Governor's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports

School In The Spotlight

Sierra Cascade
Regional Award Winner

Paradise Elementary submitted the following three essays for consideration of the Governor's Challenge Competition Grand Prize:

Essay 1 - Commitment to Promoting Healthy Eating on Campus

Paradise Elementary School’s commitment to promoting healthy eating on campus permeates throughout our entire school. This commitment includes all students, certificated and classified staff, parents, volunteers, district office personnel, school board members and community partners. We are committed to the realization that healthy eating is an important life skill in that it helps children grow, develop, and do well in school.

We have taken a whole school approach to improved nutrition and are committed to educating our students in making healthy eating choices. We have seen benefits through an increase in student attendance, student learning and active engagement, and parent involvement in educating the whole child.

Paradise Elementary School promotes healthy eating habits by developing and utilizing the following programs/activities:

- Establishing a healthy nutritional environment that sets the expectation that all stakeholders are role models in adopting healthy eating practices. Promoting and communicating this commitment through weekly and monthly newsletters.
- Establishing Healthy Celebrations - (i.e. Fresh fruit for birthdays, class and seasonal celebrations).
- Developing a school wide Garden Curriculum Project that is standard based in science and social studies while focusing on good nutrition and the development of healthy eating habits.
- Growing and preparing fresh food items from class garden plots that students make into nutritious meals that are taken home and shared with families.
- Inviting families to be part of our Garden Project. This includes spring and fall Saturday family garden work/plant days and class harvesting and cooking projects.
- Participating in the California Nutrition Network SCNAC program (Eat Healthy – Be Active – Live Well).
- Enhancing our cafeteria environments by establishing a “Panther Café” where chosen classes are honored and served by school administration nutritious food in an upscale restaurant atmosphere.

Essay 2 - Support of Students’ Physical Activity and Fitness

Paradise Elementary School’s commitment to support our students’ physical activity and fitness is apparent throughout the school. Our goal is to provide physical education curricula and direct instruction each day that emphasizes participation in enjoyable physical fitness activities and helps students to maintain healthy, physically active lifestyles through improved knowledge, attitudes, motor and behavioral skills and confidence. We are accomplishing these goals by implementing the following programs/activities:

- Adoption and implementation of a research based curriculum aligned to the California State Physical Education Standards (SPARK Program).
- Direct P.E. instruction that exceeds the state required number of minutes as mandated by Education code.
Coaching of classroom teachers by a credentialed P.E. teacher (embedded staff development). - Utilizing PEP grant, SIP funds and other available financial resources that provide professional development to increase the knowledge base and skill set of both the P.E. and classroom teacher. Staff development opportunities for the 2007-2008 school year included, but were not limited to: CAHPERD Conference, Summer Institute SPARK training, Advanced SPARK, and the Cal Poly Physical Education Workshop.
- Utilizing VAPA (dance and movement) and P.E. Material and Equipment Block Grant funding to support the purchase of materials and equipment.
- School wide multi-week Olympic competition and awards, including parent and community opening Disease prevention education curriculum culminating in 700+ student and staff “Change for Change” Juvenile Diabetes prevention walk. - Staff/Parent/Student participation as a Paradise Elementary Team in the Paradise Town annual Relay for Life community event.
- Communicating to parents/guardians via our monthly Panther Prints newsletter the importance of physical fitness and fun family activity suggestions.

Paradise Elementary students have benefited from the above programs/activities through the explicit, structured and consistent use of daily movement and activity that allows full engagement of both body and mind.

Essay 3- Need For a New Fitness Center

Paradise Elementary School’s commitment to supporting students’ physical activity and fitness permeates throughout our campus beginning in kindergarten through sixth grade. As has been articulated in essays one and two, our school and community are committed to providing all students with the best possible education and environment to enhance the physical, mental, and social/emotional development of each student so that they can maintain a life long healthy lifestyle.

With an average of 47 inches of rain between the months of November and March, in addition to snow and ice periodically throughout the winter months, there are numerous days that our students do not have access to the outdoors and/or adequate physical education facilities that allow them to participate in adequate or appropriate physical fitness activities. Built in 1939, Paradise Elementary is the oldest school in the district and does not have a gym or multi-purpose room. Our school cafeteria is the only large gathering space available to our students. However, the cafeteria is used the majority of the day for student lunches and meetings, as well as visual/performing arts practices/performances and community events, thus precluding this facility to be of use for physical education.

Paradise Elementary has two portable classrooms placed on a permanent foundation that have the ability to open into one large space. This space would be ideal for an indoor fitness center which could house equipment such as:

- Stationary machines, some which could be hooked to video games
- Stability balls
- Core balance trainers
- Small weights and exercise bands
- Dance, Dance, Dance Revolution
- Wii Exercise machine
- High Definition TV and DVD player to utilize aerobic and exercise/activity videos

This would be a fun room to help teachers motivate, engage and excite their students regarding physical fitness activity/movement during the long winter months.

More Schools In The Spotlight

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Alameda

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Kern

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Monterey

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Tulare

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Fresno

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Ventura

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San Joaquin

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Los Angeles

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Sonoma

North Coast Regional Award Winner
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Orange

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San Diego

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Award Winners by Year: 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011

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