Game On! The Ultimate Wellness Challenge

Description

Wes Del Elementary and High Schools used Game On! The Ultimate Wellness Challenge to help students make better food choices and move more.

Impact

The Wes Del school corporation's Coordinated School Health Advisory Council began to meet monthly and used these meetings to identify school wellness problems and brainstorm solutions to solve the issues. Council members and grant team members consistently sought out Action for Healthy Kids resources to supplement their classroom activities to integrate nutrition education into the curriculum or to introduce "brain breaks" or physical activities during class time. In a taste test survey of 217 kindergarten through 5th grade students, 139 students had never tried veggie pizza until the day of the test. Surprisingly, 58 students had never tried fresh broccoli until the classroom taste tests of this vegetable. When students were asked their favorite raw vegetables they would like to have served in the cafeteria, carrots were the favorite vegetable with fresh broccoli coming in 2nd. The schools plan to continue offering after-school intramurals for elementary students; fresh fruits in middle school physical education classes; and the staff wellness program. Also, the health fairs that are offered three times a year will continue along with increased student and community involvement. High school business students will take over the dairy vending machine operations from the food service director to run as a for-profit venture to learn about business principles, accounting, supply & demand, marketing and nutrition promotions to fellow classmates. The walking clubs and end-of-the-year challenge events will also be offered again in 2009-10. Taste tests of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products will continue if external funding is secured through local foundation grants.