Desert Sierra
Regional Award Winner
Regional Award Winner
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Bobby Duke Middle submitted the following three essays for consideration of the Governor's Challenge Competition Grand Prize: Essay 1 - Commitment to Promoting Healthy Eating on Campus At Bobby Duke Middle School, we understand that nutrition affects student health, behavior and performance, so we strive to educate students about the benefits of good nutrition. In 2006, our district adopted a Wellness Policy with the mission of developing healthy lifestyles and eating habits amongst students. In alignment with this mission, we established a Youth Advisory Committee, a group of students coming together to learn and inform fellow students about nutrition education. They serve as advocates for the student body and their recommendations are used to draft our menus and enhance efforts at nutrition education. Our school meals surpass federal nutrition requirements which limit calories from fat and saturated fat. We serve fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein and grains in portion sizes needed to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. In the 2008-2009 school year, we will implement a new “salad bar” program to provide students with more choices of fresh fruits and vegetables. We offer breakfast and lunch, so the 95% of students who participate in our free/reduced lunch program are provided with two nutritious meals daily and all students participating in afterschool programs are served a nutritious snack. We have adopted a “No Junk Food” policy, which bans the sale of soda and sugary snacks on campus. In addition, our student organizations do not sell candy, instead opting for alternative sources of funding. Our commitment to promoting healthy dietary habits carries into our classrooms. In science, students conduct a “fat content” experiment to analyze the amount of fat in popular snack foods and then learn about healthy alternatives. Students learn to recognize appropriate serving sizes and the importance of using the food pyramid as a guide to healthy eating. Students also learn the health risks of obesity and diabetes and the importance of diet and exercise in preventing these diseases. Essay 2 - Support of Students’ Physical Activity and Fitness We are dedicated to improving the physical fitness of students both on campus and within our community and developing life-long learners who understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. We take an innovative approach to physical education, teaching activities students can continue to participate in throughout their adult lives, such as kickboxing, yoga and tennis. We have contracted with a professional dance instructor to teach classical dance, thereby enriching the cultural awareness of our students. In rejecting the traditional physical education model that emphasizes performance and competition, we have made physical activity accessible to all students, not just the athletic elite. Using this approach, we have seen substantial student improvement. For example, at the beginning of the school year, only 55% of students met the FitnessGram standard for cardiovascular health, yet by the end of the year 98% of students met or surpassed this standard. Students learn responsibility for individual fitness by setting personal fitness goals and monitoring their progress. In doing so, students see improvement and make the connection between health and exercise. There are several recreation opportunities for students on campus. During lunch, our intramural sports program provides organized recreation at all levels of play. We also offer after-school team sports and dance three days a week. In an effort to encourage physical activity outside school, we pay our students’ membership fees at the Boys and Girls Club of Coachella so they can access the facilities at no cost to themselves. We take an active role in promoting physical activity in the community through group exercise classes offered on campus five days a week. Getting families involved in physical activity has had a positive impact on our students and the addition of a fitness center would allow us to expand and improve these programs. Essay 3- Need For a New Fitness Center Like any community, we want to give our students all possible opportunities for success by teaching them to set positive life goals. We want to create a fun and safe environment where students can participate in physical activity without fear of ridicule or harassment. Unfortunately, we face many challenges in reaching this goal. Middle school is an age when students are looking for belonging, so with six active gangs in our city and several others in surrounding areas, we find ourselves competing against the daily reality of gang culture. The vulnerability of our students is also mirrored in the teenage pregnancy rate of our city, which is double the national average. At an age when students are seeking attention and acceptance amongst peers, it is crucial that we provide positive alternatives to self-destructive behaviors. Research shows that getting students involved in physical activity teaches them life skills and deters them from such deviant behaviors. However, 80% of our students live below the poverty line and do not have the financial resources to participate in organized sports leagues, private lessons, or attend sports camps. The programs provided by our school are our students’ only fitness opportunities. As our already meager funds for physical education and extra-curricular sports face severe budget cuts, we find ourselves challenged to maintain and expand our fitness programs. We do not have a gymnasium, so a fitness center would provide an indoor facility to our physical education classes, as well as afterschool and community programs. A fitness center would allow us to create an environment where students are encouraged to be physically active and empowered to make healthy life decisions. We have shown our dedication to health and fitness and our commitment to motivating students to live healthy lifestyles, so for these reasons our school is deserving of a fitness center. |
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