In order to promote the program this year, and to introduce more students to skiing and snowboarding, we are offering a unique promotion: the elementary school that registers the most fifth graders into the program will win the chance to have Lindsey Vonn attend a pep rally or assembly at the school. We are looking for permission from the schools to promote and host this event.

We will need sign-off before September 1 if your school wishes to participate because we will begin promoting on September 2. Please contact me directly with any questions or concerns. Get more info here

Sincerely,

Sara Turner
Manager, Marketing Partnerships
Vail Resorts Management Company
390 Interlocken Crescent
Broomfield, CO 80021
303-404-1859
www.snow.com

Rose Center for Health & Sport Science
Student Education Enrichment Program

Goal: To show students cutting-edge technology and share information about sport science and health through field trips to RCHSS. By trying the technological advances represented at RCHSS, the students will become more engaged in their health and well being, and may begin to make healthy changes to their exercise and nutrition habits.

Structure: 40-55 minute field trip to RCHSS, where students try various technology breakthroughs such as whole body vibration, sports vision and balance enhancement, functional reactive training and other measures geared for the age/grade level attending.

There is both a sports performance and general wellness presentation, and schools can pick which one will be of the most interest for that particular group. Each student receives a handout at the end which emphasizes key points. In this environment, not every student can try everything, but with a group of 20-25 students, we can ensure almost everyone gets to try something. This is a community service provided by RCHSS with no cost involved to the student or school.

Details:
· Each student/parent must complete and bring a waiver for participation.
· Group size is limited to 25 to ensure the best student experience.
· Field trip dates are set up a minimum of 2 weeks in advance, and because of patient load, these dates and times once set should not be changed.
· RCHSS has easy bus access for unloading students on the south side of the building.

Rose Center for Health & Sport Science
4700 East Hale Parkway, Suite 300
Denver, CO 80220
303.320.2870
Neil Wolkodoff, PhD, Program Director
neil.wolkodoff@healthonecares.com
www.rosechss.com

Thank you for reviewing these new funding opportunities from the Colorado Health Foundation! Please pass this along to school districts that may be interested and/or incorporate into your newsletters as you see fit. Let me know if you have questions!

With the goal of encouraging students to be more active and improving physical education programs throughout the state, the Foundation recently introduced two new funding opportunities for schools -- Active Play Areas and Physical Education Quality Improvement. The Foundation invites school districts to submit applications to increase the number of children who have access to safe, age-appropriate play spaces that promote physical activity during and beyond the school day. School districts also are invited to submit applications to increase the number of students who engage in moderate or vigorous physical activity through its new Physical Education Quality Improvement funding opportunity.

Active Play Areas
If kids attend a “healthy school” where they are served healthy meals and have opportunities for physical activity and access to basic health care, then they are better able to learn and maintain healthy habits into adulthood. Learn more

Physical Education Quality Improvement
Providing students with high quality physical education is one component of an overall “healthy school,” and offers a meaningful opportunity to improve student fitness and learning. Learn more

Encouraging Colorado nonprofits to work in areas of high need, funding opportunities are created to drive applicants to apply for specific types of grants the Foundation has identified as high impact. Our next deadline is October 15, 2010.

Sincerely,

Hillary Fulton

Hillary Fulton
Program Officer
The Colorado Health Foundation
501 S. Cherry St., Suite 1100
Denver, CO 80246-1325
hfulton@coloradohealth.org
TEL: 303.953.3626
FAX: 303.322.4576

Our next proposal deadline is October 15, 2010 by 5:00 p.m.
Apply online at www.ColoradoHealth.org

The Coordinator works with CDOT staff, local communities, schools and non profits in administering the Colorado Safe Routes to School grant program. The position will promote the program statewide, review grant proposals, monitor grant funding, recommend policies and procedures, provide technical assistance to potential applicants and grantees, and work with FHWA regarding regulations and administration of the program. This is a full time position situated in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Unit of CDOT.

Applications are due by August 20, 2010. For a complete job description and information, please go to: http://www.jobaps.com/CDOT/sup/BulPreview..asp?R1=100805&R2=H6G3AZ&R3=01

Betsy Jacobsen

CDOT Bicycle/Pedestrian/Scenic Byways Unit Manager

4201 E. Arkansas Avenue

Denver, CO 80222

303-757-9982

Win an IPOD for Registering

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WASHINGTON, DC, April 14, 2010 – In support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) today announced its new Let’s Move In School Initiative, and in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Adolescent and School Health, presented the findings of a new comprehensive CDC report on physical activity, physical education and academic performance.
According to NASPE President Lynn Couturier, chair of the Physical Education Department, State University of New York at Cortland, “The purpose of Let’s Move In School is to educate youth about the benefits of a physically active lifestyle and ensure that every school provides opportunities for quality physical education and physical activity. Let’s Move In School urges parents, school administrators, policymakers and concerned citizens to take three action steps to help schools implement a comprehensive school-based physical activity program which includes 1) quality physical education, 2) physical activity integrated into classroom learning; 3) physical activity breaks, 4) recess, 5) before-and-after school programs,6) intramural sport, 7) interscholastic sports; 8) walk- and bike-to-school programs.”
The Let’s Move In School Web site (www.LetsMoveInSchool.org) provides tools to support quality, school-based physical education and physical activity programs, such as sources of funding, recognition for outstanding physical education teachers and programs and information on federal, state and local policy efforts. In addition, NASPE has produced a new brochure for parents, school administrators and policymakers called Active Kids and Academic Performance: The Positive Impact of School-Based Physical Education and Physical Activity. The brochure is funded by GeoMotion Group.
NASPE hopes that the Let’s Move In School Initiative will serve as a platform to bring together organizations committed to increasing physical education and physical activity in schools and supporting the First Lady’s Let’s Move Campaign. As such, we are pleased to announce our first Let’s Move In School partner, Cartoon Network, demonstrating their continued commitment to promoting physical activity among young people.
“This new CDC report documents that school-based physical activity programs may help improve academic achievement, as well as other factors that can positively influence academic achievement in children,” said Dr. Howell Wechsler, division director of CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH). Among the findings:

· Increasing or maintaining time dedicated to physical activity does not adversely impact academic performance. Studies suggest there may be a range of possible benefits for some students, including developing a stronger sense of self, fostering educational aspirations, maintaining interest in class, encouraging homework completion, and reducing dropout rates.
· There is evidence that school-based physical activity may help improve academic achievement (such as grades and standardized test scores) and factors that can positively influence academic achievement (such as concentration, attention, and improved classroom behavior).

Collectively, the findings from this review support the Healthy People 2010 Objective that calls upon the Nation’s schools to require daily physical education for all students and NASPE’s recommendations for a comprehensive school-based physical activity program.
Taking all of the evidence into account, schools should strive to provide students with a well-rounded education that includes quality physical education and comprehensive physical activity programs as defined by national recommendations.
CDC’s full report can be found at www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth. Through Let’s Move In School, NASPE is committed to translating those findings into action steps for improving comprehensive school physical activity programs for every child in America.
“One of the longtime barriers to student success has been the separation of health from the education process," said ASCD Executive Director Gene R. Carter. "We must recognize that physical, social, emotional, and mental health are inextricably linked to student growth and improved academic performance. Let’s support the development of the whole child by transforming our educational system to one that is committed to ensuring that children are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.”
Loudoun County (VA) Schools Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick, Ed.D., who is currently president-elect of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), said ”Superintendents across America applaud NASPE for shining a light on the importance of physical activity in young people’s lives. First Lady Obama’s efforts to address childhood obesity and the efforts of NASPE will work together to bring action to what we have known for at least a hundred years: young people who are physically active learn better; a healthy body and a healthy mind really do go together to enable young people to learn their best, perform their best, and live their best.”
Councilmember Mary M. Cheh of the Council of the District of Columbia is putting the research findings into action with her introduction of the Healthy Schools Act which includes targets relative to increasing time in physical education class each week from 30 minutes in 2010 to 150 minutes per week for students in kindergarten through grade 5 by 2015. It is also the goal for all District of Columbia children to engage in physical activity for 60 minutes every day. “One of the primary causes for the District’s drastically high obesity rate is the simple fact that our students have little physical activity. My bill seeks to change that. In addition to improving the nutritional value of food in schools and providing health and wellness education, my bill will substantially increase physical education—the key to ending the obesity epidemic in the District of Columbia.”
“We know that kids need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day,” said NASPE Executive Director Charlene R. Burgeson. “That is why we should design the school day to include all of the components of a comprehensive school-based physical activity program. Sometimes it doesn’t take more money as much as more creativity and imagination. NASPE is very appreciative to First Lady Michelle Obama for beginning this important national conversation. Now it is time to set in place ways to utilize all of the resources in a school community to truly eradicate childhood obesity in a generation.”

NASPE
The preeminent national authority on physical education and a recognized leader in sport and physical activity, the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) is a non-profit professional membership association that sets the standard for practice in physical education and sport. NASPE’s 15,000 members include: K-12 physical education teachers, coaches, athletic directors, sport management professionals, researchers, and college/university faculty who prepare professionals in all of these areas. NASPE seeks to enhance knowledge, improve professional practice, and increase support for high-quality physical education, sport and physical activity programs. It is the largest of the five national associations that make up the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (AAHPERD). For more information, visit www.naspeinfo.org.

bodybuilder.

Adopted in December by the Colorado Board of Education, the new standards integrate 21st

century concepts of health and wellness into time-tested physical education practices, they

promote the creation of individualized physical activity plans and they provide students with

the skills to assess their own fitness needs throughout their lifetimes.

They’re hands-down better than the old standards, which hadn’t been revised in 15 years

and which were sports-focused rather than health-focused.

There’s just one problem: The standards dictate what is taught. They don’t dictate whether it’s taught.

“They don’t have to meet the standards unless they teach physical education,” said Terry Jones, senior consultant for health and physical

education for the Colorado Department of Education. “If a district chooses not to teach P.E., well, that’s a whole different story.”

Increasing numbers of Colorado school districts appear to be foregoing physical education, at both the elementary and secondary levels.

Colorado is one of 10 states that fail to place any requirements on elementary schools to provide physical education instruction. It’s one of

11 states with no middle school physical education requirements, and one of seven states with no high school requirements. And it’s one of

just four states – along with Alaska, Oklahoma and Michigan – that have no physical education requirements at any grade level.

Colorado doesn’t require schools to teach math or English either. This is a local-control state, and the only thing Colorado school districts

are required by law to teach is ninth-grade civics.

P.E. not tested

But federal standards – i.e., No Child Left Behind – and state standardized tests – CSAP – do hold local school districts accountable for

teaching math, reading and writing. Without mandatory testing and reporting on physical education, however, it remains optional for

Colorado school districts.

Hard statistics on just how much physical education is available in each of Colorado’s 178 school districts are difficult to come by. Clayton

Ellis, president of the Colorado Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, said he’s spent two years trying to

compile that information, with limited success.

“There’s such turnover in the districts, it’s hard to collect the data,” he said. “We’ve tried to incorporate some questions about that into

the health surveys that the Colorado Department of Education sends out, but there’s only so much you can survey the school districts on

because they start to feel overwhelmed.”

As far as he can tell, every district in Colorado does require at least one semester of physical education as a graduation requirement from

high school, with 1.0 to 1.5 required P.E. credits being the average around the state. Some also require a semester of health.

But getting a “credit” for physical education and actually spending a semester exercising are two different things. Many districts waive

the physical education requirement for students taking band or ROTC or playing a sport. Yet none of those activities adequately equips a

young person with the knowledge needed to sustain a fit and healthy lifestyle, according to Ellis.

“Our goal for physical education should be to put personal trainers out of business,” said Ellis, who teaches physical education at Aurora

Central High School. “If high school teachers are training their kids to design their own programs, if they’re making them more healthrelated,

lifelong activity programs rather sports-related programs, then kids wouldn’t have to pay for personal trainers when they

become obese after they’ve graduated.”

The lack of focus on physical education isn’t limited to secondary education. Nationwide, it’s estimated that just 3.8 percent of elementary

schools provide daily physical education or its equivalent for the entire school year. Many elementary schools schedule their students for

one physical education class a week.

“So they have P.E. 30 times a year,” Ellis said. “They have highly qualified teachers and good programs, but the teachers don’t get to see

the kids enough.”

Then they move to middle school, where P.E. is an option that can be replaced by band or choir.

“They could go through their entire middle school years without taking any P.E. at all,” Ellis said. “Then they get to high school and they

haven’t developed any skills because they haven’t had any P.E. for years. They’ve lost all the basics of physical education.”

High school P.E. too sports-focused?

Ellis, who was recently honored as the national Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the American Association for Health, Physical

Education, Recreation and Dance, said he’s concerned high school P.E. is too sports-focused.

“We’re not getting those kids who aren’t interested in athletics,” he said. “Less than 3 percent of kids go into team sports after they

graduate from high school but that’s what we’re teaching them. We should be teaching them more lifelong, health-related fitness

activities.”

That’s where Colorado’s new physical education standards could prove useful. They could force P.E. teachers into a curriculum more

geared to the needs of 21st century students.

“The biggest change is that we’re now asking students to know and understand how to assess their physical fitness levels, how to do

physical activity plans so they can use those skills once they graduate,” said the CDE’s Jones.

“They will develop, with the help of their teachers, a fitness plan to help them move forward in areas where they may need added

support. So say they’re low in cardiovascular endurance. They’ll assess that, and come up with a plan to improve their endurance.”

But there’s still the problem of regularly scheduled physical education. The curriculum doesn’t matter if there’s no time to teach it.

And despite all the evidence that physical activity helps students across all academic disciplines – and the fact that most elementary

school principals believe recess is absolutely critical – just finding the time to squeeze in any sort of exercise into a crowded school day can

be a challenge.

“A lot of districts have reduced their PE requirements, and that’s true for all physical activity,” Jones said. “Recess times have been

reduced at some elementaries to one lunchtime recess or even to no recess time at all.”

Legislative ups and downs

Last year, the Colorado legislature considered a bill to force school districts to require a minimum of 150 minutes of physical activity each

week for children in kindergarten through 12th grade. Versions of that bill, introduced by Sen. Chris Romer, passed both the Senate and

the House, but died when the chambers could not reconcile the different versions.

No similar legislation has been introduced this year.

At the federal level, however, legislation has been proposed that would require all school districts to report on the quantity and quality of

physical education they offer, integrate physical activity and wellness activities throughout the school day, and train teachers and

principals to do a better job at promoting physical education.

The bill, known as the FIT Kids Act, amends the No Child Left Behind Act. It was introduced into Congress a year ago by Sen. Tom

Harkin, D-Iowa, and Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wisc., Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and Jay Inslee, D-Wash.

The bill has a long list of backers, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Diabetes Association, BlueCross

BlueShield, the National PTA and even the National Football League. Even so, the bill, originally introduced in 2007, has yet to be heard

in committee.

“It would be a huge paradigm shift,” Ellis said, “but we’re taking baby steps. I’m hoping the FIT Kids Act will be approved, just to get

schools to start reporting their data. P.E. is still the old dumping ground, and we need to shift that.”

To read the new Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Standards for Colorado Schools, click here here.

To read “A State of Play,” a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation study, released last week, on the benefits of recess on elementary school

achievement, click here.

To see a state-by-state summary from the Center for Disease Control’s 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study, click here.

  Rocky Mountain Center for Health Promotion and Education in partnership with University of Colorado Denver School of Education and Human Development (SEHD) have developed this certificate in School Health Education. At SEHD, the certificate is coordinated by the Center for Continuing and Professional Education (CPE).

 
This certificate offers high quality professional development and focused attention for educators interested in health education. This certificate has been developed to accommodate certified teachers whose primary credential is not health, as well as those health educators who wish to further their knowledge related to the current trends in health education. All courses are for graduate credit through the University of Colorado at Denver and can support work towards a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction through the SEHD. Credits will also support Colorado Department of Education Health Education endorsement.

Core components of the certificate courses will focus on Comprehensive Health Education, Coordinated School Health, National Health Education Standards, and the characteristics of effective health education curricula. Culturally responsive classroom practices, and effective teaching strategies will be examined to support health education. 

The first course, Foundations of School Health Education, starts June 8th 2010.

For more information http://www.rmc.org/Training/UCD_intro.html

USING MOVEMENT AS A TEACHING STRATEGY IN EDUCATION, DNCE 508

http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/07/07132009.html

Total state-level expenditure estimates in 2003 dollars range from $87 million in Wyoming to $7.7 billion in California. Obesity-attributable Medicaid expenditure estimates range from $23 million in Wyoming to $3.5 billion in New York. Medicare expenditures range from $15 million in Wyoming to $1.7 billion in California.

"Obesity has become a crucial health problem for our nation, and these findings show that the medical costs alone reflect the significance of the challenge," said HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. "Of course the ultimate cost to Americans is measured in chronic disease and early death. We must take responsibility both as individuals and working together to reduce the health toll associated with obesity."

The estimated percentage of annual medical expenditures in each state attributable to obesity ranges from 4 percent in Arizona to 6.7 percent in Alaska. For Medicare expenditures, the percentage ranges from 3.9 percent for Arizona to 9.8 percent for Delaware. For Medicaid recipients, the percentages are much higher - ranging from 7.7 percent in Rhode Island to 15.7 percent in Indiana.

"These estimates of obesity-attributable medical expenditures present the best available information concerning the economic impact of obesity at the state level," said Eric A. Finkelstein, an RTI economist and lead author of the article. The figures confirm earlier findings that obesity accounts for a significant, and preventable, portion of the nation's medical bill.

"This report is alarming given that obesity has been shown to promote many chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer, and gallbladder disease," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director. "The long-term effects of obesity on our nation's health and on our economy should not be underestimated."

According to CDC's 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), an estimated 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight (33 percent) or obese (31 percent). Another CDC survey - the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 1998-2000 (pooled data) revealed that self-reported obesity prevalence ranges from 15 percent in Colorado to 25 percent in West Virginia. Among Medicare recipients, obesity prevalence ranges from 12 percent in Hawaii to 30 percent in Washington, D.C. Obesity prevalence among Medicaid recipients is much higher, ranging from 21 percent in Rhode Island to 44 percent in Indiana.

State-Level Estimates of Annual Medical Expenditures Attributable to Obesity, by Eric A. Finkelstein and Ian C. Fiebelkorn, RTI International, and Guijing Wang, CDC, appears in the January 2004 issue of the journal Obesity Research, published by the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. The article is available on-line at www.obesityresearch.org beginning January 23.

RTI International is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to conducting research that improves the human condition. For more information, visit RTI's Web site at www.rti.org. For more information about overweight and obesity visit CDC's Nutrition and Physical Activity Web site at www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity.

CDC protects people's health and safety by preventing and controlling diseases and injuries; enhances health decisions by providing credible information on critical health issues; and promotes healthy living through strong partnerships with local, national, and international organizations.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

The study provides a snapshot of the current health of the nation. More importantly, the study's findings provide a troubling glimpse of an ongoing health care crisis in smoking, poor nutrition and physical inactivity, which are preventable behaviors that are significant contributors to cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The study is based on data gathered through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES.) State-specific data for behavioral health risks in all 50 states can be found on CDC's BRFSS website at: http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.htm

To obtain an abstract of the Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000, visit JAMA's web site at www.jama.ama-assn.org. Abstract posting will occur tomorrow after 4:00 p.m. (ET). For more information on CDC's program efforts, including tobacco control, nutrition, physical activity, and other health behaviors and prevention strategies, visit CDC's web site at www.cdc.gov.

Cross lateral movement organizes brain functions.Crossing midlines integrates brain hemispheres to organize itself; blood flow is increased in all parts of the brain making it more alert and energized for learning. (Dennison, Hannaford)
http://www.braingym.com/html/what_is_it_.html
http://www.actionbasedlearning.com/cgi-bin/article05.pl

Movement is the only thing that unites all brain levels and integrates the right and left hemispheres of young learners.
http://users.stargate.net/~cokids/brain.html

"The CDC and NIH have called for more physical activity and physical education for all children. Daily, quality physical education in all schools is a sound investment in our nation's health and productivity."
http://www.pe4life.com/communityactionkit/pres1a/1a_handout1.pdf

Nearly 200 studies on the effect of exercise on cognitive functioning suggest that physical activity supports learning.
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/docs/pe_ba.pdf

Studies demonstrate the positive effects daily physical activity has on student performance and academic achievement in terms of memory, observation, problem-solving and decision-making, as well as significant improvements in attitudes, discipline, behaviors and creativity.
http://www.activehealthykids.ca/ophea/ActiveHealthyKids/trends.cfm

You can find the "Guidelines for Responsible Food Marketing to Children" at: http://cspinet.org/marketingguidelines.pdf (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read this document.)

To learn how you can use the Guidelines to make changes in your community, click on: http://cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/guidelines_organizing_tool.pdf (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read this document.)

For background information, see "Pestering Parents: How Food Companies Market Obesity to Children" at: http://www.cspinet.org/pesteringparents

If you would like to work to urge companies to follow the Guidelines in your state or community, please let us know how we can be of assistance. Also, please forward the Guidelines to others who you think might be interested.

Dr. Margo G. Wootan
Center for Science in the Public Interest
202-777-8352

By Laura Sessions Stepp
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 25, 2004; Page A01

Children and teenagers are safer now than they have been in three decades, but on many other measures, including school performance and health, their lives are no better, according to a first-of-its-kind national survey released yesterday.

Young people today are less likely to become criminals, crime victims or parents than they were in 1975, the survey's base year. High school seniors are less likely to smoke, drink or use illicit drugs. But children and youths also are more likely to be obese or to commit suicide and far more likely to live in a single-parent home, which brings with it a number of financial and emotional problems.

The report was compiled by researchers from Duke University and the Foundation for Child Development, a philanthropic organization that supports child research. They are trying to create an ongoing index -- akin to the consumer price index -- to evaluate how American children are faring from year to year.

Lead researcher Kenneth C. Land, a professor of sociology at Duke, looked at 28 measures that social scientists consider the gold standard for assessing children's well-being. He then combined them into seven broader categories and charted the percentage change of each starting in 1975, the first year that reliable data became available.

Finally, he averaged the changes to come up with a composite score to compare with the 1975 baseline, which he set at 100. For 2003, the overall score was 105 -- a gain of 5 percent.

Rolling out his report yesterday to a large crowd at the Brookings Institution, Land attributed the stagnancy in children's quality of life largely to a volatile economy, particularly from 1981 to 1994, and to the increase in single-parent families.

"We are now in a no-growth, or slow-growth, era," he said, referring to the economy. "If that continues, we may be seeing another generation of parents raising families in an environment that will negatively impact child well-being."

The index would have been significantly lower -- lower, in fact, than the 1975 score -- were it not for the improvements in child safety and destructive behaviors that began in the mid-1990s, said Donald J. Hernandez, a professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Albany, who was a consultant on the survey.

Land said in an interview that he finds it "remarkable" that the decrease in juvenile crime continued even after the crack cocaine epidemic of the late 1980s subsided. It may be that Americans developed a siege mentality, encouraged by media images of violence, that moved courts to be hard on young offenders, parents to start monitoring their children more closely, and schools to offer after-school programs that kept kids occupied and off the streets, he said.

If children's safety showed the most improvement, measures of children's health showed the most slippage. The researchers attributed this primarily to obesity, with children getting fatter beginning in 1983 and 1984. Even if obesity is removed from the general health measure, however, children's health still has not improved since 1984.

"We've spent all this money on health, obesity has gotten worse and everything else is the same," Hernandez said.

He said he also was surprised by the apparent lack of progress in education. Children's performance on national reading and math tests -- a key marker of knowledge and proficiency, educators say -- remained flat.

"When I saw that line, I said, 'Oh, man.' I was stunned," Hernandez said. "We like to think education is improving." On the other hand, he continued, "there has been a big brouhaha in society that schools are failing. They're not failing."

Another area of concern was the category of "emotional/spiritual well-being," which, according to Land's data, plummeted in 1985 and has not completely recovered. Driving that decline was the suicide rate of youngsters ages 10 to 19, which increased for all ages in the late 1980s and only recently started to decrease.

Child advocates have talked for years about coming up with a figure to generate more public interest in the overall welfare of children, much as economists use the consumer price index or the gross national product to track economic health. As Ruby Takanishi, president of the Foundation for Child Development, has said, Americans talk about the CPI and the GNP, so why not have a CWI -- a child well-being index?

A panel at yesterday's briefing, which included members of Congress and child advocates, indicated that an index, updated yearly, might well draw attention and inform debate. But, they added, it is unclear whether it would affect policy -- in part because lawmakers tend to put their own spin on such data.

Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), for example, said he would have expected children to be better off today than the index indicated. What the data tell him, he said, is that "we should be putting more resources into programs," particularly those that increase children's material well-being.

But Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) countered by saying the study showed "if we did spend a lot more, it wouldn't necessarily impact children in the way we would like."

What the index may do, said Wade F. Horn, President Bush's "childhood czar" in the Department of Health and Human Services, is inspire larger cultural shifts in the way Americans respond to certain childhood problems such as teenage pregnancy.

"When we identify a problem and make a concerted effort to address that problem," Horn said in an interview, "generally we're successful."

It's hard for some to imagine how a math lesson could translate to an art class.

But not for Vancouver School District art teachers, and it doesn't just stop with math. Students practice literacy in dance class, math in music class and science in visual art class.

"The kid who couldn't understand fractions on paper could go into a music class and totally get it," said Meg Martynowicz, a Vancouver dance teacher.

In Vancouver School District elementary schools, teachers in dance, visual art and music come together to combine lessons that reflect classroom curriculum. And through times of budget reductions and tougher mandates, educators say reliance on community support and local levy dollars are the key to keep such programs alive.

The goal is to teach students that an artistic process or skill can be translated to any subject from reading to history. Along the way, teachers hope that students also develop an appreciation for a creative process.

"It's really much more about the well-rounded-citizen thing than we're trying to put out little Picassos or ballerinas," said Rie Gilsdorf, the district's arts curriculum specialist.

All Vancouver students in first through fifth grades attend 40 minutes of music, visual art, dance and physical education a week. The programs, funded equally, are supported by maintenance and operation levy money.

Money is one key to offering the programs. Time is another. As federal and state testing mandates place more academic demands on students and teachers, arts teachers look for more ways to integrate their classes with the more traditional school lessons.

This year the Vancouver district has placed an emphasis on literacy -- the combination of reading, writing and understanding the written word.

With that in mind, art teachers at Franklin Elementary devised a lesson based on Japanese poetry.

The lesson started with students writing haiku and ended with them performing dances and songs and creating artwork based on their poetry.

Through the help of guest artist Wendy Thompson, Martynowicz, visual art teacher Sheila Hutchison and music teacher Margaret Green combined their lessons. Thompson explained how she helped the students and teachers transition the students' ideas to words, the words to poems and eventually the poems to songs, dances and paintings.

"It's all symbols," she said. "Writing is symbols, and art is symbols, it's the personal interpretation of those symbols."

Dance teacher Anne Averre uses books and literature as a regular teaching tool in her classes at Minnehaha and Martin Luther King elementary schools.

"Dance and reading share a couple of things," she said. "There are segments that go in an order and create meaning. That's exactly what happens in a word or a sentence or a paragraph or a story."

Averre shows young students how to make the shapes of letters with their bodies. As the students mimic letters, they create words and talk about the sounds letters make. With older students, she often reads a story and then asks students to identify the action words, or verbs. Then, the students put movements with those words.

In a recent assignment, fifth-graders learned about African-American poet Langston Hughes. Averre asked the students to act out or create dance motions to his poetry.

The exercise was good for some of Averre's students who struggled to read his work. "I had several Russian students who didn't understand the excerpt just after reading it, but after acting it out they understood it better," she said. "It gives them another way to demonstrate their understanding."

AN ARTS TRADITION

The Vancouver district was recognized nationally in 1999 for its arts program. A national study of arts education in public schools cited the district as one of two in the country with exemplary programs.

The district still is a leader. Vancouver is the only Clark County district, and one of few in the nation, that offers a dance program at all elementary schools, something its done for 13 years. It is also one of few districts in the state, and the only one in Clark County, to have a magnet school dedicated to arts. The Vancouver School of Arts and Academics was founded in 1997.

"We're a lighthouse for the arts movement in the nation," said Hutchison. Local arts educators hope the district keeps arts as a priority.

Ron Porterfield, the district's chief for elementary education, said during the last legislative session, lawmakers reduced the amount of money district will get to help out with such programs.

"Even though it's going to get a little squeakier, we're going to be able to keep the programs going," he said. "We are so cognizant of the fact that education is not just about being able to read, write and do mathematic skills."

ANOTHER KIND OF LEARNING

Arts advocates say there's another good reason to keep arts alive in public schools: Students with disabilities, those whose native language is one other than English and those who are hands-on learners flourish in arts classes.

"There's something about dance, that we can take the kids who are pretty seriously handicapped and they can be pretty successful," Gilsdorf said.

Success in arts classes can give students a boost in self esteem. Gilsdorf said an example of that is found in dance classes, where kids often don't have any preconceived ideas about what dance is.

"A kid by the third grade, can tell if they are good at drawing or not," Gilsdorf said. "Because nobody really knows what dance looks like on a second-grader, there is a wide range of kids being successful."

SUMMARY:

-Students in Vancouver, Washington elementary schools receive 40 minutes of music, visual art, dance, and physical education each week. These programs are funded by local tax dollars.

- Arts teachers try to integrate the content of their lessons with other school subjects to help students succeed on standardized tests.

- Students who struggle with certain academic subjects due to language differences or learning disabilities often reach fuller understanding of all subject matter through the arts.

A report published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics evaluated evidence from more than 2,000 published articles and abstracts on the influence of daily vigorous physical activity on the mental health, academic achievement, injury, and musculoskeletal health of youths 6 to 18 years of age.

The article and an accompanying editorial conclude that a minimum of 60 minutes of activity per day is necessary to maintain overall health, but point out that much more research is needed on specific points, such as the amount of physical activity needed to prevent excessive weight gain in children and adolescents. And to achieve the recommended daily physical activity will require "effective counseling" by health care providers, implementation of physical education programs in schools, and promotion of community recreational centers, the editorial notes. Reprints of the article, "Evidence-Based Physical Activity for School-Age Youth," are available from wcd4@cdc.gov.

VERB is a national campaign of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase physical activity among tweens (youth ages 9 to 13).

The mission of the campaign is to increase and maintain regular physical activity among tweens (children ages 9 to 13) using media advertising, community events, partnerships and strategic marketing to reach tweens, parents, and other adult ìinfluencers. CDC encourages dissemination of the information in this update to others with an interest in the mission of the VERB campaign.

This campaign update is sent via VERB-LIST, a service of the VERB campaign at CDC, Atlanta, Georgia. To subscribe to VERB-LIST, send an e-mail to listserv@cdc.gov with only the following in the body of your message: subscribe VERB-LIST To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@cdc.gov with only the following in the body of your message: signoff VERB-LIST

Visit http://www.cdc.gov/verb for more information about the VERB campaign. Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.

VERB Update -- August 5, 2005

August Issue of Pediatrics Includes First-Year Results of VERB Campaign Year-one results of the CDC's VERB campaign have been published in the August issue of Pediatrics. Evaluation results show that after one year of the campaign, 74% of children surveyed were aware of the VERB campaign and levels of reported sessions of free-time physical activity increased for subgroups of children 9 to 13 years of age.

The VERB campaign is a multi-ethinc campaign that combines paid advertisements with school and community promotions and Internet activities to encourage children 9 to 13 years of age to be physically active every day. For the full article visit http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/116/2/e277.

FREE Physical activity kit for use with tweens

The VERB campaign has a new physical activity kit for use with tweens by schools, afterschool programs, and the like. Please let each of your projects (or other relevant contacts) know about this free resource and how they can order it. Below is a short description about the Make It Up kit that you can use. Please help us get the word -- and the kits -- out. This information is ready for immediate promotion.

New Resource from VERB(tm) Promotes Fun, Active Games Are you looking for new ways to keep groups of children in your programs and classes moving throughout the year? Active games are a great way for all kids to join in the fun, regardless of their skill level or athleticism. For new games encourage tweens (ages 9 to 13) to "make it up" using ideas and prizes from VERB's Make It Up kit. The free kit provides prizes for up to 100 tweens. Use priority code MK05MK when ordering now at http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/index.htm.

VERB is a national campaign of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase physical activity among tweens (youth ages 9 to 13).

The "Stop Bullying Now!" campaign was developed by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration in partnership with NASPE as well as more than 70 other health, safety, education, and faith-based organizations.

Once the campaign launches on March 1, all campaign materials - including animated webisodes, public service announcements, and resources for educators, health and safety professionals, parents, and others - will be available online at www.StopBullyingNow@hrsa.gov .

The resources will also be available by calling 1-888-ASK-HRSA.

A Good Time provides detailed descriptions of those after-school programs that have been shown through careful research to have a positive impact on adolescent sexual behavior.

No Time to Waste provides detailed descriptions of those programs for middle-school-aged youth that have been shown through careful research to have a positive impact on adolescent sexual behavior.

A team of researchers from Child Trends' Fertility and Family Structure group wrote the reports, which were developed as part of the National Campaign's ongoing Putting What Works to Work project. This project, which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, involves translating research on teen pregnancy prevention and related topics into user-friendly materials for practitioners, policy makers, and advocates.

Download or order copies of the two reports from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy at http://en.groundspring.org.

The Alliance is working with schools to build healthier environments for students and staff because helping schools is one of the most efficient and effective ways of shaping the life-long health, education and well-being of children and adolescents. Healthy Schools = Healthy Kids! Thatís why the Alliance has created the Healthy Schools Builder - an easy online tool that helps schools take steps to creating a healthier environment for students and staff.

Through answering a series of questions related to policy, systems, healthy eating, physical activity and staff wellness, the Healthy Schools Builder helps schools create customized action plans and provides tools to schools for reaching specific health and wellness program goals. It also identifies whether a school is eligible to apply for the Alliance’s platinum, gold, silver, or bronze awards and provides tools to help them reach the next level of recognition.

Any school can register online free of charge to become part of the Healthy Schools Program and gain access to the Allianceís tools, resources and school awards program.

If you are a school health professional who doesnít work in a school setting and would like preview the Healthy Schools Builder, please do so by following these steps:

1. Go to www.HealthierGeneration.org/HSB
2. Click on New Users
3. Fill in First & Last Name, Email & Password
4. For State - select New York
5. For City - select New York
6. For School - select Hugo
7. The user must activate the account from the email sent to them.
8. Only after they have they activated the account will they be able log-on with their user name and password

The following message will appear - this is normal for guests to get and will pop-up because hundreds of guests will use the Hugo account. Please tell your schools to ignore this message.

Your school is already registered with the HSB. There can be only one official entry per school. If you think that there has been an error or you are not sure who your school's official HSB rep is, please email HSB@HealthierGeneration.org or call 1-888-KID-HLTH

Thank you for registering.

In order to begin using the Healthy School Builder tool, you will receive an email shortly with instructions for activating the account. Once you have activated your account you can begin using the Health School Builder tool.