Running head: HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND LIFESTYLES 1

Signature Assignment Final Draft

Jhonathan Rendon

PPE 310
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND LIFESTYLES 2

Signature Assignment Final Draft

Our future solely rests on the shoulders of our children since they will be the ones who

fill the roles left by us and our elders. We carry a responsibility to provide a healthy environment

in which the future of our society can thrive. The enemy we face is pollution and contamination

of our environment as well as our own bodies. Throughout this paper I will address the culprits

responsible for poor health resulting from toxins in our air and water sources, and the poor health

of not only our communities but our society. Also, further explained in the following sections are

the compilation of all my research in the form of a 5k fundraising run honoring a fallen hero

known as Officer Mendoza. Officer Mendoza gave so much of his time to the community he

served to protect as well as Mesa Arts Academy.

Big names that arise when touching the topic of poor air quality are Asthma and Cancer

which always spikes fear and concern in citizens. Many of these issues have solutions and steps

that can take place to correct the hole weve put ourselves in and how to implement them. Major

topics that will be introduced in the following sections will include polluted resources, impact on

communities, effects on childrens health, and the actions being taken to correct these health

concerns. These topics elaborate on the big things to look at when talking about the major

polluting factors in our communities and the major effects that can be seen yet are ignored.

Helpful resources for low income communities also can lean on environmental justice laws so

they can save on living cost and receive support to improve their lifestyle.

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Literature Review

Along with the many health risk faced in current society; obesity and staying active have

become a large issue in our schools in our modern times. After doing some searching four
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articles were found addressing these issues and possible solutions. Each of the four articles

conducted their own research which includes identifying specific schools then assessing their

current health status and their policies. After, they derive a plan to upgrade the schools health

awareness and level. Through this paper each article will be summed up and explain their

experiments, data analysis, and what the results concluded.

Below are the resources used to compare different approaches to conducting research and

gathering accurate data. After, further comparison two of the articles were successful in their

implementation and two not so successful.

Article 1

Lorraine Cale, Jo Harris, and Rebecca Duncombe wrote the first article titled Promoting

physical activity in secondary schools: Growing expectations, same old issues? which utilize

two methods of attaining data for their experiment. For this first article the research team used

online surveys to collect information on the knowledge and physical activity of the participating

schools students and staff (Cale, Harris, Duncombe. 2016). Through these surveys the

participants were asked open ended questions about not only their active health status, but also

their attitude towards healthy lifestyle application at their school. The second method of data

collection took the participants who accurately filled out the surveys and conducted a follow up

in person interview; which allowed the students and staff to explain their responses to the

questionnaire (Cale, Harris, Duncombe. 2016). Upon concluding the experiment, the team

discovered that the main obstacles at the participating schools were lack of staff knowledge on

nutrition and healthy living (Cale, Harris, Duncombe. 2016). A recommendation was to

incorporate more of the nutritional side into Physical Education and not just the physical

exercising part.
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Article 2.

Evelyn Berger-Jenkins, John Rausch, Ebiere Okah, Daisy Tsao, Andres Nieto, Elizabeth Lyda,

Dodi Meyer, and Mary McCord together wrote the second article were looking at titled

Evaluation of a Coordinated School-Based Obesity Prevention Program in a Hispanic

Community: Choosing Healthy and Active Lifestyles for Kids/ Healthy Schools Healthy

Families. In this article the main organization known as Choosing Healthy & Active Lifestyles

for Kids (CHALK) focuses on all children who are underserved (Jenkins, Rausch, Okah, Tsao,

Nieto, Lyda, Meyer, McCord. 2014). CHALKs main objective is to reach out to the les focused

communities such as Hispanic ones and attempt to set forth programs to prevent obesity and

promote nutrition as well as physical activity (Jenkins, Rausch, Okah, Tsao, Nieto, Lyda, Meyer,

McCord. 2014). CHALK used comprehensive interventions to educate the participating schools

students and staff to help them make healthier lifestyle choices.

Programs in these schools made sure staff visibly had each health goal posted around the

school so the students could see their progress. Goals were incentivized which motivated the

participating students to meet them such as 120 min of physical activity a week (Jenkins,

Rausch, Okah, Tsao, Nieto, Lyda, Meyer, McCord. 2014). Data and results were collected

through the form of surveys which tracked both knowledge, regarding nutrition and physical

activity, and attitude towards the health program (Jenkins, Rausch, Okah, Tsao, Nieto, Lyda,

Meyer, McCord. 2014). Upon conclusion of the experiment the research team saw no difference

in the nutritional education aspects of the program, but did see a large increase in physical

activity from the participating students.

Article 3.
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Stephen Ball, Jessica Kovarik, and Heather Leidy wrote the third article Active and

Healthy Schools which focuses on the Active and Healthy School Program (AHS) who strive to

improve the culture and environment of participating schools to help children make healthier

choices (Ball, Kovarik, Leidy. 2002). AHS focus on interventions and educational trainings to

gather information on the progress made by participating schools. First, they implement an

overseeing team composed of both AHS members and trained staff of the school. The Program

Leaders are the PE teachers who evaluate the progress in their physical education classes (Ball,

Kovarik, Leidy. 2002). Second, a parent after receiving nutritional training is paired with an AHS

member to be on location all day to make sure physical activity and nutritional programs are

being carried out (Ball, Kovarik, Leidy. 2002). After concluding, AHSs program showed

success by staying consistent with active and nutritional plans.

Article 4.

Jo Harris wrote the final article were looking titled Physical education teacher education

students knowledge, perceptions and experiences of promoting healthy, active lifestyles in

secondary schools. In his article Jo Harris talks about how physical education teacher education

(PETE) doesnt fully prepare PE teachers to educate students on the nutritional aspects of health

education (Harris. 2014). For this experiment, direct observations and interventions were

conducted to collect information on how effective PE students were prepared to educate school

students on healthy lifestyles, nutrition, and staying physically active (Harris. 2014). After

completing a yearlong observation, it was concluded that PETE doesnt properly educate PE

teachers to pass on nutritional advice or ways for staying active (Harris. 2014).
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND LIFESTYLES 6

Synthesis of Information

Four peer-reviewed articles relating to childhood obesity were found that conducted

experiments to collect information on the level a schools nutritional and physically active

programs are regarding the governments standards. These programs also sought out to see how

effective the programs set forth to prevent obesity were. In the following sections the four

articles team experiments will be compared to see which were successful.

Successful Points

When looking at the research and results each one of the different articles explained

many positive outcomes were seen and noted. Surveys were the main source of collecting data

and compacting it down to the useful information allowing for further interviews or

questionnaires. Promoting physical activity in secondary schools: Growing expectations, same

old issues?, Evaluation of a Coordinated School-Based Obesity Prevention Program in a

Hispanic Community, Active and Healthy Schools, and Physical Education teacher education

students knowledge, perceptions and experiences of promoting healthy, active lifestyles in

secondary schools all utilized surveys either online or in person to gather information from

participating students and staff. The surveys helped filter out the unnecessary data they needed

and allowed the teams to move forwards with the results.

Both Evaluation of a Coordinated School-Based Obesity Prevention Program in a

Hispanic Community and Active and Healthy Schools had organizations behind their programs

and showed success compared to the ones that were self-ran. The two organizations previously

spoke of were Choosing Healthy & Active Lifestyles for Kids (CHALK) and Active and Healthy

School Program (AHS) which dealt directly with the schools and provided structured training for

students and staff to help themselves become more proactive (Jenkins, Rausch, Okah, Tsao,
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND LIFESTYLES 7

Nieto, Lyda, Meyer, & McCord. 2014. Ball, Kovarik, Leidy. 2015). CHALK had success in the

physical activity portion of the program and AHS showed overall improvement since it worked

more closely with the staff and parents.

Misfire

Promoting physical activity in secondary schools: Growing expectations, same old issues? and

Physical education teacher education students knowledge, perceptions and experiences of

promoting healthy, active lifestyles in secondary schools, although having great plans, seemed to

depend on schools taking initiative and running with the ideas these two articles programs

implemented. The first article mentioned above ran into obstacles they had no way of surpassing

since they dealt with lack of funding or cutting back of PE classes funding (Cale, Harris, &

Duncombe. 2014). The second article found that the source of the lack of innovation and action

began at the source of the physical education teacher education (PETE) not providing enough

support or experience (Harris. 2012).

Practical Implications

In honor of Officer Mendoza, who did so much for our school, we would love nothing

else than to continue his legacy for promoting community and wellbeing. Mesa Arts Academy

will be hosting a can food drive in the form of a 5K event. The event will include the families of

the students who attend our school as well as those living in the surrounding community. Officer

Mendoza would be proud of such an event taking place in his honor and with the goal of helping

those in need all while bringing the community closer.

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Committee/ Marketing
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A committee will be formed made up of a couple members of the Mesa Arts Parent

Organization (MAPO), the bridge between parents and school functions, and a couple of teachers

along with the president of student council. This committee will be responsible for setting up the

promotional items as well as registering individual participants or teams. Collection of the

donated canned foods will also be the responsibility of the committee. All donations will consist

of all students, family members, and community members. All the collected donations will go to

a specific charity as well as local families in dire need. Since the first 20 teams or individuals

who register receive t-shirts and medals our committee will work with students to come up with

a design for these prizes. An example of the promotional flyer can be seen by looking at Figure

1. The grade with the most donations will win a free ice cream party the Wed before Fall Break.

Since our school contains students kinder to 8th grade there will be alternative lanes for

the younger kids or those with physical limitations. This event is meant to be fun and for a great

cause, so we will be making sure everyone can participate without obstacles. Each team will also

be allowed to dress up with a theme to enter the chance to win prizes for most unique theme and

costumes.

Educational Components

Students will help design the course out on the field allowing them to feel a sense of pride and

civic engagement. They will decide what the best locations for hydration stations will be and

who should man them. Hydration stations can be tied to the importance of water and staying

hydrated during their science class (Forhan, November 14, 2017). In math they will be able to

work on word problems using the 5k as the theme. For their English class they can help design

the flyers for the committee or work on thank you letters for the donating community members.

Funding/ Admin.
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND LIFESTYLES 9

Since Mesa Arts Academy is adjoined with the Boys & Girls club in Mesa they can

provide the containers for the hydration stations free of charge. The cafeteria has an ice machine

so that will also not require funding. The club runs many sports events, so they also will be

willing to lend their athletic cones and field marking machine to mark up the running lanes.

Administration of both the club and school will be able to market this event for themselves to

promote their community contribution and involvement. They will also provide photographers,

from photography classes, for newsletters and future marketing events.

Engagement.

Parents are expected to complete a specific amount of volunteer hours as a commitment

to the school and their children. Most of our students parents work mornings so this afternoon

event will be something most parents would be able to attend or even donate food to. Since its

an active event most parents would rather participate in the 5k than attend boring meetings thus

providing large volume of attending parents (Forhan, November 14, 2017). This event is open to

family so siblings who have graduated from our school or just wish to show support can join.

Also by allowing student council to be part of running this event shall provide real life

experience with engaging their community and linking them to their peers. This will allow these

students to become well rounded in civic engagement and ability to become more involved.

Scheduling.

Officer Mendozas 5k run will be held on November 17th, 2017 at Mesa Arts Academys

fields at 2:30pm and going until 5pm. Due to minimal visibility and safety concerns the event

will not run passed 5pm. On the back of the flyer shown on Figure 1 there will be a calendar with

a reminder of when the event will be which is shown in Figure 2. Parents needing additional

hours can sign up to help break down the event by gathering up water containers, tables, and
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND LIFESTYLES 10

cones. Students can also collect volunteer hours for their civic engagement class by helping clean

up any remaining trash left over from event. Recognitions will be held prior to ending the event

by the members of the 5k committee. Categories will include most laps ran or walked, most

contributions, and most unique team theme.

Conclusion

After the completion of the Mendoza 5k event it sparked the drive to see it through and

work with Mesa Arts Academy (MAA) to work on making it a reality. Prior to Thanksgiving

week, Mesa Arts Academy and the adjoining Boys & Girls Club already host a community feast

for the families with children attending MAA. Mendozas 5k could work alongside the feast to

promote what a great service officer Mendoza was to the school and community. The

Thanksgiving dinner has been a key event for years in this community so if the 5k were to be

combined with it theres no doubt that it will be welcomed and continued due to being a fun

interactive event for the families while achieving a service for those in need. In order for the

Mendoza 5k to stick around it must include the director of the club and school administration so

that it can ground its roots and gain traction.

After the first time running the event there will be time to observe what worked and

didnt work so that it can be updated to run smoother. Gathering the participating families

feedback will also help gain insight to what theyd like to see or improve. After three and five

years this event will become something that community members as well as staff will jump for

the opportunity to be a part of organizing and running it. Some of our students families

themselves are in need which is why the Mendoza 5k will help provide help for them while also

being able to help pass it on by participating and giving their time.

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References

Berger-Jenkins, E., Rausch, J., Okah, E., Tsao, D., Nieto, A., Lyda, E., . . . Mccord, M. (2014).

Evaluation of a Coordinated School-Based Obesity Prevention Program in a Hispanic

Community: Choosing Healthy and Active Lifestyles for Kids/Healthy Schools Healthy

Families. American Journal of Health Education, 45(5), 261-270.

doi:10.1080/19325037.2014.932724

Cale, L., Harris, J., & Duncombe, R. (2016). Promoting physical activity in secondary

schools. European Physical Education Review, 22(4), 526-544. doi:10.1177/1356336x15623774

Cohen, A., Lopez, A., Malloy, N., & Morello-Frosch, R. (2011). Our Environment, Our

Health. Health Education & Behavior, 39(2), 198-209. doi:10.1177/1090198111412591

Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw.

(Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7720.

https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. (n.d.). doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f

Forhan, C. (2017, March 2). Organizing a School Fun Run. Retrieved November 14, 2017, from

https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/615-organizing-a-fun-run

Late Arrival. (2002). Science, 296(5566), 253d-253. doi:10.1126/science.296.5566.253d

Live The Orange Life. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2017, from

https://leplb0180.portal.hewitt.com/web/homedepot/login?forkPage=false

Oliver, L. (2001). Epsyche20019epsyche. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO Publishing 2000

http://www.epnet.comhttp://www.epnet.com. Contact EBSCO for institutional pricing. Online

Information Review, 25(4), 271-279. doi:10.1108/oir.2001.25.4.271.9

Create an Online Race Registration Form. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2017, from

https://www.raceentry.com/how-to-organize-a-5k
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND LIFESTYLES 12

Mendoza 5k Flyer

Come on out and honor officer Mendozas legacy by donating canned foods for those in

need. Sign yourself up or a team to run in the 5 K course designed by your fellow student

council. T-shirts and medals will be given to the first 20 people or teams signed up.

Location: Mesa Arts Academy Fields. 221 W 6th Ave, Mesa, AZ 85210

Figure 1. Flyer designed by 5k Committee for parents and community members.

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Event Calendar

OCTOBER 2017 DECEMBER 2017

S M T W T F S S M T W T F S

NOVEMBER 2017
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
29 30 31 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Veterans Day

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Officer Mendoza 5
K Fundraiser
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Thanksgiving Day

26 27 28 29 30 1 2

Figure 2. Calendar marking the date of Officer Mendozas 5k event.