Healthy Moves

Our programs improve the health of kids

Healthy Moves helps kids improve their physical and intellectual health through three programs created for schools.

1. Trainer-in-Residence

This brings movement, fitness and fun to elementary students through a seven-week trainer-in-residence program. Due to school budget cuts in the area, many physical education programs have been eliminated, which leaves classroom teachers, many of whom have no specialized PE training, to lead PE classes.

Healthy Moves fills the gap by working with teachers and their students to demonstrate fitness activities and provide a model that the teacher can use for PE classes. Healthy Moves provides fitness formats that can be used by any teachers of grades one through five. The approach reduces the teacher’s planning time for physical education, and it provides students with fitness activities that they enjoy and skills that they can use in and out of the classroom.

The students also develop the physical skills that are required in state teaching standards, and these activities help students toward the 60 minutes-a-day of active play with elevated heart rates that are recommended by the American Medical Association.

The trainers: Healthy Moves’ trainers are community fitness instructors who come from a range of physical activity backgrounds: certified and licensed fitness trainers and consultants, athletic trainers, retired PE teachers, former coaches or athletes, community recreation instructors, and University of Oregon students from the Human Physiology department. Trainers are recruited and screened by the Healthy Moves director and board members. Prospective trainers complete an application, interview for inclusion in the program, complete school district volunteer forms, pass the criminal background checks required by the schools, and meet with the Healthy Moves director and the teachers prior to the start of the seven-week program.

2. Jump Start with Healthy Moves

Overview: This is a 30-minute activity program that is done before school on three mornings per week for the entire elementary school year. A variety of physical activities includes a warm-up, cardiovascular activities, games, and a cool down/yoga stretch. Activities are adapted to be appropriate for each grade. This program is designed to stimulate physical activity for kids in grades one-to-five, and this has the added benefit of preparing them to be able to focus better in the classroom.

Staffing: This program will be done in conjunction with schools that have the Trainer-in-Residence program at their school. Healthy Moves will provide professional trainers for a school year, and then for the program to continue at the school, Healthy Moves will train volunteers (preferably parents or it could be teaching staff) to continue the Jump Start program. Healthy Moves will train these persons in a seven-week training much like the Trainer-in-Residence program. Healthy Moves will do check-ins to provide guidance, answer any questions, and to make sure that the program is going smoothly.

If volunteers are not available to conduct this program for the school year, Healthy Moves can provide a trainer at a fee of $2,400 as a contracted service to the school. The national Let’s Move program has a $1,000 grant that could possibly be obtained to cover some of the cost for a trainer.

Space accommodation: All that is needed in terms of facilities and equipment is a large open space for children to move.

3. Youth Physical Activity Planning

In an effort to promote opportunities for physical activity among all youth in our community, Healthy Moves will provide professional planning and guidance to schools and community organizations to help develop and operate child physical activity programs. At this time, we are focused on the physical activity needs of children in kindergarten through 8th grade.

Our professionally-trained and licensed staff are available to offer support to community and school groups at three levels:

• Develop and train organization members on physical activity curriculum that groups will conduct themselves;
• Develop and conduct ongoing child physical activity curriculum for organizations; or
• Develop and conduct initial child physical activity curriculum, and train organization members to conduct activities on their own with the assistance of ongoing consultation from Healthy Moves staff.