GAFHK Works with Schools in metro-Atlanta

Georgia Action for Healthy Kids was honored to receive grant funding from the Action for Healthy Kids Team Grant Program supported by glacéau smartwater® through the Entertainment Industry Foundation, and the generous support of the Mattel Children's Foundation to support physical activity initiatives in four metropolitan Atlanta Schools. In partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, GAFHK identified four outstanding schools with demonstrated interest in improving school wellness. These schools convened wellness councils, who created a wellness policy and strategic plan of action. From this plan, they were able to assess their situation and to identify ways to enhance school wellness. They then received mini grants which were used to secure equipment and resources needed to implement their plans during the 2008-09 school year.

Grant Highlights

• Family Fun Nights a well received addition to PTA meetings: Schools seized the opportunity to provide a venue for active games and sports for children and parents and increased attendance by 300%. Parent volunteers for school activities were generated from these events.
• Physical Education “down time”, became UP TIME! New physical education equipment created instant activities children could do at the beginning of class. With a rope, ball, or other equipment in each hand 5-10 minutes of activity was added to each class period
• Morning Physical Activity Programs provided students and teachers with an opportunity to get UP and moving first thing in the morning. Attendance for the programs increased from an average of less than 50 to over 200 children and 12 teachers.
• Birthday celebrations that included favorite active games and self-selected physical activities in the gym replaced cupcakes and cake in the classroom. Children excitedly hurried to the gym for the activities, and were thrilled to receive water bottles and Live Strong bracelets as gifts.
• Classroom teachers received tools and training needed to get students more active. 37 classroom teachers were trained in the TAKE 10! Program and 95% of those teachers said they would implement the program each day. Recess Kits increased active time during teacher directed PE.

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