News from Healthy Communities of the Capital Area

Enhancing the quality of life in our communities is central to our purpose. The goals of this newsletter are to provide you with resources to make connections with others to improve lives.

Each issue will focus on a different topic and activities.

This issue's focus: Back to School

This is Part Two of a two-part Back to School Issue. We hope you will find the information here interesting and informative. Please send any comments and suggestions to the contact information at the end of this newsletter.

School Health Leadership Council Success

CSHP 8 Components

HCCA is pleased to share success stories from three local School Health Leadership Councils (SHLC). Monmouth School Department, Maranacook Area Schools, and Augusta Public Schools made great strides in school health and wellness efforts during School Year 2007-2008. HCCA provides support for coordination of the councils that follow the guidelines for Coordinated School Health Programming, which have been shown to connect student and staff health to achieving academic goals. The eight components of Coordinated School Health Programming are pictured above.

Accomplishements among the three School Health Leadership Councils include:

Implementation of the Not On Tobacco (N-O-T) tobacco treatment training offered by the American Lung Association.
Completion of the School Health Index, an assessment of overall school health and wellness.
Promotion of walking trails located on school property.
Pursuit of Safe Routes to School opportunities.
Participation in a regional Substance Abuse Prevention Work Group
Completion of a Local Wellness Policy Assessment

HCCA will continue support for the three SHLC by providing a stipend to a coordinator and resources to continue ongoing activities. For more information on Coordinated School Health Programming, visit www.mainecshp.com. If you are interested in finding out how your school can work with HCCA to improve student and staff health or create a School Health Leadership Council, contact Renee Page at rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020.

Upcoming Winthrop Meeting to Focus on Underage Drinking

Attorney General Rowe Talks About Underage Drinking
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 6:00 PM
At the PAC at Winthrop High School

The Winthrop Unites Education Committee is hosting a keynote address by Attorney General Rowe, with follow-up presentations by a panel of speakers. The event is being planned to raise awareness about the problem, and to encourage community discussion about what can be done next about the issue.

FREE Signs!!

Tobacco Free School Sign Did you know your school district or athletic facility can obtain free Tobacco-Free Campus signage from the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Maine? If your school district's or athletic facility's tobacco use policy meets the model policy guidelines outlined by the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Maine, you can receive durable, eye catching signage to help enforce your policy.

School Districts in our Local Service Area with model tobacco policies:

Augusta Public Schools
MSAD #11 (Gardiner Area Schools)
School Union #42/CSD #10 (Maranacook Area Schools)
Winthrop Public Schools

Contact Renee Page at: rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020 for a free tobacco policy assessment.

HCCA Partners with SKCDC on Wellness Initiatives

Southern Kennebec Child Development Corporation (SKCDC) in collaboration with HCCA, participated in the Starting Young Project sponsored by the Maine Center for Public Health and the Maine Harvard Prevention Research Center. Head Start parents and staff from four SKCDC Head Start sites completed surveys related to nutrition, physical activity, and screen time. Each site received a $250 mini-grant to make improvements in these areas.

Early childhood is an ideal time to focus on change. Prevention programs implemented before age six are essential to changing behavior patterns in adolescence and adulthood. Young families are often still forming child-rearing practices and children's behavior. Early education staff become role models for youngsters on nutrition and physical activity. It is important that the habits demonstrated are healthful ones. Many children are developing patterns within their families that may put them at risk for excess weight in later childhood and adolescence. Childcare providers can potentially impact the epidemic by promoting gradual, feasible changes in these patterns among children and families.

"Gold Collar" Jobs Focus on Youth

Exploring Technical Training for
"Gold Collar" Job Opportunities in Maine
DATES
September 11 in Lewiston
September 18 in Brunswick
September 25 in Bangor
October 17 in Presque Isle

The focus is to provide:

(a) an opportunity for youth practitioners and other community and business stakeholders to access critical information on viable, high wage technical career paths;

(b) a networking occasion with other youth practitioners and community and business stakeholders in their service area/region;

(c) an environment to create strategies for getting the technical career information to the disengaged and at-risk youth who are struggling to be connected to the labor force while businesses are experiencing difficulty attracting and retaining youth; and,

d) information to both youth and adults living and working in the regions. This effort, the first in several years, will provide an excellent opportunity to rekindle and revitalize these connections.

The agenda will include:

the "Gold Collar Worker" presentation;
statistics on disengaged and special needs youth - an untapped resource;
facilitated roundtable discussion with business, social services & workforce system to identify strategies to "take away";
worksheets to capture action steps; and
evaluation forms to assist with improvements to the next session and beyond.

Register HERE!

Content/Agenda Questions: Debbie Bechard @ 207.620.7180, ext. 212 or dbechard@jmg.org

Step Up for Kids in Maine!

On Wednesday, September 17th at 10:00 AM come to Augusta and raise your voice on the State House Steps in support of Maine Kids.

Please join Attorney General Steven Rowe, Laurie LaChance of the Maine Development Foundation, Dr. Chris Stenberg of the Maine Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other advocates, parents, and children as we call on all candidates, the media, and individual voters to remember what kids need this election year and beyond.

Every Child Matters Education Fund, a national advocacy organization, is organizing events on the steps of the US Capitol and all 50 states. This event will get information to voters about children's issues and frame issues for the media to consider when questioning candidates. Please plan to attend and bring materials from your organization to have available at our information table.

Mini-Grants, Free Training, and More

Youth Voices Program: Start, or continue supporting, a Youth Voices group by obtaining a grant from HCCA. The Youth Voices program is a proven strategy for identifying, organizing, and supporting youth who choose not to use tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs and help them take action to prevent substance use among youth in our communities. HCCA supports the involvement of youth in tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use prevention by offering mini-grants in the amount of $1800 to host organizations that want to create new or sustain existing Youth Voices programs. Funding supports a stipend for an adult leader and out-of-pocket program expenses. Funding is limited and distributed on a first come, first served basis. For more information, contact Renee Page at: rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020.

School Health Leadership Councils: HCCA offers mini-grants to support the development and coordination of School Health Leadership Councils (SHLC) for Coordinated School Health Programming (CSHP). CSHP is a proven effective strategy for improving the health of our children. Grant funds in the amount of $1800 may be used to stipend a coordinator and provide other supports to develop the SHLC. Funding is limited and distributed on a first come, first served basis. For more information about Coordinated School Health Programming, go to: www.mainecshp.com. For mini-grant applications and information, contact Renee Page at: rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020.

Wellness Policy Assessment: The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 requires that all schools that participate in the Federally-funded National School Lunch Program create, implement, and enforce a Local Wellness Policy that addresses physical activity and nutrition in an effort to combat obesity and prevent chronic disease. One of the requirements of the Federal law is that Local Wellness Policies are enforced and monitored. HCCA can assist school districts in evaluating their Local Wellness Policies to ensure they are being followed and enforced and to also assess the policy's strengths and weaknesses. If you are interested in evaluating your district's Local Wellness Policy, contact Renee Page at: rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020.

Take Time! Training: Take Time! is a proven strategy to increase the amount of physical activity students receive during the school day by integrating movement into daily lessons. Take Time! has been successfully implemented across the state as a method to combat the rising incidence of childhood obesity and chronic disease. For more information on Take Time! go to: www.maine-nutrition.org. If your school would like to host a free Take Time! training, receive free materials, and participate in an incentive program, contact Renee Page at: rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020.

Not On Tobacco: Not On Tobacco, or N-O-T, is an effective voluntary tobacco treatment program designed especially for teens. N-O-T's 10-session curriculum works to increase healthy lifestyle behaviors such as nutrition and exercise and improve life skills such as stress management. For more information on the N-O-T program, go to the American Lung Association's Tobacco Control and Teens webpage at: www.lungusa.org. If you or someone from your school district is interested in participating in a N-O-T training, contact Renee Page at: rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020.

Tobacco Basic Skills & Intensive Treatment Training: HCCA sponsors individuals who would like to participate in Basic Skills and/or Intensive Treatment trainings offered by The Center for Tobacco Independence (CTI). Once individuals are trained, they can offer brief interventions or intensive counseling to tobacco users. Trainings are offered throughout the year. For more information about CTI, go to: www.tobaccoindependence.org. If you would like to participate in a training, contact Joanne Joy at: j.joy@healthycommunitiesme.org or 207-588-5011.

LifeSkills™: LifeSkills™ is an in-school substance abuse and violence prevention program for upper elementary and middle school students. LifeSkills™ is an evidence-based curriculum that provides students with the necessary skills to resist social pressure to smoke, drink, and use drugs. It helps them develop greater self-esteem, self-mastery, and self-confidence. LifeSkills™ enables children to effectively cope with social anxiety, increase their knowledge of the immediate and long-term consequences of substance abuse, and enhance cognitive and behavioral competency to reduce and prevent a variety of health risk behaviors. If you would like to learn more about LifeSkills™ go to: www.lifeskillstraining.com, or if you are interested in participating in a training and implementing LifeSkills™ in your school district, contact Renee Page at: rpage@mcd.org or 207-588-5020.

Thank you for your commitment to the health and wellbeing of our children. Please contact us if we can be of assistance in supporting your southern Kennebec communities' quality of life.

Sincerely,

Joanne Joy, Director

Renee Page, School/Youth Program Manager

Healthy Communities of the Capital Area

rpage@mcd.org ~ 207.588.5020

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