Fall, 2013
 
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 Welcome Back to School from CATCH USA!
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Peter Cribb, M.Ed
National CATCH Director
CATCH USA welcomes you back to a new school year!

We have a few tips to get your school year off right, and to remind you that September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness month. 

One of the best ways to begin this school year is to review the CATCH Coordination Kit for your first six weeks assignments.
 
The CATCH Coordination Kit provides all of the instructions and resources needed to put the CATCH Program into action at your K-5 or Middle School through 6 week-long themes. 
 
Below are some of the CATCH Action Items we suggest for the start of your school year.  

youngstudent As a school or district you have adopted the Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) Program to meet your school's wellness policy mandates. The goal is for your campus to implement the CATCH Program each year to promote healthy eating and physical activity campus-wide. 

 

As you prepare for Theme 1 - Getting Started please remember the following:

  • Use the CATCH Team Coordination Guide to see the big picture of campus-wide implementation. Utilize the Theme 1 checklist (found on pg. 6) and Big Picture document (found on pg. 7) as the agenda for your Team meeting.
  • Invite your stakeholders (cafeteria manager, principal/asst. principal(s), parent leader, physical education, specialized and support staff, etc.) to your Team meeting.
  • Establish a standing meeting time for the year (e.g. 1st Tuesday of each 6 weeks).
  • Discuss as a Team how best to make the resources (documents, activity breaks, posters, and lessons) accessible to all faculty and staff.
  • Plan and execute the star one tasks (found on pg. 7 of the CATCH Team Coordination Guide and pg. 5 in their Component Folder)  for the CATCH Kick-off Week during Texas Obesity Awareness Week (second full week of September).

Your CATCH Team wants to build excitement and school health awareness. If you can accomplish this in the first six weeks, you are on your way to a successful start of a great CATCH year! Be sure to ask your CATCH Champion what YOU can do to make things happen!

I am also happy to announce that this month's webinar guest is Peter Holtgrave, National Health Manager at the Oasis Institute. Be sure to check it out and register in this newsletter for the September 24th event. 

 

And remember, we are here to help and support your efforts in teaching our kids healthy habits and  how to live a healthy life!

 

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments or just to let us know how your school or after-school is doing.

 

Peter Cribb, National CATCH Director
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Upcoming CATCH Webinar
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Peter Holtgrave National Health Manager Oasis Institute

September 24th 11:30 AM (CST)

Peter Holtgrave is the National Health Manager at the OASIS Institute, a national nonprofit active in 43 cities in 25 states dedicated to promoting successful aging through lifelong learning, healthy living and social engagement. In this role, Peter also serves as the National Coordinator of the CATCH Healthy Habits program, an inter-generational, volunteer-based version of CATCH Kids Club, which unites adults, age 50-plus, as trained program facilitators, with children in grades K to 5 in after-school and summer camp settings. Peter will discuss the evolution of CATCH Healthy Habits, which is currently active in 19 cities in 15 states, including the program's adaptation, volunteer and partnership engagement strategies, and results improving the health and lives of both children and older adults. 
 
Upcoming Funding Opportunities
We know it's difficult for communities to keep their programs funded, that's why we are here to help point you to opportunities as they arise.

We try hard at CATCH USA to keep our grant and funding page updated, so if you haven't visited the site yet we encourage you to do so. 

There are links for some great funding opportunities along with the materials you need to include the CATCH Programs in your proposals.

We are here at CATCH USA to help you get things started.
 
CATCH Training
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CATCH Training helps you maximize the benefits of the CATCH Program in your school or community. Planning and supporting training is the first step in changing your school's environment. Through training, your faculty and staff become more aware of what coordinated school health is and how CATCH is used as a resource to meet their wellness policy goals.   
Supporting CATCH and the growth of your coordinated school health program becomes even more important following implementation training because that's when the real work begins. 

CATCH Training Workshops have been developed over a 20 year period and are fun, dynamic and multi-dimensional clinics designed to provide the knowledge, skills and tools to successfully implement and support your CATCH Program. Establishing a process that sets everyone up to succeed is the key and training does just that! 
 
For more information on CATCH Training please contact Peter Cribb and The University of Texas Training Team. Or visit our CATCH USA Training page here.
eaththerainbowAs this school year unfolds, we encourage our CATCH communities to share your success with others. There is no better way to do that than to send us your stories and pictures. We can spread your good news and get those healthy messages out to others. 

Have something new your trying this year? Let us know and we'll share your ideas and success with others. 
 
You can email your stories and pictures to us at: info@CATCHUSA.org

We look forward to hearing from you!