The 'buzz' from students and parents is very positive," says Kim Campbell, Learning Leader for the program, which is more often simply referred to as "Teaming UP."

"It is very rewarding for our program team and school administrators to see and hear students being excited about making healthier choices, getting involved in physical activities and seeing their school environment becoming healthier. Involving as many students as possible is one of our key goals."

Since program materials and resources were first offered to schools in January 2008, there has been a steady increase of "buy-in" from schools, reports Campbell. "There are more than 200 schools under CBE jurisdiction, so we have more work to do, but we think having 85 already on board shows that schools and students find the program to be fun and worthwhile."

Wellness Funds Helped
Campbell reports that the Teaming UP initiative received a large grant ($50,000/year, for three years) from the Alberta Healthy School Community Wellness Fund.  "These funds were instrumental in helping us to move forward.  With the money, we were able to develop the initial materials for Teaming UP as well as offer funds to individual schools for them to get things rolling."

Campbell explains that the initiative is designed to help schools set proactive, sustainable goals that impact all students in the areas of:

• physical activity
• healthy eating
• positive social behaviours

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When schools sign up for the program, one of the key steps is to get all staff to think about how health and wellness outcomes can be promoted throughout the school day, in particular during non-instructional time.

"It's important that this initiative be a 'fit' for each school in order for it to effectively impact students," explains Campbell. "A lot of schools are already doing many great things to encourage healthy choices and actions, so in those cases our program helps the schools to coordinate their efforts."

The Teaming UP framework provides a vehicle for each participating school to be more intentional in their planning and to obtain some resources that will benefit students and support a school's program goals, says Campbell.

She also notes that the long-term goal is for positive, health-related goals and activities to become a "normal part of the culture" at each participating school.

Champions Play Key Role
Typically, each school that launches the Teaming UP program will have at least one "champion" to lead the way.

It's important that there be a champion or two in each school to take on the work of creating a team within the school and getting things going.  This is no different than any other change initiative," suggests Campbell.

A champion can be a teacher, parent, nurse or administrator.  Schools are strongly encouraged to create a diverse team (including students) to maximize success, notes Campbell. She also notes that even if a school administrator is not formally part of the team, it's critical that they buy in to the concept and provide administrative support for the team and the initiative overall.

Launching Events and Actions
Each school makes different choices about the types of events or actions they undertake, explains Campbell. 

"For example, an elementary school may hold healthy snack recesses.  Depending on the number of students, a healthy snack may be prepared for the whole school once weekly, for a month or longer.  Or, if the school population is larger, it may be easier to focus on different grades at different times."

Junior and Senior High schools may offer healthy snacks to students on a particular lunch hour or select different days to offer healthier items in the cafeteria.  Sometimes this is combined with other activities to draw students to the event location, such as student bands, interactive displays, or a fitness activity or demonstration.

Other examples of events or actions include:

• a monthly "Jersey Day" where students and parents are invited to wear their favourite team jersey and enjoy an extended recess or participate in a gym activity
• some schools have used Teaming UP funds for anti-bullying programs or peer mentoring programs, e.g., where kids discuss and learn how to prevent conflict on the playground
• leadership or school spirit clubs where students take on leadership roles, such as fundraising efforts or events where funds raised go to school needs or charities

To strengthen connections to the school curriculum, Teaming UP events are often linked to specific classes, such as Food Science students being involved in preparing food for an event.

Campbell notes that CBE has a nutrition policy in place that is designed to help students make healthy food choices. By January 1, 2011, all schools under CBE jurisdiction must ensure that 80% or more of the foods offered for sale in the school are "nutrient dense" foods.

Measuring Success
Campbell reports that the success of the program is measured in part by the growing number of schools involved and the number of success stories from schools at all grade levels.

Each 'TU' school gets a banner at the outset and works towards earning bronze, silver and gold medallions which can be attached to the banner. "Celebrations at each level of success are really important and help to build student and school pride along the way," offers Campbell.

Before a school launches its Teaming UP program, a baseline assessment is first done, using an online school health assessment tool. 

"The online tool is in the form of a rubric or criteria-based rating scale," explains Campbell. "The schools document their current status in regards to the 'three pillars' of health - nutrition, physical activity and positive social behavior."

In addition, each school must create an Action Plan, including different measures or anticipated outcomes. When goals are achieved, the data is entered into the online tool.

Campbell notes that the baseline assessment steps can be repeated at a later date, to see where overall improvements have been achieved.

Other feedback from parents, students and staff also helps to gauge success. Feedback is collected in different ways, such as e-mail, phone, or feedback forms from attendees at school meetings, events or celebrations.

Notably, two CBE schools - Tuscany Elementary and Woodbine Elementary - received Healthy School Community Awards for their efforts in 2008.

Challenges
"We always have more plans than time, so prioritizing is essential," says Campbell. She also notes that communication in a system of over 200 schools "has its challenges."

But she offers that the communications in place so far are working, given the growing number of involved schools. ""We work hard to get our message out to all the stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, parents, school nurses and others. The Teaming UP website is a key tool for us. We also get our messages out via e-mail, phone, school visits, hard copy handouts or posters, and attendance at Open House events for parents or educators."

Getting Organized from the Outset
Launching an initiative like Teaming UP is no easy task, acknowledges Campbell. "From the start, we knew we would need a diverse team working across service units and organizations. We also recognized the importance of merging instructional or curriculum time with non-instructional time in the school, whether in lunchrooms, cafeterias, playgrounds or the gym."

Campbell reports that Teaming UP has been adopted as the CBE's Comprehensive School Health (CSH) strategy.  She notes that with CSH written into the CBE three-year education plan (and funding in place), the Teaming UP program is "sustainable until 2012 at a minimum."

The program's Steering Committee consists of nine diverse members, reports Campbell, including six CBE employees in positions related to creating healthy environments for students.  Other committee members include a Dietitian and an Active Living Specialist from Alberta Health Services, along with a representative from Ever Active Schools.

"We have a strong partnership with Ever Active," offers Campbell. "For example, their representative is included in our orientation sessions with the schools in the fall. This provides our schools with an opportunity to find out more about Ever Active."

 All Teaming UP schools become members of Ever Active Schools once they have completed their assessment tool and action plan, explains Campbell. "Many individual schools have asked an Ever Active representative to come out to their school for an event, while others have purchased daily physical activity bins through Ever Active, to support physical activity in the school."

Campbell notes that the framework for Teaming UP is based on research about successful health promoting schools. The "sequence of success" can be summarized as follows:

• find a champion
• create a diverse team
• conduct an assessment/obtain baseline data
• identify gaps
• make a plan
• implement strategies
• celebrate achievements, re-assess, and
  continue the cycle of setting and achieving meaningful goals

"From the inception of our initiative, we knew it was critical to develop a flexible strategy for schools to work with," notes Campbell. "We did not want to be in a position of trying to 'do' anything to schools or create an 'add on.' Rather, we wanted to develop a framework to help them achieve their goals and meet student needs effectively."

She adds, "As the benefits to students' health and learning become increasingly significant, we hope that intentional planning for CSH becomes woven into the fabric of many more CBE schools."

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