Mt. Pleasant Community School District challenges families to consider healthier choices through SWITCH program event

MT. PLEASANT - Excited fourth and fifth-graders ran about the Van Allen Elementary School gym, climbing a rock wall and learning how to unplug from screens at Mt. Pleasant Community School District's first SWITCH Family Kick Off event on Tuesday evening.

The district began utilizing the statewide program, headed by Iowa State University Extension, three years ago. SWITCH is intended to help schools implement their own wellness curriculum, focusing on getting kids to engage in physical activities, reduce screen time and choose healthier food options.

Those goals were reflected in the activities the district planned for families earlier this week, which included several stations that challenged both students and their parents to consider ways to spend more quality time together and away from gadgets. Other activities included learning about the different food groups and brainstorming activities that can be done during commercial breaks while watching TV.

Lisa Lowry, Van Allen Elementary School's exercise science teacher, noted the program hopes to involve parents more to help students implement healthy lifestyle changes outside of school.

'We can only control so much that happens within the school, but if we can get them going at home, then it can be a lifestyle change with the family and not just the kid. And I think parents are their first role model, which is important,” Lowry said.

Approximately 40 students and their families participated in the inaugural event, including Salem Elementary School fourth-grader, Ryan Helling, and his mother Jennifer, who spent time talking about ways to unplug. The pair jotted down their ideas at one of the SWITCH stations.

'We could read a book for at least 20 minutes or more, or play games,” Ryan said of alternative activities he had come up with in place of using technology.

'If we don't know what to do, we could look at [this sheet] and figure out what to do,” Ryan said of how the activity would help him at home.

Jennie Leishman, who has two children currently attending schools in the district, said her family has been making a concerted effort to lead a more healthy lifestyle and felt coming to the event would give them more ideas on how to go about doing that. The mother explained that she was motivated to look into ways to reduce screen time when she noticed her children's behavior change due to access to television and computers.

'I have noticed that when they spend more time in front of the TV or the computer, their attitudes are different. Their willingness to interact and even just to be nice to each other is different and when they have to go out and play or be physical and interact with each other, they can learn so much more than if they were just watching screens all day,” Leishman said.

The program not only encourages children to get physical and take breaks from technology, but also to think critically about what it means to make healthy choices. Van Allen Elementary School's principal, Donald LeBlanc, who helped hand out posters decorated with the food pyramid during the event, added that the program was important from an educational standpoint because it helps prepare students for the future.

'I think it just makes kids more conscious about making better, healthier decisions to live their life by. When you talk about education, you're preparing kids for the future. And to prepare for the future, not only do you have to make your mind sharp but you have to have a body that can last and be functional through your life,” LeBlanc said.