ReCharge! Training Center | Train-the-Trainer Tools | Model Outreach Programs: Four Outreach Strategies for Involving Parents and the Community


		One of 11 elementary schools in the Blount County School System, based in Maryville, Tennessee, Middlesettlements Elementary is located in the town of Louisville. It has approximately 100 students enrolled in an existing after-school program. Middlesettlements viewed inviting and encouraging parent and community involvement as among their primary challenges in instituting ReCharge! The Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team developed several modest yet innovative and workable solutions for the school, including the following: 1. "Right Up Front": Community Involvement in Training To involve community figures "from the get-go," the Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team made community figures part of the regular pre-launch training sessions of after-school program personnel in the ReCharge! curriculum. During the training sessions, dietitians from the Blount County Health Department; guest speakers from the local Dairy Council; and representatives of the Wellness Council of Blount County's Parks and Recreation Department (physical education and sports specialists) were invited in to talk to the regular after-school personnel. Using the ReCharge! materials, the Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team carefully briefed these "distinguished experts" on the broad goals and imperatives of ReCharge!, and also on particular program elements relevant to their particular expertise. But principally the guest speakers were there to inform and inspire after-school staff on the importance of good nutrition and physical activity, and to lend community support and presence to the ReCharge! effort — as well as share their diverse perspectives on related topics like teamwork and goal-setting. The effort not only encouraged project buy-in on the part of these key community figures, but recognized their expertise and advice as well as making them active ReCharge! participants right from the beginning. Their presence also added validity to the program in the eyes of after-school instructors and students alike. Tip: The Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team reports that involving these "guest speakers" paid dividends down the line, as several invitees have indicated their eagerness to repeat their presentations and reprise their 2005-06 roles as invaluable "ReCharge! training contributors." 2. "Food Fair" Presence: Again, Inviting the Community In Middlesettlements' "Food Fair" was another successful attempt to encourage community involvement in ReCharge! This event, specifically created as an element of ReCharge!, was designed to expand the vital messages of the program beyond simply the after-school population. Relevant community groups such as the local/municipal child- and adult-recreation and sports associations were invited to set up booths at an informational outdoor fair held on school grounds. They talked to students, parents and visitors about nutrition topics, physical-activity and sports opportunities nearby; answered questions; and distributed educational literature. Also distributed was information on Healthy Snacks, part of the take-home materials provided as an element of ReCharge! Tip: On-premises "Food Fairs" and similar gatherings are a productive way for community groups to connect with students, school staff and parents; to learn about ReCharge! — and to share valuable information of their own. 3. Making a Special Event for Parents Even More Special Middlesettlements' spring "Salad Days" was an evening event in which ReCharge! students prepared a healthful, festive dinner-time meal for parents, held at school. In this case, however, students prepared salads using home-grown vegetables and greens from the school's own on-premises "Nature Garden." Special efforts were made to work-in other food-groups, and Middlesettlements' "Salad Days" menu included whole-grain pasta salads, fruit salads and other wholesome entrées — as well as dairy-based beverages. For several years, the Tennessee Farm Bureau funded a school-based garden as part of the school's elementary earth-sciences curriculum. But making a health-based meal-event for parents a part of the equation was the Tennessee Team's clever way of tying-in ReCharge! to a pre-existing, and clearly related, initiative. Vegetables such as lettuce, Swiss chard and tomatoes were harvested and washed by students, and used as the basis for nutritious entrées and side-dishes. The evening of this event, volunteer parents took part in meal preparation alongside students. In addition to providing a meal that was especially meaningful and extra-fresh, the event offered the additional advantage of connecting ReCharge! activities to the school's elementary plant-biology curriculum, via the Nature Garden. Tip: A mealtime event involving vegetable gardens goes a long way toward familiarizing students with principles of freshness, cultivation, harvesting, and proper meal preparation and storage. 4. A Tailored Reference Library Just for Parents (and Kids) To address the reality that many parents know little more about the imperatives of good nutrition and physical activity than their elementary-age children, volunteers from the Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team created a special section of the school library just for parents. The "Nutrition Cart," as it was known, was just that — a rolling reference library devoted to convenient parent checkout of books and literature focusing on proper nutrition, balanced diets, becoming physically fit and identifying warning signs of weight problems. Parents were directed to the Nutrition Cart — which was created specifically as a ReCharge!-related tool for parents — via notices sent home with students. The cart was stored in the library but was easily moved around the school, and parents were encouraged to patronize it during school visits and at after-school pickup time. See below for a list of what the cart featured. Tip: The portability of the Nutrition Cart is important — making it easily movable to where parent might be congregating and increasing the likelihood the parents will actually use it. Contact Information Mary Wilson Point Person for ReCharge! Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids 865-680-2239 wilsonw89@cs.com THE NUTRITION CART MyPyramid Model, Food Models, Books and Cookbooks Snacking Habits for Healthy Living American Dietetic Association's Complete Food and Nutrition Guide Overcoming Childhood Obesity Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids 365 Foods Kids Love to Eat Guide to Healthy Restaurant Eating Nutrition for Life Eating on the Run 365 Activities for Fitness, Food, and Fun for the Whole Family The Family Fitness Fun Book Healthy Snacks for Kids Snacktivities The Kid's Cookbook-Williams-Sonoma Cooking Rocks: Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals for Kids Games Food Pyramid Bingo 5-A-Day Bingo Fruit & Vegetable Race Board Game Literature for Kids "Integrating Nutrition through Literature" Series — books about each food group for children K-5. You can prepare foods to accompany the reading. Fictional/fun reading involving cooking and nutrition: Cooking with the Cat (in the Hat) The Popcorn Book The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners Cook-A-Doodle-Doo If You Give a Moose a Muffin If You Give a Pig a Pancake Blueberries for Sal The Pumpkin Patch Oh My, Pumpkin Pie Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pies

One of 11 elementary schools in the Blount County School System, based in Maryville, Tennessee, Middlesettlements Elementary is located in the town of Louisville. It has approximately 100 students enrolled in an existing after-school program.

Middlesettlements viewed inviting and encouraging parent and community involvement as among their primary challenges in instituting ReCharge!

The Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team developed several modest yet innovative and workable solutions for the school, including the following:

1. "Right Up Front": Community Involvement in Training

To involve community figures "from the get-go," the Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team made community figures part of the regular pre-launch training sessions of after-school program personnel in the ReCharge! curriculum.

During the training sessions, dietitians from the Blount County Health Department; guest speakers from the local Dairy Council; and representatives of the Wellness Council of Blount County's Parks and Recreation Department (physical education and sports specialists) were invited in to talk to the regular after-school personnel.

Using the ReCharge! materials, the Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team carefully briefed these "distinguished experts" on the broad goals and imperatives of ReCharge!, and also on particular program elements relevant to their particular expertise. But principally the guest speakers were there to inform and inspire after-school staff on the importance of good nutrition and physical activity, and to lend community support and presence to the ReCharge! effort — as well as share their diverse perspectives on related topics like teamwork and goal-setting.

The effort not only encouraged project buy-in on the part of these key community figures, but recognized their expertise and advice as well as making them active ReCharge! participants right from the beginning. Their presence also added validity to the program in the eyes of after-school instructors and students alike.

Tip: The Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team reports that involving these "guest speakers" paid dividends down the line, as several invitees have indicated their eagerness to repeat their presentations and reprise their 2005-06 roles as invaluable "ReCharge! training contributors."

2. "Food Fair" Presence: Again, Inviting the Community In

Middlesettlements' "Food Fair" was another successful attempt to encourage community involvement in ReCharge! This event, specifically created as an element of ReCharge!, was designed to expand the vital messages of the program beyond simply the after-school population.

Relevant community groups such as the local/municipal child- and adult-recreation and sports associations were invited to set up booths at an informational outdoor fair held on school grounds. They talked to students, parents and visitors about nutrition topics, physical-activity and sports opportunities nearby; answered questions; and distributed educational literature. Also distributed was information on Healthy Snacks, part of the take-home materials provided as an element of ReCharge!

Tip: On-premises "Food Fairs" and similar gatherings are a productive way for community groups to connect with students, school staff and parents; to learn about ReCharge! — and to share valuable information of their own.

3. Making a Special Event for Parents Even More Special

Middlesettlements' spring "Salad Days" was an evening event in which ReCharge! students prepared a healthful, festive dinner-time meal for parents, held at school. In this case, however, students prepared salads using home-grown vegetables and greens from the school's own on-premises "Nature Garden." Special efforts were made to work-in other food-groups, and Middlesettlements' "Salad Days" menu included whole-grain pasta salads, fruit salads and other wholesome entrées — as well as dairy-based beverages.

For several years, the Tennessee Farm Bureau funded a school-based garden as part of the school's elementary earth-sciences curriculum. But making a health-based meal-event for parents a part of the equation was the Tennessee Team's clever way of tying-in ReCharge! to a pre-existing, and clearly related, initiative. Vegetables such as lettuce, Swiss chard and tomatoes were harvested and washed by students, and used as the basis for nutritious entrées and side-dishes. The evening of this event, volunteer parents took part in meal preparation alongside students.

In addition to providing a meal that was especially meaningful and extra-fresh, the event offered the additional advantage of connecting ReCharge! activities to the school's elementary plant-biology curriculum, via the Nature Garden.

Tip: A mealtime event involving vegetable gardens goes a long way toward familiarizing students with principles of freshness, cultivation, harvesting, and proper meal preparation and storage.

4. A Tailored Reference Library Just for Parents (and Kids)

To address the reality that many parents know little more about the imperatives of good nutrition and physical activity than their elementary-age children, volunteers from the Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids Team created a special section of the school library just for parents. The "Nutrition Cart," as it was known, was just that — a rolling reference library devoted to convenient parent checkout of books and literature focusing on proper nutrition, balanced diets, becoming physically fit and identifying warning signs of weight problems.

Parents were directed to the Nutrition Cart — which was created specifically as a ReCharge!-related tool for parents — via notices sent home with students. The cart was stored in the library but was easily moved around the school, and parents were encouraged to patronize it during school visits and at after-school pickup time. See below for a list of what the cart featured.

Tip: The portability of the Nutrition Cart is important — making it easily movable to where parent might be congregating and increasing the likelihood the parents will actually use it.

Contact Information

Mary Wilson
Point Person for ReCharge!
Tennessee Action for Healthy Kids
865-680-2239
wilsonw89@cs.com

THE NUTRITION CART

MyPyramid Model, Food Models, Books and Cookbooks

Snacking Habits for Healthy Living
American Dietetic Association's Complete Food and Nutrition Guide
Overcoming Childhood Obesity
Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids
365 Foods Kids Love to Eat
Guide to Healthy Restaurant Eating
Nutrition for Life
Eating on the Run
365 Activities for Fitness, Food, and Fun for the Whole Family
The Family Fitness Fun Book
Healthy Snacks for Kids
Snacktivities
The Kid's Cookbook-Williams-Sonoma
Cooking Rocks: Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals for Kids

Games

Food Pyramid Bingo
5-A-Day Bingo
Fruit & Vegetable Race Board Game

Literature for Kids

"Integrating Nutrition through Literature" Series — books about each food group for children K-5. You can prepare foods to accompany the reading.

Fictional/fun reading involving cooking and nutrition:

Cooking with the Cat (in the Hat)
The Popcorn Book
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food
The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners
Cook-A-Doodle-Doo
If You Give a Moose a Muffin
If You Give a Pig a Pancake
Blueberries for Sal
The Pumpkin Patch
Oh My, Pumpkin Pie
Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pies