PHS named “Program of the Year” Wetsman Foundation grant funds

Winter-Spring 2014 News
Reducing Childhood Obesity and its long-term health risks
Project Healthy
Schools Goals
 Eat more fruits and
vegetables
 Choose less sugary
foods and beverages
 Eat less fast and fatty
food
 Spend less mindless
time in front of a screen
 Be active every day
Did you
know?
 2014 is the tenth anniver-
sary of the PHS program!
We are planning a celebration event on November 7. Save the date!
 After achieving most of
the goals in the 20102015 plan, PHS held a
strategic planning
meeting in December to
begin work on the 20152020 strategic plan.
 On April 30, PHS will an-
nounce the names of up
to eight more schools
who will begin the PHS
program in the fall
through the Building
Healthy Communities
partnership.
PHS named “Program of the Year”
The new year always starts
with award season, when
the Grammy, Oscar, Golden
Globe and the less well
known, but equally impressive, University of Michigan
Hospitals and Health Centers (UMHHC) Program of
the Year awards are announced. On February 10,
2014 Project Healthy
Schools (PHS) was named
UMHHC 2013 Support Services Program of the Year. Members of the PHS team pose for a photo after winning the
2013 UMHHC Support Services Program of the Year Award.
This recognition is a great
honor that speaks to the superb work and dedication of the PHS team. Winners are recognized for their
excellence and innovation.
Wetsman Foundation grant funds
PHS high school program
In January, PHS began piloting the Science of Wellness program, which is designed for
high school students, at Medicine and Community Health Academy (MCHA) at Cody
High School in Detroit. The Science of Wellness program was developed by Skyline
High School teacher, Jeff Bradley. He created the program based on the PHS curriculum, and has been teaching it at Skyline for several years. PHS collaborated with
Bradley to package the course into web-based modules for use in other schools. A
grant from the Wetsman Foundation made this collaboration and implementation of
the program possible.
About the program
The Science of Wellness course takes place four days per week at MCHA at Cody High
School, for the entire semester. It provides students an introduction to the field of
public health sciences through physician role plays and exciting “hands-on” projects.
The curriculum, which is designed for use in 10th or 11th grade science class, includes
five units, with lessons and activities. The first unit reviews the 10 original PHS lessons for sixth graders. The second unit looks at food marketing, design, politics, policies and food-related diseases. In the third unit, students analyze food and the science
of food as a public health concern. Unit four has students study genetic reasons for
obesity as well as the blood chemistry of the obesity gene. The final unit includes a
service project that requires students to apply the skills learned in the lessons.
(See High school program on back page)
PHS becomes self-sustaining at Lincoln
The PHS program at Lincoln Middle School, which started in
January 2012, will become self-sustaining at the end of the 2013
-2014 school year. Lincoln achieved sustainability using the
three-years-to-sustainability model announced by PHS in 2012.
Key elements of the model include identifying a wellness champion, establishing a wellness team, gaining the support of the
school’s administration and transitioning program responsibility
to the wellness champion over three years. Lincoln achieved
these milestones and more.
One key success factor at Lincoln is district-level support for
health and wellness. Lincoln formed a district wellness team
that meets monthly during the school year and has administrative representation from every school in the district. It also inStudents at Lincoln Middle School are ready to get active.
cludes school counselors, nurses, parents, and community repreThe PHS program will be self-sustaining at Lincoln by the
sentatives.
end of the 2013-2014 school year.
Fundraising was another key to success. During the 2012-2013 school year, the wellness team hosted a couple
of Hat Day events. These were so successful that during the 2013-2014 school year, every early release school
day is a Hat Day. Students are able to pay $1 to wear a hat for the day. Each event raises $150-$200 for the
wellness team and Project Healthy Schools program sustainability.
Lincoln also has an exceptional wellness champion, Diane Colwell, who demonstrates a high level of interest
and commitment to her role with the program. She participates on the wellness team and communicates about
PHS initiatives with staff, students, administrators and parents. She also helps prepare and organize props for
the PHS lessons that are taught by the sixth-grade health teacher in health class.
Another key to Lincoln’s success is the high level of support from the school’s administration. Assistant Principal,
Gen Bertsos, is responsible for wellness at the district level which results in a vested interest in the success of
Project Healthy Schools at the middle school. Bertsos is present at all wellness team meetings, and supports all
initiatives at the highest level.
A word from UPSM Wellness Champion, Alaina Dague
Alaina Dague took over as PHS Wellness Champion at University Prep Science and Math Academy (UPSM) last fall.
She is excited about teaching in Detroit. This is her first year as a sixth-grade social studies and English teacher and
her first year as the wellness champion. She says, “In middle school, we are
growing young people just as much as we are growing young minds. It is important that we help our students develop healthy habits that they can maintain throughout their lives.”
Asked about what she hopes to accomplish as a wellness champion, Dague
says, “We are in the process of ensuring that our students have access to water
as a second beverage option at lunch. We just started the PHS lessons and will
conclude the year with the second annual UPSM 5K Walk/Run!”
Dague’s personal wellness goals include making time for healthy eating and
exercise. If there was one thing she would change in the school to create a
healthier environment, she says, “I would like to see our students have more
opportunities for physical activity during the day.”
Dague’s enthusiasm and leadership is making a healthy difference at UPSM as
she works with PHS to create more healthy options for students and to make
the program sustainable at the school.
Alaina Dague
© 2014 The Regents of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Regents of the University of Michigan: Mark J. Bernstein, Julia Donovan Darlow, Laurence B. Deitch, Shauna Ryder Diggs, Denise Ilitch, Andrea Fischer Newman, Andrew C. Richner,
Katherine E. White, Mary Sue Coleman, ex officio.
PHS research helps nation
reduce childhood obesity
Aunt Mid’s donates produce for
salad bars in two Detroit schools
PHS research contributes to the nation’s evidence on
effective school-based interventions for reducing childhood obesity and its long-term consequences. Since
2005, the PHS research team has developed over 85
presentations, abstracts and papers on topics related to
reducing childhood obesity. Below are the most recent
publications and presentations:

Immediate Impact of a 10-Week Middle School Intervention to Improve Health Behaviors and Reduce Cardiovascular Risk Factors – Project Healthy Schools in
Michigan. American Journal of Medicine, Oct. 2013.

Decreased High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in a
Cohort of Sixth-grade Children: Association with Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Lifestyle Behaviors.
Pediatric Cardiology, Oct. 2013 (published online).

Gender Differences in Physiologic Markers and Health
Behaviors Associated with Childhood Obesity.
Pediatrics, Sept 2013.

Heart Rate Recovery: An Indicator of Fitness Among
Middle School Children. Pediatric Cardiology, Aug.
2013.

Response to a School-based Health Intervention in
High- and Low-Income Communities American Heart
Association- Epidemiology and Prevention, Nutrition,
Physical Activity and Metabolism March 18, 2014,
San Francisco, CA (Poster Presentation).

Inactive Screen Time Associated w i t h U n h e a l t h y
D i e t a r y Consumption and Physiologic Characteristics: A Closer Look at Childhood Health Behaviors.
American College of Cardiology 2014/March 30,
Washington DC (Oral Presentation).
40 Participating PHS Schools
Over 900 students at University Prep Academy
Middle School (UPA) and University Prep Science
and Math Middle School in Detroit will have weekly
salad bars for the rest of the school year, thanks to
the generosity of Aunt Mid’s which is part of Riggio
Distribution Company. When approached by Alison
Heeres, a PHS wellness coordinator in Detroit,
Aunt Mid’s, a supplier of fresh-cut packaged fruits
and vegetables, offered to provide spinach and romaine lettuce, cucumbers, shredded carrots, red
bell peppers, and other items for weekly salad bars
at UPA and UPSM from March through the end of
the school year. Thank you Aunt Mid’s for making a
healthy difference in Detroit! Learn more about
Aunt Mid’s and Riggio Distribution Company at
www.auntmids.com and
www.riggiodistribution.com
DeRoy Foundation makes a
generous gift to PHS
At a recent board meeting, the Trustees o f t h e
D e R o y Testamentary Foundation approved a twoyear grant to support the Project Healthy Schools
program. The gift will be used to teach children of
Southeast Michigan, in particular those in underserved areas such as Detroit, the importance of
healthy living. The foundation’s investment will
allow PHS to strengthen and leverage the skills
found within its valuable network of employees and
volunteers, providing the resources to deliver consultation and training to school coordinators and
wellness champions, among other things.
In making the gift, the Trustees of the DeRoy Testamentary Foundation said they, “Appreciate the value of this important program for the youth of Southeast Michigan and are pleased to provide this support.” PHS is very grateful to the DeRoy Testamentary Foundation for their generous gift.
Project Healthy Schools: 734-764-0246, www.projecthealthyschools.org
Newsletter written and produced by Julie Nelson.
High school program
Continued from page 1
Why a high school program
PHS program co-founder Kim Eagle, M.D., Albion Walter Hewlett Professor of Internal Medicine and director
of the Samuel and Jean Frankel Cardiovascular Center
at the University of Michigan, was aware of Bradley’s
work at Skyline High School. He also knew that although PHS research shows that the PHS program
makes a long-term improvement in participants’ cardiovascular risk factors, by the ninth grade, cholesterol
levels, while still better than at baseline, begin to rise.
He began to envision a high school version of PHS. He
shared his vision with Bill and Janis Wetsman, who
have been supporting children’s health programs and
the arts for years and formed the Wetsman Foundation
to continue this work.
The Wetsman’s commitment
“When Kim [Eagle], who we respect very much, told us
about the work PHS is doing, supporting the program
seemed like a natural fit with our focus on supporting
children’s health,” says Bill Wetsman, who along with
his wife Janis, now serve on the PHS Advisory Board.
Janis Wetsman, who is a former educator, added,
“Obesity can have such a negative impact on a child’s
ability to learn and on their self-esteem. When a child
is growing up in poverty, as is the case for so many
children in Detroit,
the parents often
don’t have the means
or the education to
help their children
with a proper diet.
All of these things
can profoundly impact the child’s ability to do well academically. We wanted to
do something that
would help make a
difference for these
children.”
Choosing a High
School
Science of Wellness students prepare With a grant from
apples for the Super Salad. Students the Wetsman Founhad the opportunity to taste a salad
dation, in late 2012
that contained a variety of healthy
produce and learn the benefits of eating a PHS began working
with Bradley on de“rainbow of color.”
veloping a high school
version of the program. Bob Galardi, who is an educational consultant in Detroit and a member of the PHS
Advisory Board, suggested that the program would be
a good fit for Cody High School’s Medicine and Commu-
nity
Health
Academy.
In fall
2013, he
met with
principal,
Michelle
Parker
who identified science
teacher
Andrea
The Science of Wellness tool kit contains speEwasek to cialized DNA equipment to analyze the obesity
teach the gene on a chromosome during a three day lab.
course.
Delivering the Program
Bradley made several trips to Detroit in the fall to deliver the PHS Science of Wellness tool kit and meet
with Ewasek to explain how to use all the scientific
equipment. The tool kit contains specialized DNA
equipment to analyze the obesity gene on a chromosome during a three day lab. It also contains a heart
monitor, blood pressure and EKG sensors to obtain vital signs needed to run inquiry science experiments, as
well as several DVDs and various other lab supplies.
Ewasek began teaching the course in January to her
class of 20 students. Ewasek says, "In Science of Wellness the kids are exposed to a very practical side of
health and nutrition and through hands on experiences
they learn how to make positive choices in their lives."
One of her students added, “If you want to live longer,
come to Science of Wellness to learn about health.”
PHS is grateful to the Wetsmans for making development and implementation of the Science of Wellness
program possible.
Thank You PHS Supporters!
Thank you for your on-going support:
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Bob and Ellen Thompson Foundation
D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation
DeRoy Testamentary Foundation
Marvin and Betty Danto Family Foundation
Memorial Healthcare Foundation
University of Michigan Health System
Wetsman Foundation
We are also grateful to the many other corporations, foundations
and individual donors who have supported PHS over the years.
Information on how to donate is available at
www.projecthealthyschools.org
Project Healthy Schools: 734-764-0246, www.projecthealthyschools.org