BATESVILLE — It took two years of hard work by the staff and students at Eagle Mountain Magnet Elementary School to achieve a national award for their efforts to create a healthier school environment and generation, but that work was recently recognized on a national level.
At the national Healthy Schools Program Forum in Little Rock on Oct. 21, Susan Parker accepted the Silver National Recognition Award for the school. The award is given by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which was founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation.
Parker is the health lab and physical education teacher at the school. She is the driving force behind many of the healthy changes in the school, said Pat Rutherford, the school’s principal.
“It’s a recognition that we’ve worked extremely hard for since we became a magnet school,” Rutherford said. “We are trying to make healthier lifestyles and good choices that are far reaching.”
The Healthy Schools Program provides expert advice and resources at no cost to more than 15,000 schools nationwide to help reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. Schools are eligible for Bronze, Silver or Gold National Recognition Awards based on their level of achievement. Eagle Mountain Magnet is one of 250 schools from around the country that was honored at the Healthy Schools Program Forum.
In order to receive the national recognition, Eagle Mountain Magnet had to improve it’s nutritional services and physical activity programs.
“We took our fryer out of or kitchen, so we don’t fry anything,” Rutherford said. “The kids have adjusted to that.”
Other strides the school has made to get kids more active include community initiatives to get parents and other adults involved in a fitness program.
“Our adult exercises are free to the community,” Rutherford said. “We got a grant to pay for Zumba, Pilates, line dancing and Boot Camp classes. … Our custodian, Joe Johnson, is the line-dance teacher. The ladies just love to come dance with Joe.”
Low-cost health screenings were made available to the community members, also. The healthier choices the students are making also affect their parents, who are also making better choices.
“We also have our Family Fitness Challenge; over 100 families participated, and the students whose families didn’t asked a teacher to be a ‘family member,’” Parker said.
She said the school also added a portable water fountain for better access to water during recess; a fresh fruit or vegetable is served as a healthy snack; vending machines only contain water and drinks with no sugar, but those are only available for teachers and faculty, and the school also made a major commitment to use whole-wheat flour and other healthier ingredients, Parker said.
“There are stringent requirements, and it’s taken us two years to do this,” Parker said. “I’m so proud of our students and staff and families for promoting and encouraging the changes we’ve made. … Change isn’t easy, especially health changes that people aren’t use to.”
Parker said she wants to go for the gold award next year, but she isn’t willing to do that at the expense of the students. She said in order to qualify for the gold award, the school would have to rearrange it’s schedule to have recess before lunch. But Parker said she believes that the kids are so thirsty that they drink a lot of water, which makes them less hungry at lunch time.
“We’ve got to do what’s best for the kids regardless,” she said.
For more information on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, visit Healthier
Generation.org.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.