Lets Move Lets Learn
Lets Move Lets Learn
Lets Move Lets Learn
a service blueprint
Service as a Strategy:
IMPACT AREA:
education & youth, health
is a teaching and learning service strategy in which the mayors office helps children learn healthy eating and exercise behaviors through healthfocused service-learning activities.
Learn is a teaching
BACKGROUND
Childhood obesity is an epidemic affecting communities nationwide as the number of overweight and obese children has tripled in the last three decades. Today, one in three children in America are overweight or obese; millions will face chronic obesity-related health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and asthma. Obesity is estimated to cause more than 100,000 deaths per year in the United States. These health problems will have a significant impact on local government and the community at-large, straining health and emergency services and increasing the number of people who are disabled and dependent on public assistance. For obese children, the chance of becoming an obese adult is at least twice as high as the risk for non-obese children1 and each year, obese adults incur an estimated $1,4292 more in medical expenses than their nonobese peers.
1 Serdula, MK, Ivery, D, Coates, RJ, Freedman, DS, Williamson, DF, and Byers, T. (1993), Do obese children become obese adults? A review of the literature. Preventative Medicine, 2: 467-477. http://1.usa.gov/mR1zx2 2 Center for Disease Control Vital Signs Report: State-Specific Obesity Prevalence Among Adults - United States. (2009)
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Besides the staggering costs obesity places on our health care system, it also hinders children from becoming active and participating members of society. For example, overweight and obese children are often targets of early and systematic social discrimination.3 The psychological stress of social stigmatization can cause low self-esteem that hinders academic and social functioning, and persists into adulthood. Mayors, as elected leaders, can help address the obesity crisis locally. Using their bully pulpit to raise the visibility of health and nutrition in their communities and leveraging interest generated by the White Houses Lets Move! campaign, mayors can mobilize educators and youth-serving organizations to promote Lets Move, Lets Learn projects designed to measurably improve youths knowledge of healthy eating and exercise habits. By mixing classroom and experiential learning with a challenge to develop community projects aimed at addressing childhood obesity, mayors engage those of primary concern young people themselves in leading the campaign to change unhealthy patterns of behavior and help fight childhood obesity over the long-term.
REQUIRED ELEMENTS
Mayors office commits to raising the visibility of health and childhood obesity in the community, determines the target demographic youth for the initiative (e.g., elementary school students), and disseminates information about Lets Move, Lets Learn to create community interest.
Mayors office engages schools or youth-serving organizations to serve as partners and create a plan for developing and implementing the service-learning initiative. As part of this, the mayors office designates a lead partner to direct adult volunteer and partner coordination, curriculum development, and student engagement.
3 Strauss, MD and Pollack, H. (2003), Social marginalization of overweight children. Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 157: 746-752. http://bit.ly/oJj8ZX
The lead partner develops the curriculum for the program using the IPARD/C model (investigation, preparation and planning, action, reflection, demonstration and celebration), a tested method for engaging students in service learning. The curriculum should clearly spell out the teaching, learning, and service goals of the initiative. Youth Service America recommends that partners plan for the entire program to take about 40 cumulative hours spread across a semester.
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To advance the service component of the program, adults work with youth to develop and implement service projects related to obesity and healthy lifestyles. Through their projects, youth will try to increase the number of hours children spend exercising each week or the amount of fruits and vegetables they consume in their daily diet. Mayors office works with partners to host a Lets Move, Lets Learn fair (similar in structure to a science fair) to help students publicize their projects and report their results to the community, as well as recognize partners and volunteers.
Mayors office tracks and reports impact metrics for the initiative. Required metrics include: Number of students participating in the program Participating youths understanding of healthy food and lifestyles, assessed via survey Number of active living and healthy eating service-learning projects completed Number of young people served by the projects Number of hours of exercise generated by each project Reported increase in amount of fruits and vegetables consumed by young people targeted by each project
Depending on the type and duration of the service-learning projects, it also may be appropriate to track: Participating youths change in BMI or body fat percentage after completing service-learning projects that are a semester or longer Number of adults serving as volunteers in developing or executing service-learning projects
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4 http://ysa.org/grants 5 National Youth Leadership Councils K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice (2008) http://bit.ly/ss83k8
6 Youth Service Americas First Responders: Youth addressing childhood obesity through service-learning (2010) http://bit.ly/qO6oH3
Starting an after-school exercise club Creating a healthy snack station in schools Working with community gardens to grow vegetables that children can eat Cleaning or repairing a walking or hiking trail, and engaging peers to use it Cleaning or repairing an athletic field or play space, and organizing peers to use it Organizing a local farmers market Starting a school or community garden Organizing an intramural sports team or tournament Organizing a healthy eating seminar Organizing a personal training/fitness seminar
7 Dary, T., Prueter, B., Grinde, J., Grobschmidt, R., Evers, T. (2010) High quality instruction that transforms: A guide to implementing quality academic service-learning. http://1.usa.gov/p1p9ON 8 Billig, S. H., Root, S., & Jesse, D. (2005). The relationship between quality indicators of service-learning and student outcomes: Testing professional wisdom. In S. Root, J. Callahan, & S. H. Billig (Eds.), Advances in service-learning research: Vol. 5. Improving service-learning practice: Research on models to enhance impacts (pp. 97115). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
m easuring i mpact
Collecting data and reporting on the impact of each Lets Move, Lets Learn project is critical. The mayors office or its designated partners are tasked with collecting and reporting the following metrics: Number of students participating in the program Participating youths understanding of healthy food and lifestyles, assessed via survey Number of active living and healthy eating service-learning projects completed Number of young people served by the projects Number of hours of exercise generated by each project Reported increase in amount of fruits and vegetables consumed by young people targeted by each project Depending on the type and duration of the service-learning projects, it also may be appropriate to track: Participating youths change in BMI or body fat percentage after completing service-learning projects that are a semester or longer Number of adults serving as volunteers in developing or executing service-learning projects
Description of Lets Move, Lets Learn Information on how this initiative will positively impact the city and the youth involved (e.g., number of youth reached by the projects, number of hours of exercise completed through the projects, increase in awareness and knowledge of healthy lifestyles) The amount of funding requested, proposed breakdown of grant(s), and how those funds will be used The metrics that will be collected to assess progress Information on Cities of Service (this is especially helpful for national organizations) Description of a recognition plan for the donor (this could include logos on t-shirts if your city is creating them, branding on your service website if you have one, a speaking role at the Lets Move, Lets Learn Fair, etc.)
The Lets Move, Lets Learn Fair should serve as the major venue for recognizing and thanking the youth who complete service-learning projects, as well as the adult volunteers who support them. Other options include seeking media coverage, featuring projects on the mayors website, and providing youth with certificates signed by the mayor.
OPTIONAL ELEMENTS
Youth surveYs to identifY issues
With assistance from local leaders, the mayors office can conduct or empower young people to design and administer a survey to inquire about the eating habits and physical routines of their peers at the outset of the service-learning program. Working with youth leaders in the community, cities can then encourage and support youth-led service-learning projects addressing the issues identified in the survey. This data can also serve as a baseline against which to track the progress and impact of the service-learning projects.
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SERVICE-LEARNING IN ACTION
Across the nation, youth are taking an active role in the movement for healthier communities. The National Youth Leadership Council, a national organization that promotes service-learning to help redefine the role of youth in society, documents multiple youth-led service-learning projects that target childhood obesity.
Fifth graders in Oklahoma observed that many of their fellow elementary school students appeared to be out of shape. Working with their physical education teacher, the students anonymously gathered the height and weight of their schoolmates to calculate the average BMI of students at their school. They found that this average BMI was twice that of the state average. The students then devised a fitness challenge that could be replicated by other schools and worked with their local state representative to highlight their recommendations on improving child fitness, which were eventually signed into law.
cooking cluB
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Special-needs students in Minnesota worked with other students in their school to explore the skills required to purchase groceries and prepare a healthy, nutritious meal. Together they worked on reading labels and recipes and practiced math skills so theyd be prepared to count their change after grocery shopping. Following the students joint sessions, they planned their meals, created a grocery list, and bought the necessary items. They then presented their meal at a local senior centers multicultural celebration. Following the project, the students made gains in their reading, math, and communication skills, and showed marked improvements in their ability to develop relationships with other students.
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9 National Youth Leadership Council Resource Library: Project example Fitness Awareness That Makes a Difference http://bit.ly/oMxAHm 10 National Youth Leadership Council Resource Library: Project example Cooking Club http://bit.ly/mZJOir
RESOURCES
Youth Service America (YSA) provides multiple resources to support service-learning projects. One YSA initiative that engages youth as grantees in combating childhood obesity is the UnitedHealth HEROES program, described online at http://www.ysa.org/HEROES. YSA also provides a free service learning guide that outlines the IPARD/C model and provides sample reflection questions for students11 called First Responders: Youth Addressing Childhood Obesity through Service-Learning, available online at http://www.ysa.org/resources. In 2009 the Corporation for National and Community Service released a toolkit to help guide the development of service-learning projects called K-12 Service-Learning Project Planning Toolkit, 2009 Updated Edition. The toolkit can be found online at http://bit.ly/gkb0Yq. The Corporation for National and Community Services Learn and Serve America initiative has created the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse a comprehensive, online, database of resources for, research on, and examples of service-learning activities available online at http://www. servicelearning.org/. The National Youth Leadership Council, a leading youth leadership and service-learning organization, provides a number of resources to support the planning and development of service-learning projects including the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice, which can be found at http://bit.ly/nTeF3R. To view the full cadre of resources, visit www.nylc. org/resources. Community gardens can be an excellent vehicle for teaching healthy eating habits. The following resources provide more information on starting community gardens: The American Community Gardening Association is a prime resource for community garden advice: www.communitygarden.org/. Cooperative Extension System Offices are a national network of experts that give advice and research-based expertise to agriculture producers: http://1.usa.gov/cBHFPC. For an example of garden costs in San Francisco, see San Francisco Recreation & Parks Start a Community Garden webpage: http:// bit.ly/jAR39W.
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Special Thanks
Wed like to acknowledge the following organizations: The Corporation for National and Community Service for their expertise. The National Youth Leadership Council for their expertise and examples of impact. Youth Service America for their expertise and valuable lessons learned.
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Service as a Strategy is a partnership between ServiceNation and Cities of Service, which equips mayors with high-impact service strategies to address pressing local challenges, funded with generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Service as a Strategy
www.serviceasastrategy.org