Slauson School

What Happened with Project Healthy Schools at Slauson in 2007-2008?

• 220 sixth graders received PHS education and activities.  118 seventh graders were screened in the spring and also completed the questionnaire at the end of the year. 
• A combination of parents, University of Michigan students, PHS staff, and one teacher taught the ten weekly PHS activities in the sixth grade advisories.
• A tracking competition was held over three weeks, where students logged their minutes of physical activity, as well as their fruit, vegetable, and healthy beverage intake.  Ms. Mohrlock’s advisory accumulated the most points from the tracker so they celebrated with a smoothie party!  As the winning advisory they also kept the Project Healthy Schools trophy.
• PHS visited the sixth grade PE classes twice.  The first time was to teach the kids about flexibility by showing the kids yoga and pilates moves.  The second time was to show them how to do strength training activities with stability and medicine balls, and dyna-bands and loops. 
• Slauson received a 2nd place Michigan Healthy School Environment Award this year!
• PHS assisted with putting on the first ever Slausonpalooza!  We were happy to help get the kids excited about physical activity and hope that they continue to be active over the summer!

Thank you, Slauson, for a terrific year in 2007-2008!  The parents and volunteers who helped with teaching PHS activities during advisory were wonderful and greatly appreciated!  We couldn’t have run the program without you.  To staff, students and parents: Have a fun, safe summer and I’ll see you in the fall!

In Good Health,

Lindsey Mitchell, MPH
Slauson PHS Wellness Coordinator

What’s Going on with Project Healthy Schools at Slauson?

• The weekly PHS activities at Slauson have just started! There are 10 activities that will be taught once per week.  Thank you to all of the volunteers who help make this program possible!
• The students recently started a tracking competition. The first week they tracked their minutes of physical activity, the second week they will track their fruits and vegetables at lunch and the third week they will track their healthy beverages at lunch.  There will be individual winners after all three weeks of tracking, as well as an advisory winner!
• PHS will visit the PE classes in February and March to teach students about Pilates and yoga, as well as strength training with resistance bands, stability balls, and medicine balls.
• The PHS coordinator at Slauson, along with staff and administrators, completed a Healthy School Environment Recognition Program application to award Slauson for its hard work.  Thanks to everyone for making Slauson a healthy school environment!  Stay tuned for more information on the award!

Previous Information

Project Healthy Schools is back for the third year at Slauson and we’re off to a great start! We held the Project Healthy Schools kickoff assembly for the 6th grade on Monday, Nov. 12. We introduced the students to the program and had them get up to do a fun dance. College students from the University of Michigan even came and dressed up in grape and carrot costumes to talk about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables.

The upcoming holidays and ever-present cold and gloom in the winter months in Michigan make it difficult to realize our fitness and nutrition goals. Most Americans gain 1-2 pounds during the holiday season (not the 5-10 that is usually reported). The problem is that we tend to never take off these 1-2 pounds and over the course of 10 years the pounds add up. Counteract the usual gluttony with these activities:

• Outdoor walks or hikes to look for wildlife
• Viewing stars on a clear evening
• Taking your family to one of the fitness facilities in town (YMCA, Washtenaw County Recreation Center or one of the University facilities)
• Shooting hoops
• Going sledding, then walking back up of those hills – talk about a calorie burner!
• Trying a new winter sport like snowshoeing, cross country skiing or downhill skiing

We are looking forward to the New Year as our fun and educational activities will begin in the advisory classrooms. This year activities will be taught by parents and students from the University of Michigan, serving as Health Ambassadors. More information to come in January!

As a reminder, the goals of Project Healthy Schools are for students to:

• Eat more fruits and vegetables
• Make better beverage choices
• Include at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week
• Eat less fast and fatty foods
• Spend less time in front of the TV and computer

If you want to know more about Project Healthy Schools or would like to get involved as a parent volunteer, please contact Lindsey Seyferth at 734-975-7440 or lseyfert@umich.edu.