HSAT

In November, the Ann Arbor Public Schools district-wide School Improvement Team (SIT) completed the Healthy School Action Tool (HSAT) as part of the larger Ann Arbor Healthy Schools Project.

The SIT team recruited new participants to help assess the districts healthy eating and physical activity environment. As suggested by guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the team consisted of a representative from community education and recreation, food services, social services, school nursing, community health, health education, physical education, parents and a very informed high school student. With facilitation assistance from trained Washtenaw County Health Educators, the team created two goals to accomplish by June, 2005.

The first goal is to assess, improve, and increase healthy choices offered through the school lunch program. The second is to create a district wide communication plan to promote health, including at least one district wide physical activity event this spring.  After completing the assessment, MFIT Community Health Coordinator and HSAT participant Jean DuRussel-Weston reflected, The HSAT process is a great opportunity to put all of the pieces on the table and then decide which piece can be changed to make the biggest impact. It certainly makes system changes more attainable."

The district is well on its way to accomplishing its first goal with changes being piloted in the Clague Middle School cafeteria.  Ongoing meetings with food service management and staff have yielded healthy changes in cafeteria choices for Clague students. These include:

Replacing fried chips with baked

Eliminating high fat meat pizza and offering plain cheese and veggie pizza

Offering yogurt in tubes in place of cookies

Presenting fruit and vegetable choices in a more attractive way to appeal to students

Adding carrots and dip and celery and peanut butter

Offering soup

Eliminating two for one hotdogs, double bacon cheeseburgers, and candy from the menu

The healthy school coordinator, Susan Aaronson, has been instrumental in working with students and lunch staff to make changes students will embrace and are fiscally sound for the program. Students were asked to taste test new choices and offer suggestions to improve the success of these changes. Changes that are successful at Clague will be rolled out to other Ann Arbor schools soon. Aaronson, who also sits on the district SIT, stated "The HSAT is a well organized tool for any school district to determine their weaknesses and strengths in terms of healthy lifestyles. It is an eye opening process!"

For more information about the Healthy School Action Tool (HSAT) contact Melissa Fochesato at (734) 544-3083 or fochesam@ewashtenaw.org.