Healthy People 2020 Community Innovations Project Request for Proposal

Summary:

The purpose of this RFP is to solicit community-level projects that use Healthy People 2020 overarching goals, topic areas and objectives to promote improved heath at a community level. Funding is intended to support activities above and beyond general operations. Using the projects funded through this RFP, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) intends to evaluate how the Healthy People 2020 overarching goals, topic areas and objectives are being used to improve the health of communities.

In order to be eligible for consideration, proposed projects must address at least one of the Healthy People 2020 topics and incorporate at least one of the following priorities that are linked to the Healthy People 2020 overarching goals.

• Environmental justice: supporting the rights of all people to live in a healthy environment. http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/
• Health equity: dealing with issues that cause some groups of people to have worse health than others. http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/npa
• Healthy behaviors across all life stages: activities to improve the opportunities for people of all ages to make healthy choices. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyliving
  • Healthy living includes a wide range of topics, including physical activity & nutrition

Funding Information

• This is a one-time funding opportunity.
• Awards will range from $5,000 to $10,000.
• Up to 170 projects will be funded.
• Awardees will be chosen to represent a variety of themes, activities and regions.

Eligibility: Non-profit, community-based organizations with budgets less than $750,000

Deadline: August 5, 2011

Notification: November 11, 2011

Project Timeline: December 1, 2011 – May 31, 2012

Click Here for more information.

Click Here for the RFP.

SPARK is proud to announce a partnership with Skillastics, the leader in engaging, reinforcing, and assessing large groups of children PreK-12 in standards-based fitness and sports specific skill development activities.

Skillastics, now a SPARK Recommended Resource, will enhance SPARK activities by providing an additional assessment tool, allowing the instructor the freedom to view a large amount of children engaging in activities supported by a SPARK lesson. This partnership was formed to foster greater access to quality physical activity solutions for schools and community-based organizations nationwide.

SPARK Executive Director Paul Rosengard adds, “I’ve been a big fan of Sandy (Spin) Slade and Skillastics for a long time. Their products are an excellent supplement for our SPARK teachers and youth leaders and I recommend them highly. I’m especially excited about Skillastics’ application in after school environments where space limitations and instruction of children from multiple grade levels are common place.”

Skillastics is considered a “new and improved twist” in circuit training, and allows 1 to 100 children of varying ages and athletic abilities to participate and enjoy being active at one time. They provide solutions for physical education, after school, and early childhood programs.

Their newest offering, “Character is Cool”, is designed as a teaching tool to help children interact positively with one another while participating in cooperative fitness activities that emphasize character traits such as good sporting behavior, respect, responsibility, teamwork, caring and honesty.

Since its introduction in 2003, Skillastics is enjoyed in over 20,000 physical education classes, after school programs, and community-based organizations throughout the world!

For more information on Skillastics please visit www.skillastics.com.

Money from PEP Grants may be used to purchase physical education equipment, provide support for students, provide training and education to teachers and staff members, bring in programs and teachers from outside the school or organization, and to initiate new physical education programs. Applicants are required to create a new program or improve an existing program that helps students make progress toward meeting state physical education AND one or more of the following initiatives:

• Helping students understand, improve, and maintain physical well-being
• Enhancing physical, mental, social, and emotional development through instruction in physical activities and motor skills
• Development of cognitive concepts about fitness and motor skills that support healthy lifestyles
• Education in healthy eating habits and nutrition
• Professional development for physical education teachers to stay current on physical education research, issues, trends, and programs

Examples of Physical Education Programs

Past PEP Grants have been awarded to schools and organizations to implement programs ranging from innovative playgrounds to short-term auxiliary programs and after school programs. Some types of programs that have received PEP grant money in the past have included:

• Evidence-Based Physical Education Programs
• Community outreach programs
• Integrating technology into PE
• Purchasing equipment such as pedometers and heart rate monitors
• Implementing “lifetime activities” rather than individual and team sports
• Bringing in specialty organizations that help schools implement innovative PE lesson plans and programs
• New, different, and innovative activities
• Ropes courses
• Adventure programs

Schools and organizations that are competitive in the application process include programs with elements that provide long-term benefits for students by encouraging a lifelong commitment to fitness that will decrease the costs of medical care associated with inactivity, poor nutrition, and obesity. Programs should include activities for all students, including those with disabilities. Competitive organizations and programs make a connection between physical activity, mental or academic performance, and general well being.

Over 150 PEP winners have chosen to implement SPARK Physical Education or After School programs in their schools. To see why so many schools successfully win PEP grants when they include SPARK as part of their proposal, Click Here.

PEP Grantwriting Information and Tips

If your school or organization does not have a grant writer on staff, consider hiring a professional grant writer with experience writing federal grants. If you use teachers or other staff members to write the grant, an outside consultant can help improve the grant by reviewing it and asking important questions about the essential elements of your grant. There are several websites and online documents available to assist you specifically with the PEP grantwriting process.

In your grant proposal, you must clearly outline a specific program, the goals of your program, and the steps your organization will take to reach these goals. It is essential to address how the program you plan to implement with the grant money will help students benefiting from the program to meet state standards for physical education. This should include a discussion of the PE standards in your state and how your program will help students work toward meeting these standards.

Assessment and evaluation are another significant part of the grantwriting process. Without a plan to evaluate the progress of your students, you will be unable to prove that your program actually met its goals. Having a way to assess the effectiveness of your program is the essential element of receiving current and future PEP grants. In your grant proposal you must outline a plan for the assessment of student progress that will show students met the goals of your program, and you must be prepared to implement this plan alongside the PE program you initiate.

In order to receive PEP Grant money, you are required to establish a need for that money within your proposal. This should include statistics your organization has collected that are specific to your school district, geographical area, or state. You will want to use statistics and data that prove there is a need for your organization’s program and that students will benefit from your fitness program on physical, social, mental, emotional, and/or developmental level. As a supplement to your local data, you may choose to use national research and statistics and professional literature.

• For additional tips on preparing and submitting your 2011 PEP Grant Click Here
• For Sample Text for PEP Grant Writers Click Here

To access the 2011 Carol M. White PEP Grant application Click Here.

1) Can what I eat (as a teacher) affect what my kids eat?

Yes, it can and it does! Research tells us that being a positive role model is important if we want to change behaviors. If you want children to eat right, then model healthy eating behaviors. And not just in the school cafeteria! Children see you before and after school and in the classroom, so you must “walk the walk” if you expect them to do the same. For simple tips on healthy role modeling at school see www.healthykidschallenge.com.

2) Is it possible to integrate regular academic subjects into nutrition/health instruction?

You bet! And it’s simple, too! Healthy Kids Challenge offers curriculum, training, and resources to help you do just that. Our nutrition education curriculum, Balance My Day, is a research-based curriculum aligned with HECAT (Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool) Healthy Eating Behavior outcomes and standards. With Balance My Day nutrition education doesn’t need to be an add-on, it can easily be integrated into math, science and language!

Also, HKC offers an exciting menu of nutrition themed workshops for you to choose from. All are designed to bring nutrition education to life for your students and staff. The workshop “Balance My Day” guides you through simple solutions of how to easily incorporate nutrition education into the school day. We offer an array of free downloadable and affordable resources as well. For more information, visit www.healthykidschallenge.com.

3) Where can I find resources for a year-long nutrition education curriculum?

Healthy Kids Challenge is the source for nutrition education curriculum. Balance My Day- Nutrition Education Curriculum is research-based curriculum aligned with HECAT (Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool) Healthy Eating Behavior outcomes and standards.

• Offers 30 lessons, divided into 15-25 minute sessions.
• Behavior themes focus on breakfast, snacks, beverages, portion sizes, fruits and veggies, active play, energy balance, body image, weight management and food skills
• Nutrition education doesn’t need to be an add on, it can easily be integrated into math, science and language with Balance My Day
• Goal setting, skill building, take home activities, parent tip sheets, food skills and tasting activities, logs, worksheets and student assessment included
• Bonus additions are three nutrition education event guides and a set of 156 food picture cards for food identification, bulletin boards, or nutrition education games
• Learn more…

Healthy Kids Challenge (HKC), is a nationally recognized non-profit led by an exemplary team of registered, licensed dietitians with many years of school, program, and community wellness experience.

Some reasons include a lack of standards and policies, lack of nutrition education curriculum, and time to teach this content with so many other responsibilities being placed on teachers today.  So what can you do to integrate nutrition into your day?  Here are some ideas to get you started! (For more in-depth information make sure to join our January webinar on this topic- Click Here)

• Math- students can record their food and calorie intake into a food journal and calulate averages, servings sizes and portions
• Art- create a colorful menu for a restaurant complete with healthy choices
• Social Studies- teach students about different cultures by cooking traditional receipies in class
• Language Arts- select books to read that talk about food and nutrition this can introduce them to foods they have never heard of before
• Science- students can build a car out of fresh vegetables or do an experiment to learn about the properties of foods
• Physical Education- have a relay where students have to build a balanced meal by running down and selecting one food item picture at a time

Guest Blog Post from our Nutrition Education Partner, Healthy Kids Challenge (HKC):

Childhood obesity statistics are alarming. Our Nutrition Education Partner Healthy Kids Challenge (HKC) challenges you to go beyond a focus on the obesity problem and Take Action with simple solutions that can help improve health for ALL kids and their families.

Use HKC healthy tips, newsletter, E-Challenge, toolkits, and programs to create or improve school, organization, and community policies and practices that support healthy food choices and physical activity.  Download their newest Health and Nutrition Parent Tip Sheet: “Fruits & Veggies – Every Day the Tasty Way”.

Come back for another new tip sheet the first week of every month. Enjoy these simple solutions to better health! Visit the online store for the whole set (18) of Healthy6 parent tip sheets!

For more information on our partner Healthy Kids Challenge Click Here

Keeping up with healthy habits has benefits for your whole body – like helping to avoid holiday weight gain, helping to fend off holiday stress and fatigue, and helping to keep your immune system strong. Many people give up on healthy habits during the holidays but with these tips you can teach your children how to stay healthy during this busy time of year.

Tips for healthy holiday eating:

• Feed your children – and yourself – a light meal or snack before going to a holiday party. It’s harder to avoid overeating when you’re overly hungry.
• Set a good example for children by eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains with meals or as snacks.
• Offer to bring a healthy, low-calorie dish to holiday parties so you’ll know that at least one healthy item will be available.
• Teach your children to eat smaller portions of food, especially at a buffet, where they may want to try everything. Help them choose the items they want to try the most, and eat a small portion of each.
• Sodas and other sweet drinks contain a lot of calories and many contain caffeine. For a healthier version of “soda” mix 100% fruit juice with club soda or seltzer.
• The holiday season can keep you extra busy but try to avoid fast food – it may be handy, but is often high in fat and low in nutrition.

Tips for physical activity:

• Hula Hoop, Jump Rope: If Rocky can jump rope for hours, it’s got to be good, right? Grab a few hula hoops and jump ropes, clear out one of your rooms, and turn on some fast-paced music. Your kids will love learning new skills, and you’ll love getting their heart rates up! You can even hold a tournament or a competition to make it more interesting.
• Dance: In First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, she encourages parents and children to get up and dance. Not only can you learn valuable moves on the dance floor, but merely dancing around for an hour can burn upwards of 200 calories! Take a leaf out of Michelle’s book: turn on some holiday music and dance around the house.
• Active Video Games: Traditional video games, albeit fun and endlessly entertaining, are extremely sedentary activities and should be limited to just an hour or two a week. The new, active video games incorporate fitness, coordination, and even dance skills! Consider Dance Dance Revolution, Wii Bowling, Playstation Move or Xbox Kinect next time your kids want to spend hours in front of the television on a cold or rainy day.
• The Gift that Keeps Giving: Give gifts that encourage physical activity, like active games or sporting equipment. Santa knows that even the simplest presents, like a ball or hula hoop, help support activity and leave open endless possibilities for fun family games.

Holiday Pudding Cups

A light delicious treat which is fruitful, festive, and requires very little work. Plus it is in its own dish, so less clean up after a holiday party.

Ingredients:

• 1pkg Philo dough (thawed)
• 1pkg JELLO instant vanilla pudding (regular or sugar free)
• Milk (for pudding)
• ¼ cup Pomegranate
• ¼ cup Strawberry (sliced)
• ¼ cup Blueberry
• ¼ cup Kiwi (diced)
• Powder Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Lightly spray muffin pan with cooking spray (for appetizer style use the miniature cup cake pans)
3. Roll Philo dough into 1/8 inch thick sheets
4. Cut dough into squares, so that when it’s laid into the muffin pan it will hangover ½ inch
5. Gently press squares into muffin pan, shaping edges to form rims ¼ inch high
6. Bake for 18 minutes or until pastry has a golden color. (Tip – for a glossy shine on the pastry cup lightly glaze beaten egg onto the top)
7. Let cool
8. Mix up the vanilla pudding per the JELLO package instructions
9. Once the pastry cups have cooled, spoon pudding into each cup.
10. Then top with a piece of each fruit and lightly dust with powder sugar.
11. Serve chilled.
12. ENJOY!

Stuffing with Sage and Chives

Ingredients:

• 1 spray(s) cooking spray
• 12 slice(s) whole-wheat bread, cubed*
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp light butter
• 1 cup(s) onion(s), diced
• 3 stalk(s) (medium) celery, diced
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 cup(s) canned chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp chives, fresh, chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 4-quart shallow baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Arrange bread cubes on a large ungreased baking sheet in a single layer (use 2 baking sheets if there’s not enough room). Bake until lightly toasted, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove bread from oven and set aside; leave oven set to 350ºF.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil and butter together for 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion and celery; sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add thyme, sage, salt and pepper; stir to coat. Cook until herbs are fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Transfer onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add bread, broth and chives; toss to combine. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish and cover with foil; bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Divide into 8 pieces and serve. Yields 1 piece per serving.

Notes:

• Leave the bread bag open and somewhat uncovered for 1 to 2 days (at room temperature) before making the recipe.
• Feel free to substitute your favorite bread, such as whole grain, sourdough or a light variety..
• For added flavor, you can also add about 1 cup of diced Granny Smith or McIntosh apples to the stuffing
• You can make this stuffing in advance and bake it just before serving. The stuffing will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking as directed.

Servings:  8

Preparation Time:  15 min

Cooking Time:  45 min

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Enjoy!

Healthy eating messages sprinkled throughout the school hallways, cafeteria, and classrooms…

Nutrition education woven into PE and core curriculum K-12…

Where is this happening? Check out West Orange, New Jersey school district!

“Teaching our students to maintain a healthy balance with eating and exercise is our top priority. The SPARK program is helping provide the tools and training to achieve this goal”, shared Corinn Giaquinto, Health and Physical Education instructor, Thomas Edison Middle School, West Orange, New Jersey.

Hats off to Thomas A. Edison Middle School and their entire school district in West Orange. The district has been using SPARK in their physical education department for some time and recently received a grant from Mountainside Health Foundation to fuel student success by adding nutrition education.

Vickie L. James, Registered Dietitian and Director of Healthy Kids Challenge (HKC), the exclusive nutrition education partner for SPARK, was the trainer for the West Orange training, the first ever SPARK and HKC nutrition education training.

“From classroom to PE to wellness council members K-12, the representation and enthusiasm shown at the workshop tells me the commitment this district has to student wellbeing. They truly understand the strategy of using good nutrition and physical activity to create a culture of health in the schools that can do nothing short of fueling student success. This was the first of many great moments down the road for West Orange Schools.”

If your school district is ready to accelerate student achievement by combining physical activity and nutrition education, contact SPARK today. Full day SPARK/HKC nutrition education trainings as well as a new nutrition curriculum in three grade ranges, K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 all are available through SPARK.  Healthy Kids Challenge trainings are tailored to meet school needs for successful implementation of realistic wellness policies, school improvement plans, and TEAM Nutrition guidelines. And SPARK/HKC help you achieve the required criteria for the HealthierUS School Challenge program.

The HKC curriculum, Balance My Day, was developed to align with all HECAT (Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool) standards for nutrition education. This is a new requirement for PEP grant awardees and you won’t find many nutrition education programs that address it.

Stay tuned for exciting happenings and updates from West Orange schools! SPARK and HKC wish them well in their commitment to student health!

We all know that kids eat more junk food than they should, but we’ve always been told that their ability to metabolize at a faster rate made that completely acceptable. Recent findings claim that junk food makes up approximately 40% of the average kids’ diet. Perhaps this statistic will shine some much needed light on the matter at hand.

According to researchers behind the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, children between the ages of 2-18 are getting about 40% of their calories from just six different foods:

• Soda
• Sugary fruit drinks
• Grain desserts: cookies, cakes, donuts
• Dairy desserts: ice cream, milkshakes
• Pizza
• Whole Milk

Two of these items are in the dessert category, and three others are junk food snacks. It’s a wonder that kids in the age bracket of 2-18 even have access to that much junk food. The most surprising item to make the “naughty” list is whole milk. Many parents feel that this provides a hearty serving of Vitamin D, Calcium, and other necessary nutrients. What they do not realize is that when moderation is not enforced, the high fat calories are no longer offset by the benefits of these nutrients. While a small serving of whole milk can be beneficial, most situations call for its skinnier sibling, skim milk.

Specialists across the country have weighed in on the causes of these startling statistics over the last few weeks. The majority of nutritionists and dieticians have come to a few similar conclusions.

Everyone is a role model, and we aren’t doing a very good job.

(Image Source)

Parents, teachers, celebrities and food companies are all responsible for the dire state of our youth. While legislation now regulates many schools’ vending machine products, parents, teachers, and coaches can be doing much more. Creating a meal out of microwavable pizza doesn’t set a good example for kids. Children look to adults for guidance, and they tend to form habits that only get worse during the freedom of their impressionable teen years.

Kids just need to get up and move!

(Image Source)

If 40% of the older generation’s caloric intake as kids was made up of these empty calories, our bodies would not have noticed nearly as much as today’s kids’ bodies do. Those were the days of walking to school and playing outside until dark. Nowadays, many children do not even get the minimum recommended activity per day – and that’s only an hour. While we cannot explicitly blame video games and television for obesity, they are definitely culprits for their lack of activity.

It’s not just calories that matter – it’s the type of calories.

(Image Source)

For decades, people of all ages, shapes, and sizes have fallen victim to fad diets, misconstrued healthy options, and excessive portion sizes. One issue is that people think that the only thing to avoid is excess calories, and in some cases, that might help you lose weight. Although eating only pizza, soda, and ice cream in a day may fall within your daily caloric need, the nutritional value is completely absent. People forget that eating right is not supposed to be about being skinny or looking good; it should be about being healthy and leading a healthy lifestyle.

Many sources cite teenagers’ addiction to cheap, flavorful, and satisfying junk food as a main culprit. Others claim that mere negligence by parents and school officials is to blame. Either way, these startling statistics paint a very grim future for our youngest generation. Find ways to feed your children nutritious calories, lead by example, and get up and move!

For more information on SPARK’s Nutrition Education program (and our exclusive nutrition partner Healthy Kids Challenge), please Click Here.