TELLURIDE MEDICAL CENTER LAUNCHES PHYSICAL EDUCATION INITIATIVE

The Telluride Medical Center (TMC) Foundation has been awarded a coveted Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant from the US Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. This three year, 1.6 million dollar grant is designed to promote physical activity and nutrition for students K-12 in the Telluride and Norwood Public School Districts. 

In short, PEP will focus on supporting the schools, kids and families in leading healthy lifestyles. “Our ultimate goal is to equip our kids with the knowledge they need and encourage them to form habits now, at a young age, that will allow them to maintain a healthy life even after they graduate and become adults.  There will come a point in time when, for most, it will not be as easy as it was when they were young.” says PEP Project Director Beth Kuperman.  Without that knowledge and those healthy habits formed, it can be a trying prospect to stay fit.  Witness the “freshman fifteen.”

This post-high-school reality may be more likely than one might envision, even for the best of athletes. According to the NCAA, less than 6% of high school athletes go on to become college athletes, and less than 1% of high school athletes ultimately play professionally. One of the aims of PEP is to equip youth with the tools, knowledge, and understanding of their bodies and physical health so that they can remain active and healthy even if they don't have a team to play with or a coach overseeing their physical fitness.

PEP will also focus on the obvious: preventing the rising tide of childhood overweight/obesity from taking hold in San Miguel County.  “While the pervasive view here is that our kids are healthy and active” says Kuperman, “it is also true that there are those who are not.  We see this quite clearly at the Medical Center on a daily basis.  What we do not want to do is treat as invisible those in our community who are at risk simply because they do not constitute the majority.”   

In addition to Ms. Kuperman, PEP has hired on Cathy Romaniello, RD, MPH, as the program’s nutritionist and Emo Overall, Assistant Director, to help facilitate programs and get kids and families involved.  Of the project, Ms. Overall notes that “in addition to inculcating in kids a culture of maintaining an active lifestyle, we also need to teach them the 'why' – why we run, hike, train, stretch, eat more yogurt than ice cream. It's a paradigm shift; from how to why. The PEP grant is providing us an opportunity to fashion this philosophical understanding into our community's already health-oriented culture.”

The PEP grant is multi-faceted. One component includes the recent implementation of a variety of free after-school physical activities as part of a Get Youth Moving (GYM) initiative. Novel after-school programs are tailored to appeal to students less likely to participate in after-school sports, and more likely to hit the video games and TV. PEP Clubs like Latin and Hip-Hop dance classes, Parkour, outdoor activity clubs, yoga, climbing, and more will run throughout the school year and through the summer as well.

Another key component of PEP is an array of nutrition education opportunities for kids, families, and the broader community. Cooking classes; free nutrition counseling for kids, families and school staff; community workshops; and an ongoing collaboration with School Food Service, will all be funded by PEP and aimed at instilling healthy eating habits in kids and their families.

In both districts, the existing physical education programs will be integrating some health and nutrition concepts into their existing curriculum and will ensure a focus on fitness as well as skill building in PE class.  The PEP grant will also fund the purchase of fitness equipment for physical education classes and after school activities and provide for professional development for teachers. 

TMC’s work began in August and will continue through the summer of 2014. TMC aims to create sustainable resources and systems that will allow the benefits to last long into the future.

A PEP School Health Advisory Council will meet November 30^th. Parents interested in joining the council and shaping PEP initiatives should contract Project Director, Beth Kuperman at the Telluride Medical Center: 369-2340 or beth@tellmed.org