C.A.T.C.H. Night Presentation by: Mary Higby Thompson

School Vision Statement- The staff of James W. Fannin Elementary School will create a positive learning environment in which every student, regardless of background, will succeed at their highest levels of achievement potential. School Goal: Improve reading and math scores through all subject areas and grade levels.

The Project -Create a CATCH night that teaches students to be educated about healthy lifestyles while incorporating the campus goals -Have students read and recreate a book incorporating healthy snacks (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) -Have the students throw bean bags at “Slow, Whoa, and Go” and count how many bags they threw at each sign -Have weekly meetings with Jr. League members to coordinate activities and manage groups -Assign volunteers to each group; have them responsible for communicating needs and progress

The Plan  What is CATCH?  Coordinated Approach to Childhood Health; a Texas mandated program to teach kids how to develop healthy lifestyle  Create a night (CATCH night) for the students to learn about healthy activities, nutritious foods, and participate in getting fit  Find applicable games/activities that are appealing to students of ages 5-12yrs years old

WHY A CATCH NIGHT? -Educate students about how to live a healthy lifestyle -Demonstrate and create physical activities -Create a healthy snack -Write about the healthy snack -Discuss “WHOA, GO, and SLOW” foods

Who is going to participate?  Fannin Elementary students in Midland, Texas  There is approximately 650 students; the goal is to have about 1/6 th of the students participate  Who is going to help?  Recruited the Junior league of Midland to complete some of their volunteer hours (20 people)

When?  After discussing the calendars between Fannin Elementary administration and The Jr. League of Midland, we came up with Thursday, November 29, 2012.

Action Plan  Form stations to meet the needs of the students  Motion Commotion- They play Wii games, the parachute and do some physical exercise  Art Smart- They read the “Very Hungry Caterpillar” book and create their own book using healthy snacks to feed their caterpillar  Portion Distortion- Do an activity with the “Slow, Whoa, and Go’ foods and have the students demonstrate their knowledge  Snack Attack- Talk about healthy snacks; the students create their own healthy snack  Healthy Food Pyramid Match Game  Twister  Jump Rope Station

Action Plan  The students will spend around 15 min. at each station until they are rotated to the next station  There will be at least 3 volunteers at each station; the rest will fill in as needed  Set up will be at 5:00PM; the event 5:30-7:30PM; clean up until 8:00PM  Create “Slow, Whoa, and Go” posters, buy the healthy snacks, have the school provide the tables, chairs, athletic equipment, and technology for the Wii system.

What do the students know about a healthy lifestyle?  Before the CATCH night, we gave the students a pretest questionnaire on their knowledge about what CATCH is and if they are leading a healthy lifestyle; below are some of the results.  About 50% students said they ate “WHOA” foods for snacks (chips, cake, candy) The other 50% said they ate mainly “Go” foods (oranges, grapes, apples)  50% of the students knew that CATCH meant being healthy…none could explain it very well  About 80% of the students participated in a physical activity outside of school (soccer, softball, taekwondo)  85% of the students could not tell you what the size of a food portion was  50% of the students could tell you at least 3 of the food groups on the food pyramid; 0% could name all 6  30% of the students could tell what “Slow, Whoa, and Go” foods are and give an example

The Event  Around 125 students attended with their parents  The response was very successful; the kids were authentically engaged to a point where their parents were giving them “5 minute deadlines”  Gave students a post-test as they were leaving the event

POST TEST -95% of students could explain the meaning of what CATCH meant -95% could explain what size of a food portion the students should have (the size of their fist or a bean bag) -80% could name 3 of the 6 food groups; 50% could name all 6 -90% could tell you what “Slow, Whoa, and Go” foods were and give an example

REFLECTIONS -Allowed the students and parents to receive a positive message in living a healthy lifestyle -Created a fun free night of activities and learning -Incorporated campus goals successfully -Achieved state mandated CATCH information successfully -Next time- would incorporate more volunteers and several more stations

SBEC Principal Competencies/Standards  Competency 1- “The principal knows how to shape campus culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.  Competency 2- The principal knows how to communicate with all the members of the school community, respond to diverse interests and needs, and mobilize resources to promote student successes.  Competency 4- The principal knows how to facilitate the design and implementation of curricula and strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment of curriculum, instruction, resources, and assessment; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance. (pre test and post test)  Competency 7- The principal knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills to ensure an effective learning environment.

FUTURE GOALS  Incorporate many more opportunities to bring families together to create a free night of healthy activities  Continue to implement weekly CATCH goals during the school day  Strive to create opportunities to allow more kids to attend the CATCH nights

Professional Development This project has allowed me to work with the community members, the stakeholders of our school, the students, the staff, and the parents to promote a positive message about healthy lifestyles. As a PE teacher, I was allowed to do a project about what I was passionate about, while starting at ground zero to create opportunities for student achievement, as well as mine. I learned about several different roles an administrator has such as: Public relations, scheduling, and resources available/needed. This adventure was very informational in my education as a future administrator.