The U.S. Department of Education announced recently that Somerville Public Schools (SPS) is one of 67 agencies nationwide to be awarded a Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant to improve physical activity and nutrition education opportunities for students. Awarded $613,554 for the first of a 3-year project, SPS was one of only two applicants in Massachusetts to be awarded PEP grant funding this year. The total 36-month award was for $1,399,006. Funding amounts of $454,826 and $330,626 for Years 2 and 3, respectively, are contingent upon the availability of future funding, and demonstration of substantial progress toward meeting annual project goals and objectives.

“This is an incredibly competitive grant, and we’re excited to be among this year’s PEP grant awardees,” said Superintendent of Schools, Tony Pierantozzi. “The City of Somerville and the Somerville Public Schools have demonstrated a clear commitment to supporting students by providing them with the opportunity to develop healthy, active lifestyles that will maximize their opportunities for success academically and in other life endeavors. This PEP grant funding allows us to continue building on our commitment to supporting the whole child through a community-wide, comprehensive approach to physical activity and nutrition education that fosters a culture of healthy lifestyles in our community.”

Somerville’s PEP grant funds the improvement of physical education and nutrition programs by strategically aligning before-, during- and afterschool programs as well as school-based and community initiatives, focusing on physical activity and healthy eating habits. Project activities include implementation of an evidence-based SPARK physical fitness curriculum at all of the SPS K-8 schools and in afterschool programs, instruction in healthy eating habits and good nutrition, and school and community-based physical fitness and nutrition education activities. The project is a collaboration between the SPS Health and Physical Education Department, SomerPromise, the Mayor’s Office, Somerville Health Department, SPS Food and Nutrition Services, Somerville YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs of Middlesex County, Mystic Learning Center, Shape Up Somerville, and Somerville Family Learning Collaborative. Additional partners for specific initiatives are anticipated as the project moves forward.

“Once again Somerville is leading the way in showing how a city, school district and entire community can work together to make the healthy choice the easy choice for our children, and our schools winning this grant is another mark of validation for our approach,” said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “Our Shape Up Somerville efforts have already led to a noticeable shift in what our kids are choosing to eat, but it’s more than instituting policy changes around healthy eating in our schools. We have also put in place policies that get kids active every day and make physical exercise habitual. I applaud our school leaders for going after this grant that will allow us to expand our proven approach to battling childhood obesity and making Somerville the model of a healthy city.”

Major project activities also include community-wide fitness and nutrition campaigns, structured before school physical education activities (BOKS), introduction of structured recess option at SPS, improved physical education and nutrition programs at community-based afterschool programs, community-based adventure programs and cooking programs, as well as parent/guardian and staff education. Utilizing a “multiple points of contact” strategy to promote healthy eating habits and good nutrition, expand physical fitness activities and instruction, and enhance staff professional development, the project aims to further Somerville’s collaborative efforts to create a culture of health and fitness where students meet developmentally appropriate targets for fitness and nutrition with a consistent approach that starts at a young age, transcends cultural experiences, and includes the whole day for a child.

Specific initiatives to be implemented in the first year of the program include the following:

•         Develop a community-wide fitness and nutrition communications campaign that includes parent/guardian education and National Nutrition Month campaigns;
•         Create common physical education and nutrition language/program before, during, and after school;
•         Introduce curriculum option during recess in SPS elementary schools;
•         Improve before school programs with BOKS curriculum;
•         Implement SPARK curriculum in all K-8 schools; include professional development for teachers;
•         Improve afterschool programs with SPARK curriculum and resources for staffing to implement physical education/nutrition programs.

The Somerville PEP project is a community-wide strategic approach to increasing physical fitness and nutrition educational opportunities for youth that connects experiences in these areas across a wide spectrum of program offerings. With the central goal of “creating a culture of healthy lifestyles,” the project is designed to implement common language and common experiences for children that are introduced at a young age, frequently and consistently.  Further, the project includes before, during and after-school fitness and nutrition programs by SPS and partner youth-serving community-based organizations. By weaving common programs into a broad range of times and venues, the project reinforces a familiar pattern that will ultimately lead to system change in how fitness and nutrition are viewed.

Visit http://www2.ed.gov/programs/whitephysed/index.html to learn more about the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP).