Students at East Grand Middle School in Granby lacked energy for morning classes, so teachers added a 9 a.m. break so kids could eat egg sandwiches and drink juice.
“If they come to school hungry, they’re tired and their blood sugar is low; there is no way they can focus,” said Kathy Kopp, East Grand School District health coordinator.
The breakfast snack is one of many changes school officials have made in the past two years as the district tries a new teaching model that links children’s health to their ability to learn.
Pat Cooper, a school superintendent in Mississippi, has used the same model for the past nine years and turned his district’s once low achievement levels into among the state’s highest.
“It’s not just about reading, writing and arithmetic. We want the next generation to be better than we are,” Cooper told Colorado school officials at a statewide conference on school health.
Each school district in Colorado must create a wellness policy by June 30 under a federal law recognizing that schools can play a vital role in promoting healthy lifestyles and physical activity.
Cooper aimed to first achieve a safe atmosphere in his district’s schools and promote counseling, better nutrition and medical services. Once children are healthy, they’re ready to learn, he said.
He hired more nurses and counselors and created a family environment at school, emphasizing health rather than looking for new curricula or technology. “It’s not just raising test scores, it’s rehabilitating a generation of children,” he said.
Cooper’s health program began with community meetings and parents’ written permission. School nurses do regular checkups of students and notify parents if their children need dental or medical care. The school can file neglect charges if parents fail to respond in a week, he said.
Drug tests are randomly given to students in fifth grade and higher in his district. If they test positive, they’re given counseling, Cooper said.
East Grand is one of five districts piloting the health program, funded by $300,000 in federal money annually through 2007.
The middle school has also replaced vending-machine soda with juice and water and adopted better food in the cafeteria, such as salads and fruits, Kopp said.
The model is also being tried in the Summit, West Grand, Platte Valley and Durango districts.
Staff writer Julianne Bentley can be reached at jbentley@denverpost.com.
