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Welcome from CATCH USA!
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CATCH has Caught On!
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Dr. Deanna Hoelscher and Dr. Steve Kelder enjoying a recent CATCH outing with kids in their community
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At the end of 2013 we reflected in this newsletter on the success the CATCH Programs achieved that year and how much was accomplished in our communities. Now that 2014 is in full swing we are moving forward with all of our plans to make this an even bigger year for CATCH.
Fortunately, CATCH is more than just a program. CATCH is a nationally recognized and award winning coordinated health system that is supported by multiple partners and communities. One of those partners is the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living located at the University of Texas-School of Public Health in Austin, Texas. Led by Director Dr. Deanna Hoelscher and Co-Director Dr. Steve Kelder, the center is an international leader in conducting research and providing programs that promote healthy living for children, their families and the communities they live in.
The CATCH Programs were developed and are supported by individuals who are global experts in the study of childhood obesity and health behaviors. Dr.'s Hoelscher and Kelder are dedicated to their research and devoted to the kids, families and the communities they serve, and for that, we are grateful and look forward to the coming years.
To learn more about the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living click here.
CATCH Coordination Kit Reminders and Tips
 | | Karen Burnell, Dallas ISD CSH Specialist |
By now, you should be into Theme V, Celebrating Success, for your fifth 6 weeks at school, and wanted to share some of the reminders with you. We also wanted to share what our good friend and CATCH Master Trainer Karen Burnell does to keep her school district Dallas ISD on the move. Karen is the Coordinated School Health Specialist in the Health and Physical Education Department. Thanks Karen!
Here are the Coordination Kit tips:
- Use the CATCH Team Coordination Guide to see the big picture of campus-wide implementation. Utilize the Theme V checklist (found on pgs. 22-23) and Big Picture document (found on pg. 21) 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;
- Email the faculty and staff their star tasks and resources; and
- Please remind the individuals on your team to review their star tasks (found on pg. 21 of the CATCH Team Coordination Guide and pg. 9 in their Component Folder) for Theme V and distribute to the other staff in their discipline.
Here is Karen's recent note to her school teams:
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Karen's Parachute Giveaway!
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Since the fifth 6 weeks promotes the last CSH Theme Day for the year and CATCH Coordination Toolkit message of "Celebrating Successes", we really want you to "strut your stuff" on Friendly Fridays! Subsequently, March is also National Nutrition Month, and all schools will have a chance to win a CATCH GO-SLOW-WHOA parachute (worth almost $300!) by entering pictures from your Friendly Friday events.
HINT - some of the ideas in your Friendly Friday Theme Day that can be photographed are:
- GO Food pot luck for faculty and staff
- Teachers and parents eating lunch with students in the cafeteria
- A bulletin board of the faculty CATCH Coordination Toolkit - "CATCH My Healthy Living Commitment" Pledge Sheets
- Students peer teaching a CATCH Lesson
- Completed student journal entries about the characteristics of healthy friendships/relationships or Character Counts-Fairness
- Pen pal letters to students in other classes that share the top 5 things you can do to stay healthy
- Recognizing community partner CATCH MVP's by using the CATCH Coordination Toolkit - MVP/Appreciation Certificate
- Have a Staff vs. Students game where the spectators cheer for both sides to promote some "friendly" competition
Karen also shared with us her "Friendly Friday" tip sheets for both Middle School and Elementary School for Dallas ISD. Thanks Karen, this is really great work!
CATCH Snow Days
 | | This has been a familiar scene over most of the country this winter! |
Our good friend Lisa Tims in Missoula, Montana recently sent us this picture that was taken outside her window at work. We knew that they had some snow up there but this is quite the snow mound. We were curious as to what school kids do when they can't go outside for recess and asked Lisa since she is the Missoula CATCH Champion.
Here are some fun ideas from my end when kids do go out during recess with snow.
* Invest in sleds and have races during recess
* Build a CATCH snowman. Decorate with Go foods - get a tub of donated one day old produce from local grocery store and have kids build their favorite GO-Man.
* Add snowshoes to your sports equipment list
In MT, we always go out in the snow unless it's below zero. Kids are often kept in the classroom with the teacher when recess is cancelled due to freezing temperatures or during fire season and the air is poor quality. Perhaps some classroom indoor activities for cold day. My son's first grade teacher pulls out the toy bins and leaves them alone to silently play.
Thanks Lisa, stay warm!
CATCH You in St. Louis
Come meet us at the largest gathering of health and physical educators in the country, April 1-5 in St Louis. Stop by Exhibit Hall Booth # 1014 or say hi at one of the CATCH featured sessions:
Nutrition Based MVPA - the CATCH "Go, Slow, Whoa" Way Integrate nutrition concepts into your PE class with these CATCH high MVPA strategies. Exhibit Hall Demo - Wednesday, April 2, 3-3:20, Area 1
266 CATCH Healthy Habits: Inter-generational, Evidence-Based Approaches to Preventing Obesity After School
Thursday, April 3, 2014: 10:15 AM-11:30 AM, Convention Center: 260/267. Learn about the OASIS Institute CATCH Healthy Habits program, an inter-generational adaptation of CATCH, which encourages children (grades K-5) to increase physical activity and improve nutrition through a series of sessions facilitated by trained lay adult volunteers, age 50-plus, in place of paid staff in after-school settings.
See you there!
As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments or just to let us know what's new at your school or after-school organization. We love to hear your stories. And be sure to visit CATCH USA.
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Around the country
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Tri-State Children & Families
"CATCH�" the Spirit of Good Health
 Jeff Troxel, a SUBWAY Franchisee from Henderson, Kentucky, is the father of 3 small children, and a local community leader, who was tired of reading about the skyrocketing obesity rates in Kentucky year after year. Jeff decided to take action, and friendly with Jared "the Subway Guy" from years of crossing paths at SUBWAY events, approached the Jared Foundation about partnering to support local schools in the prevention of child obesity. Jared Fogle, President of the Jared Foundation, and local Indiana resident, is passionate about child obesity prevention, and knew that he wanted to help.
"Kentucky is at the top of the list every year for state obesity statistics, we wanted to do something, and we knew CATCH could make a difference. Together we went to the principals here in Henderson and we thought, we'll get a couple schools that'll be behind it. We have had 100% participation from all the principals who were ready to jump on board and said we need to do this for our community and our schools," said Troxel. And with that, Mr Troxel urged Tri State SUBWAY to make a significant donation of seed money to the Jared Foundation to bring CATCH training and implementation to the area. And CATCH On Tri State was launched.
 "What is unique about this implementation" said Kathy Chichester, National CATCH Coordinator, "is that a tremendous corporate and philanthropic community was behind this CATCH On Tri State effort before it even launched...local hospitals, businesses, and foundations have come together with educators to say we believe in this, we are going to help sustain this, and we are not going to let our children and our families down".
 "When Jeff Troxel brought this idea to the Henderson Community Foundation, we all knew we wanted to be a part of this immediately and with him, quickly began working to secure other donors and supporters as well as making our own Community Foundation financial commitment of $20,000 to the program," said Chase Fulcher, Henderson Community Foundation, Board Director of Fund Development and Public Relations.
Kicking off a March 12th CATCH Training of 60 Henderson, KY public and private school educators, UT Master Trainer, Dr John Krampitz, noted, "I have many years of CATCH training and implementation experience, and I can say that this community has all of the pieces in place to succeed...commitment from administrators, school implementation teams, parents, local business and health leaders, and local champions, and that's what it's going to take, everybody doing their part". Dr Krampitz further noted, "not only do we have education teams attending today's training, but in the audience we have hospital board members, community leaders, bankers, lawyers, after school and early childhood program representatives. It's awesome to see that kind of commitment and support".
 Russ Taylor, Executive Director of the Jared Foundation noted, "SUBWAY� committed to launching the CATCH� program into the Tri-State area, and we have already been joined by a number of organizations and sponsors. We couldn't have done this without the support of SUBWAY, The Henderson Community Foundation, Methodist Hospital, Farm Bureau, Henderson County Schools and Darrell Daigle, Holy Name School and Kamille Stich, Dempewolf Ford, Bank Trust Financial, Kyndle, and donors like John & Ann Hodge, Mark & Cindy Weaver and Dr. Richard Wham & Dianne Wham". Taylor added, "we can't wait to expand the CATCH On Tri State initiative this Fall in Evansville, Indiana. We have after school programs and early child hood centers raring and ready to go!".
To get a look at the CATCH On Tri State Kick Off, click here:
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CATCH in the News!
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Think we are the only
CATCH newsletter?
Think again!
 One of the great things about the CATCH Programs is that we encourage you to promote what you are doing in your school and community. One of the best ways to do that is through newsletters that go out to parents, staff and the public.
Healthy U with the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance has a great newsletter they shared with us called the Healthy U School Champion Newsletter. We thought you should take a look and see what a great organization can do for their state and YMCA communities. Good job, good job!
Have a newsletter you want to share with us? Send it to [email protected]
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CATCH Games
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Yarbrough Elementary Auburn, Alabama
Our friends in Auburn have come up with some great ways to get their kids motivated about being healthy. Yarbrough Elementary students have created some new games and commercials and are sharing them with us. One of them, Cavity Tag has to do with oral health. "I really liked the games particularly cavity tag" says National CATCH Director Peter Cribb. "Lots of kids having lots of fun being active while learning important health information. It's good timing because the Texas Education Agency recently ask me to add more resources for oral health education." The Cavity Tag and Whoa Sweets came from the CATCH 3-5 Activity Box says Coach Reginald Smith. Great job Coach Smith! Your kids are very creative and obviously had a lot of fun making the commercials and playing the games.
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CATCH Webinars
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Did you miss our last webinar?
Discover CATCH: Early Childhood at JCCs Across the Country
Special Guests: Steven Beck, Mackenzie Noda
The partnership between CATCH USA and the Jewish Community Centers of North America started 3 years ago. Since then, forty- one JCCs have been trained in the Discover CATCH program aiming to instill life long healthy habits in the youngest members of our community.
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