Eat Smart, Move More NC Recipes for Success
How a local school finds a way to get students, faculty, staff and community members moving.
Recipe Name:
Glade Creek Community Moves More
Ingredients:
Target audience
- Faculty, staff, students of Glade Creek Elementary School and Glade Creek community members
Partners involved
- Appalachian District Health Department
- Glade Creek Elementary School PTA
- Glade Creek Elementary School PTA
- Glade Creek Elementary School PE
- Glade Creek Elementary School Students
- Alleghany County Schools Superintendent
- Alleghany County Board of Education
- Be Active NC-Appalachian Partnership
- Alleghany School Health Advisory Council
- Alleghany County Healthy Carolinians
- The Alleghany News
Resources needed for the project
- Eat Smart, Move More NC Community Grant funding
- Additional funding from the school PTA
- A planning committee
- Labor for grading and construction of the walking track was donated by a local paving construction company
- Active Youth Steps program
- Volunteer labor to complete the landscaping of the track and install signage
- Incentives for walking challenge participant
Instructions:
The project
The project was to encourage increased physical activity of faculty, students and community members by promoting walking and construction of a walking track at the Glade Creek School.
Basic steps to implementing the project
- Planned grant with Principal, SHAC, and Superintendent. Obtained permission to seek funding for the project from Superintendent.
- Developed a committee to steer the project
- Presented the draft program and policy to the Board of Education. Board of Education adopted policy to maintain track over time and allow open community access
- Requested bids for a walking track. Contacted parents of children from the school to ask for monetary donations and donations for labor to complete the walking track and signage.
- Committee reviewed bids and signed contract with contractor for work. Parent from Glade Creek School donated the labor for the grading and paving of the walking track.
- While track is being constructed, PE classes of middle school age used the Active Youth Steps program to learn health related fitness.
- PTA committee offered a $50 prize (they funded) to the student who could come up with the winning walkway name. They called it Name the Walkway contest. To his surprise, the students named the track “West Walkway” after Mr. Gary West, school principal.
- Planned and promoted the kickoff event, walking challenge on May 24, 2007. Recruited other organizations to participate in the event. Principal and PTA promoted within the school and to the community through advertisements in the local newspaper, which the PTA paid for.
- Promoted new walkway and community access through media coverage in the Alleghany News.
The timeframe
May 2006 – June 2007
Results:
Outcomes of the project
- The West Walkway was constructed for use by students, parents, faculty of Glade Creek Elementary School & the community members of Glade Creek in Alleghany County, NC.
- The Alleghany County Schools Board of Education adopted a policy to maintain the track and allow community member access to the walking track on an ongoing basis.
- The Active Youth Steps program was implemented at Glade Creek Elementary School.
- A promotional event, the Glade Creek School’s community walking and fitness challenge was implemented at Glade Creek School on May 24, 2007. Community members and all students and faculty of Glade Creek participated.
Contact Information:
Name, Title: Jennifer Bryan, Health Promotion Coordinator
Agency: Appalachian District Health Department
Address: 126 Poplar Grove Connector
City, State, Zip: Boone, NC 28607
Phone: (828) 264-4995
Fax: (828) 264-4997
Email: Jen.bryan@apphealth.com
