Three Chatham County schools have spent the past year planning different ways to get their students more physically active, and their planning is about to pay off. Bonlee, Horton Middle, and Moncure schools will be building some exciting new projects on their campuses this spring with the help of an Eat Smart Move More grant from the State of North Carolina. Click to read more about these projects!
The Chatham County Public Health Department secured an Eat Smart Move More community grant to increase opportunities for physical activity in three schools in Chatham County. A big part of this effort will go toward supporting student wellness directly, but each school will also plan programs to help their staff stay active and healthy.
Supporting wellness in the workplace is increasingly being recognized as an important way to boost morale and productivity among employees and reduce absenteeism and healthcare costs. ( See: http://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/businesscase/index.html) In a school setting, staff wellness programs have the added benefit of providing children with healthy active role models. Students can be inspired to be more active when surrounded by active teachers.
Chatham County Schools currently has free access to an online planning tool to help schools establish high quality, sustainable, staff wellness programs. Many schools are also part of a pilot program for an online tool that lets staff track their physical activity and issue challenges to each other to motivate more movement. For the second year in a row, school staff will also be encouraged to form teams and walk or run Active Chatham’s 5K Reindeer Run in Pittsboro on December 10th. (More details about the race coming soon!)
Over the past few years, many of our schools have supported staff wellness through fitness and healthy eating challenges, convenient after-school aerobics and yoga classes, and stress reduction workshops. This school year, stay tuned for updates as schools build on their past successes and develop innovative new ways to support the wellbeing of their staff and students.