Decorah students talk about work for school wellness team

To paraphrase writer and futurist, Alvin Toffler: Any attempt to solve society's problems without the full participation of young people is imbecile.

Nobody understands Toffler's assertion better, probably, than Decorah School Superintendent Mike Haluska and Gina Holthaus, physical education and health instructor for Decorah Schools.

Last year Haluska and Holthaus started getting folks together to form a Decorah School Wellness team, encouraged by the Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative (FFI) -- one of nine projects nationwide supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Community Program working to transform our food and fitness systems through policy and system change projects.

The plan was to get people from throughout the community working toward a healthier environment in the schools -- and a key component of that plan involved getting students on board.

Several months later, three students -- Sam Iverson, Shelby Varney and Liz Hovden -- are the youngest members of the school wellness team.

Who they are
Iverson, a freshman, is involved in choir, band, large group and individual speech, community problem solvers, the community club and the high school art club.

He also works at Amundson's Men's Clothing Store in Decorah. After high school, he's thinking of pursuing a career in fashion design or fashion marketing.

Shelby Varney, a sophomore, participates in cross country, track, large group and individual speech, mock trial, band and chorus.
Right now, she says, she is leaning toward going to college to become an educator.

Hovden, a junior, is in cross country, orchestra, speech, track and community club. She plans on  going to college with a health/medicine major.

"I hope to find a group in college that is as interested in health as I am -- something similar to Food and Fitness," she says.

"At Luther they have student workers who are responsible for the school garden and this is something I would like to do if I go there."

Why they joined the team
Varney says Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness was strongly encouraging schools to start wellness teams last year.

"Mrs. Holthaus had already expressed an interest in starting one," she says, "and the push from Food and Fitness and Luther really helped get it going."

Holthaus asked Hovden, Iverson and Varney to join the first meeting of the wellness team, to see if they would be willing to join.

"I said yes after sitting in on the meeting," Varney says, "because of the great ideas and hopes the other members of the committee had, coming into it."

Hovden says she decided to check out the group because it seemed to match her own concerns.

"I have always had an interest in food and healthy living and thought that with my passion it would be neat to inspire others to make healthy changes in their lives," she says.

Iverson had already made changes in his own diet before he joined the wellness team; but he says since joining he has tried to be more active.

"I joined because I'm very concerned about what I eat and exercise," Iverson says. "I knew there were problems with the school food system and if I could help fix those problems, I was all for it. I also really enjoy learning and teaching about food."    

Their roles on the team
"Right now my role (is) to research and educate the team about food and exercise," Iverson says. "I also tell the team what's going on at the high school and how I think students would react to the team's ideas. For the upcoming meeting I am researching sugar and how much sugar is in chocolate milk."

Hovden is a regional youth leader for Food and Fitness.
"Each school has two representatives that are sent to regional meetings," she says. "We are responsible for attending extra meetings and conferences about how to spread the message of Food and Fitness."

Varney describes their collective role on the team as being "the connection to the rest of the student body. We are able to voice what concerns we have from a student's prospective and communicate with other students."

Spreading the word
One of the most important functions of the three students' participation on the wellness team involves relaying information across generational lines -- by working with parents' questions and concerns, and by teaching elementary school students what they're learning in their own research.

"I'm really excited about letting people know about the wellness team and I hope we can make some changes," Iverson says.
He says he particularly enjoys his work as a cross-age teacher for the Farm to School program.

"We go into 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms and each time we talk about different types of foods," Iverson says. "Each lesson usually contains the history of the food so the kids understand how that food got to Iowa. Then we talk about why that certain food is good for you. Next we talk about ways you can eat that food, what it looks like, and how it's grown. We usually have a sample of the food to try and there is a rule that you can't say yuck and you have to try it."

Hovden -- also a cross-age teacher -- says they're trying "to encourage every kid to at least try the food even if they don't think they will like it. When we tried squash I had to convince them that the ‘big' high school kids tried it and liked it, so they should try it, too."

The cross-age teachers ask their younger students a lot of questions, she continues, and hope for as many responses as possible -- "no matter how silly they are. I like to ask the class if they shared their information and new food recipe with their family and usually they respond with a yes. One little girl told me she had her mom make the healthy baked french fries for her family and they all liked them. This is exactly the response I like to see. I like to see the kids so excited about food." 

The team recently conducted a survey for parents at conferences to see their opinions about healthier lunch options as well as more walking school buses.

"I was excited to see all of the positive feedback and results," Hovden says. "Many parents said they would like to see healthier and more local options for their children, so hopefully with this feedback we will be able to make these changes in the lunch room. I have noticed tremendous changes in the high school lunches so hopefully all schools will follow suit."

Varney, too, says she is looking forward to being able to help create a positive change in the school district.

"I am hoping  the wellness team is able to help raise awareness on the importance of good nutrition and physical activity by helping integrate these ideas into the school system. I think that after joining the team I have become more aware of what I eat and how much I am active. I try to be conscious of what I eat and now eat more fruits and vegetables."

Good citizens
By giving them opportunities to act as advocates and educators, their involvement on the school wellness team has allowed the high school students to expand upon their roles as participant citizens in their community.

All three students came to the team already understanding the importance of buying locally, for example -- and of shopping at farmers' markets for the freshest and healthiest food.

"I think it's important to buy food locally because you build a relationship with the producers," Hovden says. "(They) become friendly faces you see in your community ... One mom told me her daughter was able to draw a map from her house to the farmer's house where their meat came from. This was very neat to me."

Also, Hovden continues, "when you buy locally you are stimulating your community's economy; so in the end buying local is a win-win situation for all."

Iverson says he and his mom try to go to the farmers' market every week, during the season.

"We go because it a good way to get local food and products  at a good price," he says. "Also, you know the people who grew your food."

All three students think Decorah offers a good variety of ways to live a healthy lifestyle; but they see some room for improvement, too.

"One way I think they could improve is if we could have public fitness center where adults and children could go to exercise," Iverson says.
"I think a fitness center would be great addition to our town," Hovden agrees, noting the community seems otherwise committed to encouraging good health -- offering opportunities and facilities for exercise such as the many trails and rivers, the bike shops that offer exercise equipment for purchase or rent and the food co-op that teaches cooking and food preparation classes.

The students' enthusiasm and energy can only help their community continue to improve, experts agree.

Indeed, the Education Commission of the States maintains that youth voice has a tremendous impact on program participation and program outcomes, both short term and long term.

Speaking to the long term, Iverson has high hopes for the work the Decorah School Wellness Team is doing.

"I would really like the wellness team to be able to help the schools to have more active days and be healthier places to learn."

NOTE: Gina Holthaus encourages  all parents of children from K-6 to go to the Decorah Community School District Web site and scroll to the bottom to find the Wellness Survey.

"We would like to have as many parents complete as possible," she says. "It is completely anonymous."

Holthaus says the team welcomes all ideas and suggests interested community members email her at gholthaus@decorah.k12.ia.us.

By Julie Berg-Raymond, www.decorahnewspapers.com, 3/4/11.