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CDC Healthy Schools Stories of Achievement Arkansas Healthy Students , Ready to Learn Increasing Coordinated School Health training participation through a virtual platform. Over the past few years, Arkansas has emerged as a leader in implementing Coordinated School Health (CSH) programs across the state, providing valuable trainings to school staff

The Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003 launched comprehensive efforts to curb childhood obesity. As a result, Arkansas district wellness committees are required to conduct assessments at the building and district level using CDC’s School Health Index (SHI). These assessments are traditionally completed through quarterly trainings on CSH topics. However, the COVID-19 pandemic dictated that the trainings be conducted virtually for the 2020–2021 school year. Fortunately, Arkansas was able to streamline each of the four quarterly CSH trainings from 6 hours to 3 hours, which increased participation from the previous school year by more than 25%, as shown below.

Young children sitting and smiling and holding a volleyball.
Training Date Topic Outcomes August 2020 School Health Index and Wellness Reporting Mandates An increase of 14 districts and 28 participants from August 2019 November 2020 Increasing Health and Physical Activity in the Classroom An increase of 41 districts and 39 participants from November 2019 February 2021 Family and Community Engagement for the WSCC Model An increase of 60 districts and 92 participants from February 2020 May 2021 Human Trafficking and School Safety An increase of 21 districts and 25 participants from May 2019 (no May 2020 training due to the outbreak of COVID-19)
Impact

The impact of these virtual trainings can be shown through the words of people who participated in them.

“I am now able to improve my wellness policy goals to be more specific and with measurable objectives and outcomes.” – Debbie McAdams, El Dorado Priority District CSH Meeting August 2020, School Health Index and Wellness Reporting Mandates “As a pre-K teacher, I gained knowledge of PE and PA assessments and activities. This gives me an idea of what I need to observe while doing their activity, for example skipping, running, or jumping, and so on.” – Leticia Pinto, private school preschool teacher July 2020, Effective Physical Education and Increasing Physical Activity in Classroom Instruction “This training brought to light several things I want to implement in the classroom. There were several good ideas thrown around and discussed in our breakout sessions.” – Patrick Thomas, Harmony Grove School District CSH Meeting November 2020, Increasing Health and Physical Activity in the Classroom “I now know how to use the School Health Index as a tool to help me assess our school’s needs and plan.” – Jayme Brown, Clinton School District July 2020, Comprehensive School Physical Activity Planning training

What's Next?

When in-person CSH trainings resume, they will revert to a 6-hour format. However, Arkansas will still offer a virtual training option. The additional three hours for in-person trainings will include small-group technical assistance to develop more specific health-focused policy based on the needs of the individual district, create comprehensive school physical activity programs, and provide skill training for all school personnel.

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