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Create a “Who’s Who…” directory for your Wellness Committee & Include your LWP goals & objectives – Thanks to the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010 you have a group of dedicated teachers, parents, students and staff on your LWP committee and you’ve established your goals! Now you need to make a friendly info-graphic of these goals and who’s responsible. Put fun pictures of your committee together with bios, contact information and which objectives are their primary focus so others know who to reach out to. Once you get the directory together post it on the district website and give copies to the parents at parent-teacher conferences, teachers at their back to school in-services and community partners like Extension and pediatricians or coaches. - Brand your LWP – Branding is a great opportunity for increased recognition. People like to identify with a movement and a group. By creating a fun logo and a catch-phrase you can change the dynamic of your working group! This can also be a great opportunity to do some team-building as well!
- Conduct a survey of all possible stakeholders – students, teachers, parents, staff -ask how they want to hear about progress and what they would like to see in the wellness policy.
- Create a portal on your school’s website for your LWP – Making your LWP more public can start online! Post up a copy of the policy, pictures of events, a calendar of upcoming events, recipes that jive with your current topic, , highlight positive success stories, and have students write articles about new changes…it’s endless! Once you make some space online…host a website launch and include it in an already standing event like Open House! Give everyone the opportunity to peruse the site and provide feedback.
- Create a My Wellness Champion program – Developing a program which provides recognition for those who go above and beyond is a great way to keep “paying it forward!” You can have different levels of involvement…Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum etc. Come up with fun ways to highlight their involvement like a Healthful Snack Potluck! Invite everyone involved with your LWP so they can share in the fun!
- Use all forms of media – Use the school newsletter, website, Facebook page, twitter, and even paychecks to highlight LWP tid-bits. Include quotes from committee members, students or other interested parties.
- Create a LWP bulletin board – Placing LWP information in a central location is great idea. Dedicating a bulletin board in each school to the LWP can be a good hub for placing handouts, announcements, as well as recognize those helping you to achieve your goals. Unveil the new bulletin board at the school’s open house! Assign a student who is a wellness committee member to keep the bulletin board relevant each month.
- Create pamphlets and place them in local partner’s waiting rooms and new student welcome packets – Print media is still a viable option for reaching many community members especially if they are waiting for a service. Key partners for posting pamphlets: local pediatricians, Extension, dentists, the nurses office, sporting and extracurricular coaches/leaders as well as local businesses that parents frequent .
- Hold a LWP health fair – A health fair offering healthful foods, health screenings and fun games could be an opportunity to highlight all the progress you are making with your LWP. Invite your local health and wellness partners to attend and feature their services. You can include a health fair in an already standing event as well! By providing booths at an open house event or parent-teacher conferences you can include most of community!
- Host monthly or quarterly health workshops, in-services, contests or lunch and learn opportunities! – Partner with organizations such as the Extension to highlight health topics which are relevant for your community. Provide some healthful snacks and games to keep them interesting. Incentivize attendance by providing a raffle for those who attend all of the events!
- Create a LWP fitness challenge for all stakeholders – Many people thrive on team events! Create team challenges that focus on your various fitness goals in the LWP! Encourage your teams to come up with their own names and reward them with a day of wearing jeans to work or coverage of their recess duty!
- Offer healthful snacks at board meetings, school events and community partner events courtesy of your LWP – Sponsorship is a powerful branding and advertising tool! By providing some healthful snacks with a sticker of your logo or catchphrase you can appeal to the masses and help keep them full!
- Create a wellness calendar which highlights the many events related to your LWP– place on your bulletin boards, newsletter, Facebook page and website so that your community can follow along with your success.
- Participate in other local events with branded materials like t-shirts, visors, sweatbands etc. – Many communities host events which could be part of your LWP! Relay for Life, March of Dimes, half-marathons, century rides, festivals, fairs, and parades etc. can be an opportunity to get the word out about your LWP working group! Wear something that identifies your group and have a blast! Give your group members a brief “What to say” talk before taking the stage so that they can be prepared to answer any and all questions!
- Create an Adopt a Stairwell campaign- Within each school district there are hundreds of hallways and stairwells! Just think if you could adopt a hallway and highlight LWP topics, principles or monthly themes? Include the student body and encourage creative décor ideas if the district is amenable! Don’t want to adopt a stairwell try branching out to another common space at the school! Be creative!
Contributor
Kate Hoy, Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs
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