeteria using the information taught in class.
-The goal of the class is to enhance a student’s overall health awareness and connecting that information to their everyday lives.
As a compliment to the healthy eating class, all 7th graders have a two-week unit on weight management and body image when they take my class.
In this unit, students learn about the health risks associated with obesity, along with the health risks associated with eating disorders and steroid use. We discuss the dangers of fad diets and ways to safely and effectively manage ones weight. I try to keep the focus on self-acceptance and good health.
This compliments the 7th grade science unit about digestion and nutrition. In this unit kids keep a food journal for a week and analyze their diet in comparison to the recommended daily allowances for their age and activity level.
Progress has been made in other areas of the school.
-Student Council sells healthy concessions to make money for their charity of choice.
-The donut days are fading away. More staff members are bringing in fruit and low-fat muffins for celebration treats.
-A healthier fare is being offered at after school parties and dances
-There just seems to be all-school awareness of the need to eat more healthy
-As you know, Carol Wagner has inserviced the whole district now on healthier food choices.
-As a result of a suggestion from the elementary school teachers, Carol is going to be leading a healthy living club where teachers will continue their discussion on nutrition.
-The Health Committee that was formed in 2002 met for two full school years. This committee was comprised of teachers, administrators, parents, outside experts and one board member. Our charge was to figure out where our gaps and weaknesses were in the area of health education. We researched best practices, looked at curriculum and made recommendations for change.
-We wanted to make sure that our school was able to satisfy state standards and new state mandates in health education.
-One of the things we soon realized is that there was a need for a health class and the Quest for for Health, Wellness and Fitness Class was born.
-I feel privileged to teach this class and I have done so for the 3 years that it has been in existence.
-This one-quarter course is designed to help all of our students achieve health literacy. Please feel free to look at the curriculum on one of your hand-outs. (hold up)
-Every student is removed from PE to get their one quarter of Quest for Health Wellness and Fitness each year. If you look, you’ll note that there is a spiraling curriculum that covers a wide-range of topics. Many of which we were not being covering at NBJH before.
-You’ll also note the word, “fitness” is right there in the title of the class. To keep students active and to enhance fitness education, we have what I call full-fitness days twice per week. Most of the time, the fitness room is our work-out domain. This class also helps to alleviate a class-size issue and overcrowding issues that once were big problems back when all students were distributed among only 4 PE teachers at a time.
-We are proud to say we are now meeting or exceeding ALL of the state standards and mandates for health education.
-When it comes to physical education, we schedule various sports units throughout the course of the year, including volleyball, basketball, soccer, flag football, badminton, softball, track and field, gymnastics and dance.
-Other PE skill-related activities include, pickle ball, eclipse ball, newcomb, juggling, and many lead-up games.
-Most kids seem to enjoy phys ed at NBJH, especially those who are athletically inclined.
-Our sports units are not just for fun and games. They help us to teach important fitness aspects such as agility, balance, hand-eye coordination, power, reaction time, and speed.
-GBN reports that students from district 28 arrive to the high school performing at a skill level that allows them to have immediate success in sports competition.
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-We feel that health-related fitness is equally important to teach. Students who are not in sports can still have an active, healthy lifestyle with the skills they learn in our classes. This type of fitness focuses more on exercise that gets the whole body into better condition so that it can perform optimally.
-Health-related fitness can last a lifetime for all students- even after sports activities might get to be too strenuous or demanding.
-Once health-related fitness is established, people can perform activities without the restraints of meeting with a team or finding an open field, gymnasium or court.
-The elementary schools have focused more on health-related fitness for years, and in the past NBJH has focused much more on skill related fitness. However, over the past two summers, we have worked to unify our curriculum, instruction and assessment K-8.
Teaching fitness for health in our junior high does have its challenges.
At any given period during a school day, 130 students can be fighting for space to practice their skills. We have one large gym, one small gym and a small fitness room. Depending on the activity and the grade level, it can get really tight in each of those spaces very quickly.
-This is a shot of my 24-member 6th grade class working out in our current fitness room. As you can imagine, open square footage reduces significantly when my 29-member 8th grade class is in here. On full-fitness days when all 4 PE classes are packing the gyms downstairs, we are relegated to the fitness room. If I try to pack them all in one space- with the limited equipment, it is somewhat of a zoo. If I try to utilize the health room next-door for yoga or aerobics, then supervision becomes a challenge. I have to constantly come up with new ideas for what do do with kids who don’t have equipment to use.
Our NSSED students and staff need space to for their fitness education too. This can add an extra 5-8 bodies to the mix during any given period of the day.
Of course when the weather is lovely, we prefer to take our kids outside for fitness. But I don’t need to remind you that we live in Illinois, where unfortunately, less than 1/3 of our days are suitable for outside PE.
Sometimes you’ll see the PE teachers even have to use the hallways for usable fitness space.
I suppose we are very lucky to have some fitness equipment.
Our Universal weight machine is almost 15 years-old. Most stations still work, but this machine is really showing its wear. The look of it may be less than inviting, but the fact that it isn’t near as safe as modern weight machines is what concerns us the most.
This strength equipment was built solely for adults. Our cardiovascular machines, like our treadmills, steppers and bicycles were too. Not only do we not have enough equipment, but the hodge-podge of items we have are often in need of repair. Some items take up a lot more space then they need to, and they aren’t motivating to kids.
Technological advances have been made that could make our fitness room much more functional and inviting to students And staff.
We have some environmental problems in this space as well. If all three treadmills are in use at a time, it is likely that the electrical circuit will short out. In which case, the breaker switch needs to be flipped back on and all kids have to start over with their programs.
When it comes to ventilation, one window air conditioner is about all we have going for us to regulate the temperature and airflow.
The floor is dingy and dated, the storage is not meeting our needs and most of the equipment is simply not suitable for heavy usage. For instance. These Dance pads are the cheaper kind so they only last about 3 months. After that, they start to shrivel up from the inside and then they are useless. You see here a TV and gaming system is not in use because the computer game was stolen. A smartly designed fitness room will have built in secure storage for hot items like that.
-When it comes to assessing kids’ efforts by means of measuring their heart rate, we as teachers have no accurate way to gather this data. Heart rate monitors can take care of this problem. This illuminates a gap because they ARE using heart rate monitors at the elementary schools.
-There is some wonderful, easy-to-use technology out there that can measure kids’ heart rates, gather other types of fitness data, analyze it all and store it for future comparison and sharing. At present, we are relying on the students to write down their fitness test data on pieces of paper. Students can look at the number of sit-ups they’ve done in one minute or the speed at which they’ve run a mile, but what does this mean to them? What does this quantitative data show them about their individual fitness levels?
We are thinking of their future. We don’t just want teach our kids enough about fitness to prepare them for high school. We want them to learn and practice skills that will be more likely to keep them motivated and fit for a lifetime!
Since we all know a small percentage of our students will go on to play competitive sports after high school, we’d like to train them to enjoy working out and make fitness a way of life.
We want them to know how to use tools to improve and assess their fitness.
Even students with injuries or disabilities can practice improve and maintain their fitness with the right equipment.
Everyone in the school community, staff included can view fitness training as a pleasure if they have the proper tools to use and an inviting and accessible environment to work out in.
Here is what we are asking for:
We want the core council to make health and fitness a top priority in District 28 so we can have the tools we need to properly teach our students to make health and fitness a top priority in their lives.
What is more important than lifelong health?
To recap, we’ve made many changes in our school already. All of which have been based on solid research and looking at best practices.
Our PE/fitness curriculum has been written and carefully aligned with the state standards. It has a nicer flow from the Blue Ribbon winning elementary PE program than it used to and contains many items that warrant a need for new fitness-related tools. Tools that we currently do not have.
Last year we wrote a 74-page federal grant proposal in an effort to obtain these tools.
-The PE teachers and I worked closely with Carol Wagner, Joe Mazza, Kathy Horvath, Russ Jensen and other for about 3 months to write this grant.
We spent countless hours researching, discussing, planning, writing, rewriting and rewriting. We were very proud of our finished product.
-We made a case for our need for federal grant monies that addressed NBJH’s gaps and weaknesses
-We formulated a detailed budget that would have met our needs. The administration and the board was behind us. If our proposal would have been chosen, our district was willing to contribute approximately $20,000 to the cause, as per the rules of the grant.
-Sadly our grant application was not chosen. Out of over 1,000 applicants, the five organizations in the state of Illinois were chosen included only one school district. A high school district.
Our objectives were clear. Since we some data we took showed that 70% of our students are at risk for not meeting the National Association of Sport and Physical Education’s recommendations for getting 225 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, we wanted to increase the time that students had access to fitness equipment.
We wanted to create a first-class equipment-filled work out space to be used before, during and after school
We wanted to better enable our teachers to teach the FITT principles of training. FITT stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type
We wanted to provide developmentally appropriate equipment.
-We wanted technology tools for everyone to use to collect, keep, analyze and report fitness data. We dreamed of being able to conference with students about their fitness data so that they could set fitness improvement goals based on their personalized profiles.
-We wanted to update teachers on the latest research and current best practices in physical education and improve the instruction of physical fitness practices in our PE and Health classes.
We knew that if we could achieve these objectives, we would have a fitness program at Northbrook Junior High that would be a model for all schools in the area.
But, the competition was fiercer than ever and we were shot down. One of the judges commented that we “did not build a solid case for the magnitude of our problem.”
However, we take solace in the fact that we don’t have a big problem. Most of our students are not obese, or health illiterate. We’re not a school that has nothing and needs something. We are a school that has decent facilities, dedicated teachers, caring parents, and a supportive administration. We have something pretty special and we wanted to turn it into something amazing!
This is the only substantial grant of its kind, and they are not taking applications for 2007.
We could wait until 2008 and try again. However, the chances would probably still be slim that we’d ever get it.
-So why are we coming to you with this request now?
Well, if we waited just a few years, hundreds of kids would lose out on a prime opportunity to improve their fitness and become fitness enthusiasts for life.
-We don’t want to wait around until we do have a problem.
-We have our curriculum requirements in place, and we need certain tools to satisfy them now.
-Health and fitness is is in the media every day. We imagine that if you grant our request, you would have heartfelt support from the whole Northbrook community, as this could benefit most members.
-As Russ Jensen can probably elaborate more on, the part of the building that we’re talking about will be renovated soon anyway, so now seems like an opportune time to make a few physical changes to the facility.
-And, after putting all the work writing the grant proposal last year, we have a great plan that just needs to be set into motion.
Show clip.
We are excellent in so many areas in this district. We want to be a ___________ model for excellent fitness education as well.
This is just another example of what our facility could look like…
We could have enough equipment for at least a whole class of kids to be active at one time. Appropriate-sized bikes and treadmills. Durable and motivating DDR and game bike stations.
Specialized strength equipment that is easy and safe to use. Adaptive PE equipment for those who are injured or disabled.
We even have a sample layout that a parent, who happens to be a fitness room designer mocked up for us.
In closing, we’d like to share a famous quote from Ben Franklin:
We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.
We want to keep NBJH students and staff in the game here. The game of keeping fit for life.
We hope you commit to make health and fitness a top priority at NBJH. The benefit to our children may be greater than we could ever imagine!
Thank you for your time! Any questions?
