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Running head: SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT

Signature Assignment

Katherine Osmon

Amanda Landingham

Arizona State University

PPE 310: Healthy Learning Communities

Professor Currier

November 30, 2017

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Introduction

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2017), regular

physical activity in childhood and adolescence is important for promoting lifelong health and

wellbeing and preventing various health conditions. Most classrooms have at least one impulsive

child and some classes have more than one. These impulsive children are frequently in trouble

and experience difficulty staying on task during instruction. Research has found that physical

activity in school has a positive influence on impulsive actions of students (Madsen et al., 2011).

Physical activity has two benefits schools should be interested in: childhood obesity intervention,

as well as, a calming effect on impulsive children. In response to the need for physical activity

and nutritional guidance in school, the Osland Elementary school Wellness Committee is being

established. This parent volunteer committee will produce a monthly wellness newsletter for

school staff and families, host a weekly physical activity (before or after school), and have an

annual Family Wellness Night to start each year focused on enhancing healthy lifestyle choices

for students and their families.

Literature Review

Physical Education, Activity and Youth Development in Education

In a research study by Madsen and Hicks and Thompson (2011) elementary school

students in California participated in a schoolbased program called Playworks. Playworks is a

program that strives to promote positive youth development through physical activity. Playworks

is a national 501(c)3 nonprofit respected for our evidence-informed services and strategic

approach to scale. Their direct initiative is to help schools and youth programs create recess and

play environments where every child can join in. In return, they believe that all kids should

experience the social, emotional, and physical benefits of play. In summary, the study explored
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trends in physical activity among low-income students, and determined the impact of a school-

based youth development program on these trends. The study used an experiment designed to

extract data from 158 low-income schools from 2001 to 2007. Ninety-four schools had exposure

to a school-based program promoting physical activity and youth development through

structured play; 64 schools served as controls. The study concluded that, school partnerships with

youth physical activity development programs may ameliorate declines in emotional well-being

and increase overall physical activity in students (Madsen et al., 2011). Results from the study

also reflected that there are health and immediate risks for children in low income areas and there

seems to be a greater need for more positive physical programming to lessen these risk factors.

Madsen et al. (2011) goes on to state that physical activity has the added advantage of reducing

cardiovascular risk as well as obesity.

Physical activity has shown to improve such health risks, while also creating natural

opportunities for social interaction. In addition to heavy concerns for health risk, Madsens et al.

(2011) study discusses how there are poorer educational outcomes for children living in low

income areas. Since there is constantly more pressure put on students for testing, there is less

time for children to be physically active. Furthermore, Madsen claims that a possible explanation

for these negative effects results from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, forcing schools to

pay less attention to the need of physical education for children in underperforming schools.

Furthermore, elementary school districts reported decreasing time allotted for recess, physical

education, art, and music by nearly a third since NCLB was enacted (Madsen et al., 2011).

Schools today are cutting physical education programs or reducing the amount of time children

have for PE to increase childrens time spent in the classroom. There is more pressure placed on
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schools because of the need for to students pass standardized test to meet academic achievement

testing thresholds. This is a big reason for why cuts to PE have been made.

Translating School Health Research to Policy

Researchers have not just used standardized fitness test when measuring physical

activity, but they have also considered using the amount of minutes children spend in PE classes.

Researchers Snelling et al. (2015) were interested in understanding the relationship between the

amount of time spent in PE and math proficiency at the elementary school level. They conducted

their research by using data from 120 elementary schools that submitted the school health profile

(SHP). The SHP gives information on how many minutes schools set for physical and health

education, among other things stated by the Healthy Schools Act (HSA). They measured

academic achievement using a math standardized test and assessed the level of implementation

of the HSA by creating a composite score. The composite score was determined by how well the

school was implementing the policy. Researchers found that schools in the lowest composite

score generally had lower math achievement rates, while schools with the highest composite

scores had a higher average math proficiency rate. These findings demonstrate how PE,

specifically the amount of time spent in PE, may improve academic achievement (in math).

Furthermore, physical activity has demonstrated to have positive effects on childrens academic

achievement which is a reason for why PE classes should not be cut. By giving children the

opportunity to be physically active, not only does it improve their academic performance, but it

can improve their lives and their future (Snelling et al., 2015).

School-Based Health Promotion and Physical Activity During and After School Hours
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Researchers conducted the study to examine the change in physical activity during and

after school hours among students participating in a comprehensive school health intervention.

The school health intervention aimed to increase the physical activity and foster positive health

behaviors beyond the school environment in socioeconomically disadvantaged public schools.

The study began by placing a full-time school health facilitator in each school to develop and

implement the project and meet the unique needs of the schools students and community. There

were four primary objectives in intervention schools: improve healthy habits of students;

increase knowledge about healthy living for the community; apply and sustain comprehensive

school-based health promotion program in school communities; and to sustain capacity for

healthy environments in school communities (Vander Ploeg, Mcgavock, Maximova, &

Veugelers, 2014). Researchers used pedometer readings and activity logs for a full seven day

week across fifth grade students from both control and intervention schools to assess physical

activity level baselines and relative increases.

Researchers found that intervention schools had a 21.1% increase in physical activity

over the course of a single school year as compared to only a 6.7% increase in control schools

(Vander Ploeng et al., 2014). The study extended to consider the interaction of gender and weight

but found no significant statistically relevant outcomes. Additionally, the researchers found that

after three years of exposure to comprehensive school-based health promotion programs, student

physical activity level continued to increase and widening the gap in physical activity versus

control schools.

The study provides evidence of the effectiveness of comprehensive school-based health

promotion programs in leading to statistically significant and meaningful increases in the amount

of physical activity children achieved on weekends and after school hours (Vander Ploeng et al.,
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2014). This research justifies implementation of comprehensive school-based health promotion

interventions for improving physical activity and leading to long-term obesity prevention.

Healthy Living Initiative: Running/Walking Club

This study served to examine physical activity intervention through the implementation

of a running/walking club in an American Indian school and the insight gained through

participation of classroom teachers in physical activity. According to Stylianou, Kulinna, &

Kloppel (2014), there is scarce information regarding the physical activity of American Indian

children but it is identified that American Indian children have one of the highest obesity rates

among all U.S. ethnic groups. As a result of these facts, this study was generated to target the

physical activity of American Indian children going to school on their Reservation.

The researchers examined daily distances covered by students in the program throughout

the school year as measured by self-reporting and tracked by educators. Additionally, formal

semi-structured interviews with teachers were used to gain insight into their perspectives about

physical activity and how they incorporate it into their students school days.

Students involved in the before-school running/walking club intervention covered .6 to

1.0 miles per day during the club. The researchers findings indicate a significant increase in the

average daily distance students covered over time as well as grade level and gender differences.

This study proves that before-school running/walking clubs can significantly contribute to

students daily physical activity. Outcomes of interview data with teachers indicated that the

educators perceived themselves as positive role models for the students in running/walking clubs

and with their one participation positively impacting students participation (Stylianou et al.,

2014). Furthermore, researchers indicated the classrooms teachers potential to educate the whole
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child and improve students health and wellness, traditionally assumed to be the sole

responsibility of the Physical Education teacher (Stylianou et al., 2014).

This study recommends comprehensive school programs to improve physical activity

include components such as the before-school running/walking club that allow students to

participate in physical activity and have their teacher's role model healthy lifestyles alongside of

them. The researchers assert that, the emphasis on improving standardized test scores that

stemmed from NCLB has forced school districts around the United States to limit time and

resources allocated to Physical Education in favor of core academic subjects, thus diminishing

opportunities for participation in physical activity through the school day (Stylianou et al., 2014).

In order to counter this loss of physical education and combat the obesity epidemic within

minority populations, we must create programs to make school environments more active and

healthier, while involving multiple components, such as; high-quality physical education, before-

school and after-school health programs, classroom physical activity breaks, lunchtime activity,

and community events (Stylianou et al., 2014).

Synthesis of Information

After reviewing the literature, it is clear that physical education is positively correlated

with optimal growth and development in elementary school children. Physical activity yields

positive effects when it comes to students academic performance and yields crucial overall

health enhancements. Physical education classes provide an opportunity for students to be active

during their school day, while also promoting positive cognitive development. Physical

education fosters social interactions among peers and teaches fundamental skills, such as team
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building. Overall, all of the articles determined that physical activity is a primary determinant of

optimal growth and health in elementary school children.

A majority of the articles shared a common conclusion in that students who are physically

fit will achieve more academically and cognitively than students who are not physically fit.

Additionally, the studies provided evidence that students exposed to comprehensive school-based

health and wellness interventions improve their overall physical activity on both school days and

non-school days. Researchers presented compelling evidence as to the effective approach for the

promotion of physical health in youth by incorporating comprehensive wellness programs within

the school community, where children spend a significant amount of their time.

Two of the studies specially listed the No Child Left Behind Act as a significant

contributing factor to a shift to a more sedentary school environment that is focused on

standardized test scores and not the education of the whole child. As the researcher seek to find

comprehensive and effective interventions to improve physical activity in urban schools, they

also seek to tie in the undeniable data that directly ties academic achievement to overall physical

health of students.

Most of the researchers found that physical health, one health asset of many, does have an

affect on academic achievement as students who are healthier tend to do perform better on

standardized tests. Most of these studies above have specifically sought to find the relationship

between physical fitness/activity, academic achievement, and comprehensive school-based health

interventions at the elementary to middle school level in urban and low socioeconomic areas.

This research shows the importance of providing students with opportunities to be

physically active inside and outside of the classroom especially in minority and underprivileged
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communities that struggle both with health issues, such as obesity, and with academic

achievement.

Practical Implications

The Osland Elementary School Wellness Committee holds an annual Family Wellness

Night to start each year. At the Family Wellness Night, students and their families are able to

engage around wellness topics focused on choosing nutritious foods for breakfast, snacks, and

lunch; activity recommendations, including step count and minutes per day of various activities

broken down by age to include all family members in the recommendations; stress reduction

techniques; information about the weekly physical activity; and a guest appearance by Sami

Kadar of the local Sami Circuit school physical education program that our school participates in

annually. In addition, the Wellness Committee produces a monthly wellness newsletter for school

staff and students families. The newsletter targets relevant topics of discussion centered around

wellness both in the classroom and at home while also promoting the weekly physical activity

hosted by the committee and local family friendly events. The final component of the Wellness

Committee is the weekly before or after school physical activity. This activity is designed to

engage students of all ages and welcomes students families to join. Typically the activity will be

thirty minutes in length and consist of a warm up, twenty minutes of physical movement, and a

cool down stretch and relaxation period. The Osland Elementary School Wellness Committee is a

holistic approach to improving the overall health and engagement of our students, staff, and

communities.

Marketing

Marketing materials include a monthly newsletter, flyers for the Family Wellness Night,

communications about the weekly before or after school physical activity of the week, and a
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brochure on healthy nutrition for families. Reference Appendix A and Appendix B for the all

about nutrition monthly pamphlet that is distributed directly to families. This pamphlet includes

information on how to making healthy living a little bit easier and a lot more fun and nutrition

based facts and tips that are updated each month to improve parental knowledge of nutrition as

applicable to themselves and their families. Appendix C includes the monthly physical fitness

and wellness newsletter that is distributed to staff and students families. The newsletter

encourages participation in local family friendly physical fitness programs by highlighting their

dates, location, and other pertinent information. The newsletter also provides ideas for

incorporating physical fitness into family games. A class recommended food of the month is

celebrated and encourages classes to collaborate to make monthly healthy food recommendations

to the committee. Appendix D contains the Family Fitness Night flyer that includes the location,

time, accessibility, available accommodations, and prizes that will encourage students and their

families to attend the annual event. Finally, Appendix E contains the committees monthly

calendar that highlights the wellness success from the previous month and presents new focuses.

This calendar serves to bridges gap between the physical activity occurring at school, during the

before and after school physical activity organized by the committee, and families at home.

Funding

Monetary needs for the program will be collected through the Parent Teacher Committee

(PTC) and serve only to pay for refreshments, food, and prizes provided at the Family Wellness

Night that are not able to be obtained through donation. All committee members are volunteers

and events are hosted at the school or neighboring park without the need to reserve facilities or

pay rental fees.

Administration
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School administration plays an active participatory role in implementing and tailoring the

Wellness Committees weekly activities, newsletters, and the annual Family Wellness Night. The

school Principal attends each PTC meeting in which the Wellness Committee discusses events,

initiatives, and execution. The Principal is an active supporter of the committee and provides

valuable insight as to what the Committee can contribute to support school staff in creating a

healthy environment that incorporates movement, stress-reduction, and nutritious choices into

their personal lives and their classrooms.

Committee

The Osland Elementary School Wellness Committee is a break-away focus group aligned

with the schools PTC. The PTC funds and operates the Wellness Committee as a primary

initiative to influence positive and healthy choices into their students daily lives. The committee

of parent volunteers and school administration meets once monthly at the PTC meeting.

Educational Components

A pivotal aspect of generating lasting healthy changes in our student body and community is

through wellness education that is incorporated into each and every aspect of the Wellness

Committees initiatives. The committee makes it a point to explain the whys to students, staff,

and families so that they can form educated opinions based on scientifically-proven research,

facts, and health recommendations. Each monthly newsletter highlights a wellness topic of

interest that will be expanded upon to include research findings, government guidelines, and

doctor recommendations. The weekly physical activity incorporates a warm-up stretch in which

the physical activity is explained, the cool-down stretch is designed to be a time for reflection

upon the days activity while continuing on to the relaxation stretch in which participants are

taught various stress-relief techniques, such as meditation, and focused breathing. Finally, the
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Family Wellness Night highlights nutritional guidelines, presents startling facts about sugar and

food sugar content, and research/recommendations about physical activity levels and step count

per day broken down by age and includes ability modifications. The goal is for the entire

community to learn about various aspects of wellness from each initiative so that they can form

their own educated opinions, make choices with a foundation of knowledge about health, and

generate lasting positive lifestyle changes.

Engagement

The Wellness Committee seeks to improve community engagement through accessible and

fun events that welcome families, community leaders, staff, and students of all ages and abilities

to participate in physical movement focused. The Family Wellness Night provides a foundational

start to wellness involvement at the beginning of the year for which the remainder of the school

year is built upon. By presenting information about the need for physical movement and the

associated benefits, the committee gains participation in the weekly physical activity.

Additionally, by including a guest appearance by the students favorite physical education

community leader, Sami Kadar of Samis Circuit, the wellness night and committee gains respect

and a positive image associated with the fun, motivational, and engaging health mentor.

Safety and accessibility is a taken into account during the planning and execution of the

weekly physical activity. For all children to be included, modifications will be made to the

weekly activities that accommodate children with disabilities. Families are invited to attend with

their children as long as they monitor and manage their child's (children's) behaviors. All events

are scheduled on the school campus and may move into the neighboring park all of which is

contained by fences for added safety. Participants behavior is managed through positive

reinforcement in the form of verbal praise and role modeling of desired behaviors and attitudes.
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Recognition

The annual Family Wellness Night invites news media to film the information presented and

a demonstration activity that is reflective of how weekly physical activities are designed. The

wellness committee is the first of its kind in the local school district and serves as a model for

other school PTCs. Additionally, as the wellness committees newsletter highlights community

events, such as family fun runs, the community events allow the schools wellness committee to

set-up a booth or advertise their initiatives at the local events, bringing even greater community

engagement to the health platform.

Scheduling

The Wellness Committee meets monthly to generate focuses within the monthly newsletter,

and coordinate the weekly physical events. The weekly physical activities are coordinated by

parent volunteers and committee members so they are scheduled based on that individuals

preference. Typically, the school has the same five volunteers running the events each month so

their is some level of consistency in the events. Usually there are two Tuesday morning

jogs/walks through the park before school, one Monday afternoon sport activity, and one to two

Thursday evening circuit workout and physical game. Each month volunteers commit to their

days and events via an online Google Calendar that is then finalized at the PTC meeting and

distributed to the school staff and students families. Finally, the annual Family Wellness Night

that starts off the school year is strategically timed to ignite a health focus from the beginning of

the year. Then, upon returning of Christmas break student come back to the Sami Circuit

assembly, month of circuit workouts, and a Sami Circuit Family Night that revisits the same

initiative discussed at the Wellness Committees family night and builds upon the progress made
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to further build students motivation, self-worth, and positive attitudes that generate a reignited

health focus for the remainder of the school year.

Conclusion

To address the need for physical activity and nutritional guidance identified at Osland

Elementary school, a school Wellness Committee has been formed. The Wellness Committee

takes a holistic approach to addressing healthy lifestyles and choices for the schools students,

their respective families, staff, and community members. There is abundant research confirming

the benefits of incorporating physical fitness into the education environment. These benefits

include increased focus and concentration, improved engagement, higher academic achievement,

and enhanced physical fitness levels that transcend outside of school. The comprehensive

approach of the Osland Health and Wellness Committee will counter the lack of physical fitness

incorporated during school hours with before and after school organized fitness activities and

increased communication with staff and families centered around wellness topics. The first

school year with the established Osland Health and Wellness Committee will culminate with a

farewell newsletter that gives physical fitness and health topics that can be implemented over

summer and will include activity calendars to use over summer. The following school year the

committee will follow the same plan with only minor adjustments made as needed. The goal is

for each year of establishment, engagement with the before or after school physical activity will

continue to increase. After three years, it is likely that many families will have adopted healthy

lifestyles and more families will become involved in the enhancement of wellness in their

students educational lives. In five years, it would be ideal to have some of the first students

involved in the committee and benefit from a healthy lifestyle changes to come and coach the

physical activities. This student leadership will allow improved peer relationships and for
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students that have adopted healthy lifestyles to take on a leadership role that continue to drive

their engagement in wellness. The Osland Health and Wellness Committee will greatly influence

the overall community health awareness and bring about a pivotal format that will influence and

motivate these changes to happen.

Appendix A
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Appendix B
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Appendix C
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Appendix D
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Appendix E
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References

CDC (2017). Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Received from,

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm

Madsen, K. A., Hicks, K., & Thompson, H. (2011). Physical Activity and

Positive Youth Development: Impact of a School-Based Program. Journal of School

Health, 81(8), 462-470.

Snelling, B., Watts, G., Van Dyke, M., & Kalicki. (2015). Translating

school health research to policy. School outcomes related to the health environment and

changes in mathematics achievement. Appetite, 93, 91-95.

Stylianou, M., Kulinna, Hodges, P., & Kloeppel, T. (2014). Healthy Living Initiative:

Running/Walking Club. Physical Educator, 71(2), 157-184. Retrieved from

https://search.lib.asu.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?

docid=TN_ericEJ1059766&context=PC&vid=01ASU&search_scope=Everything&tab=d

efault_tab&lang=en_US

Tompkins, C., Hopkins, J., Goddard, L., & Brock, D. (2012). The effect of an unstructured,

moderate to vigorous, before-school physical activity program in elementary school

children on academics, behavior, and health. BMC Public Health, 12, 300.

Turner, Chriqui, & Chaloupka. (2012). Food as a Reward in the Classroom: School District

Policies Are Associated with Practices in US Public Elementary Schools. Journal of the

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(9), 1436-1442. Retrieved from

https://search.lib.asu.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?

docid=TN_sciversesciencedirect_elsevierS2212-2672(12)00341-

3&context=PC&vid=01ASU&search_scope=Everything&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US
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Vander Ploeg, K., Mcgavock, J., Maximova, K., & Veugelers, P. (2014). School-based health

promotion and physical activity during and after school hours. Pediatrics, 133(2), E371-

8.