Middleton-Cross Plains Area District’s Wellness Success
Through thoughtful intentions, Middleton-Cross Plains students are eating and moving better.
District families come together for Family Fun Days like this Color Run.
Key Takeaways
Getting administrative support is crucial to producing buy-in from the school community.
Supporting staff wellness is key to encouraging wellness throughout the district.
Major Actions for Policy Change
“It just comes down to buy-in. I think, oftentimes, that comes down to education. When people understand the why, they start to be more supportive of changes.”
Community Partnerships. Middleton-Cross Plains has diverse representation on its wellness committee. The district has developed a strong policy that focuses on staff and student engagement. They took strides to implement concepts from the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model and bring in community organizations to provide them with outside perspectives.
Yoga classes are offered for staff after school at every school in the district.
Engaged Students. By focusing on what wellness means to a variety of students, Middleton-Cross Plains is making sure students from diverse backgrounds are represented in their policy and in their school. They are working to provide the best environment for students whether it be through education, wellness, or physical activity. Student and parents opinions were carefully built into the district's wellness policy.
Accessible Resources. The district educates staff on the wellness policy using accessible materials that are quick and easy to understand. These include a condensed wellness policy that focuses on policies that affect the classroom, a brief video summarizing basic policy pieces, and a reminder video that points staff towards resources.
Overcoming Obstacles to Making Change
Change is difficult but small steps create great impacts. Middleton-Cross Plains recognized that staff needed to understand why wellness changes were happening and how they could be supportive of them. In addition to educating staff about the policy, the district is also working to help teachers and staff learn the positive impacts of health and wellness in school. Knowing why wellness matters helps staff get on board.
Policy Implementation
“Schools provide the education of the why, the tools for the how, and also help the students develop the habits that they’ll have for life.”
The district recognizes the importance of staff wellness as well as the difficulty in shifting habits. They have implemented the initiative “3 by 20” which encourages staff to spend 20 minutes on self-care 3 times a week. Staff are encouraged to have walking meetings and take moments of mindfulness. The district also provides learning opportunities for staff each month on a different wellness topic.
For families, the district created family fun days that teach about movement, mindfulness and healthy eating.
Click here to download a PDF version of Middleton-Cross Plains’ success story.