Building Healthy Communities program comes to Roseville Community Schools

ROSEVILLE — This school year, the elementary students who attend Roseville Community Schools are learning the importance of staying healthy.

For the 2022-23 school year, Roseville Community Schools has partnered with Wayne State University to implement the Building Healthy Communities program.

The program is a new healthy schools initiative that offers in-school learning and an after-school club for elementary students. The program’s goal is to facilitate a healthier environment to prevent chronic disease and improve the mental health of children.

According to district Assistant Superintendent Dave Rice, school officials were contacted by Wayne State as a potential district for the program. After the school principals reviewed the details of the program, they made the commitment to bring it into the schools.

The program is designed to provide the students with a focus on health and wellness inside and outside school. WSU covers the costs associated with the program, including a stipend for the program supervisors and new gym equipment, such as soccer balls, basketballs and hula hoops.

Through classroom lessons and physical education curriculum, the program educates students about making healthy food choices and provides access to physical activity opportunities. The goal also is to increase access to healthy foods and beverages. Educators work to encourage students to incorporate healthy lifestyles outside school.

As part of Building Healthy Communities, teachers integrate short nutrition lessons monthly, incorporate physical activity breaks daily, promote healthy classroom policies throughout the year and communicate regularly with parents.

WSU provides support to the schools. That support includes professional development modules on teaching nutrition basics and incorporating physical activity breaks. An online library of virtual nutrition education lessons for teachers is available as well as guidance for healthy classroom policies.

According to a district news release, students are provided with daily healthy announcements and a monthly nutrition unit that is done in class.

“The students really enjoy listening to the daily announcements and then taking what they learn out to the playground or cafeteria,” Jen Warack, physical education teacher and sponsor of the after-school clubs at Kaiser Elementary and Fountain Elementary, said in the news release.

She added that the students enjoy the FoodCorps program, where a volunteer from AmeriCorps Community Services visits the classroom to conduct a food activity with the students. It gives them the opportunity to try new foods.

In November, for instance, the students learned how to make homemade applesauce. Elementary staff members also send out monthly resources that provide families with nutrition information, at-home physical activities and healthy recipes.

Those students who signed up for the after-school club meet once a week for an hour. Each meeting begins with a healthy snack.

“We go through a variety of activities, including a walk/run, and games to keep their body moving,” Warack said. “I usually try to introduce the students to something they may have never had before. We have done taste tests of different vegetables, rice cakes, cottage cheese and multigrain chips.”

The Building Healthy Communities program is a collaborative partnership between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, the Michigan Fitness Foundation, the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, and Wayne State University’s Center for Health and Community Impact. WSU launched Building Healthy Communities in 2009; since then, more than 400 schools and 200,000 students have participated in the elementary school program.

Patton Elementary School staff, including Principal Jeanne Williams, were interviewed about their experience with the program. Visit the Building Healthy Communities website at bhcwsu.org to view the video.