Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Grants aimed at improving health, wellness
By Andra Bryan Stefanoni
news@joplinglobe.com
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Seeds planted a year and a half ago by a grass-roots initiative to improve nutrition and physical activity in Crawford County are now well-established and have begun showing signs of growth.
To date, the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas has awarded more than $75,000 in grants as part of a three-year initiative through the Kansas Health Foundation. Last week, the initiative’s program director, Stephanie Joiner, announced that the goal is to double that by 2011, with remaining money earmarked for nutrition and physical activity.
Joiner said work on the grant program began after she went on a listening tour “from Riverton to Pleasanton, Oswego to McCune.”
“The idea is not to dictate what needs to be done to our community, but to find out from our community how we can help,” she said. “Our emphasis is on making small, sustainable changes. Best practices shows you can’t change your life in a day, but you can make small changes.”
About 500 residents in 19 groups in Crawford, Cherokee, Bourbon and Labette counties weighed in on what it means to be physically active, and what could be done in workplaces, schools, families and communities to improve nutrition and fitness.
“What we learned is that people know they need to make good choices, but the problem is that people are not motivated to make those changes,” Joiner said. “Motivation has to be trained like you train a muscle, and the older we get, the more atrophy happens to our motivation.”
More than $20,000 in first-year grant money awarded in late 2007 helped fund seven programs serving diverse groups. All of them were designed to motivate and support healthy lifestyle changes, Joiner said.
One such program really took off: At Pittsburg Community Middle School, a group of girls now meets two to three times a week under the moniker “Dragons Fired Up for Change.”
The extracurricular club features physical activities, nutritional lessons, shopping on a budget in a healthy fashion, and trips to the YMCA.
“The feedback was tremendous,” Joiner said. “They have been able to have conversations with their parents about health and have started seeing changes within their families, and they found a real sense of community with each other.”
Another program, this one designed for teachers, also has had lasting effects. A countywide health and wellness committee staged an in-service day last fall for the county’s teachers. They went on to form walking groups and nutrition groups, and hosted school-level contests related to health and wellness.
Last week, a series of weekly and monthly activities on nutrition and health kicked off at those same area schools, including after-school teacher programs such as strength training, tennis, gardening, stress management, biking, and eating and cooking right.
And this week, another grant recipient, the Crawford County Extension office, will kick off a Walk Kansas for Kids program at Westside Elementary School in Pittsburg. Grant funding provides for 10 school districts in three counties to participate in the Walk Kansas for Kids program, which is expected to serve at least 3,000 students with incentives to encourage fewer sweetened beverages and less screen time, more time spent with family, and an active lifestyle.
- Local News
-
-
Convicted killer in Sheldon murders commits suicide
Matthew Laurin seemed angry Wednesday morning when he woke up a convicted man headed toward a life behind bars. Laurin, 20, of Springfield, pleaded guilty Monday to the 2008 murders of Robert and Ellen Sheldon, of rural Carthage, and was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance at parole.
-
Demolition on former Chrysler plant begins
A former Chrysler plant in St. Louis County that once employed thousands of autoworkers is about to be rubble.
Demolition is under way on one of two side-by-side Chrysler plants in Fenton. -
Galena man bound over on charges related to police pursuit crash
Judge Robert Fleming on Wednesday ordered Kaston Hudgins bound over for trial on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths last year of Teresa Kemp, 41, and her daughter, Taylor Kemp, 13. Both victims died of injuries they suffered when their car was struck by one driven by Hudgins, of Galena, who was being pursued by authorities.
-
Carl Junction school work scheduled to be done soon
Many of the upgrades and renovations taking place around Carl Junction schools will soon be done, said Superintendent Phil Cook. “Within a couple of weeks, everything should be completed, which gives us a week or two to get ready for school,” he said.
-
Seneca board places coaches on probation
The head coach and at least some members of the Seneca High School football coaching staff have been placed on probation after a school district investigation into a hazing incident last month. The Seneca Board of Education announced the probation via a press release issued Wednesday afternoon.
-
DC pushes female condoms to fight HIV epidemic
Charlene Cotton will talk to anyone about sex. Several days a week she stands behind a table decorated with a bowl of flavored condoms and safer sex pamphlets, calling to women passing on the street, “Come check out my table. Don’t be scared.”
-
Authorities identify murder victim; two facing charges in slaying
Authorities have identified 29-year-old Ian P. Monaghan, of Pittsburg, as the victim of a murder that took place Sunday in a field outside a trailer park in rural Pittsburg. Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton identified Monaghan after an autopsy and notification of the victim’s next of kin on Wednesday afternoon.
-
Motions argued in lawsuit against former administrator
Judge David Dally promised a ruling next week after motions were argued Wednesday in a lawsuit against Rita Hunter, former Jasper County public administrator, and St. John’s Regional Medical Center. The lawsuit was filed by Kenneth Hall, now of Monett, who contends that Hunter and St. John’s acted improperly in actions that made him a ward of the public administrator’s office.
-
Officials seeking financing to reopen Carthage plant
Chances are “better than even” that Renewable Environmental Solutions, the rendering operation that for years was the source of almost steady odor complaints, will resume operations, Mayor Mike Harris said Tuesday.
-
Crowder College’s MARET Center director resigns to take new post
When Dan Eberle steps down as director of Crowder College’s alternative energy programs, his one regret will be not seeing the completion of a $5 million building to house those programs. “I anticipate by the end of August we should have a green light to start on the MARET Center, (but) unfortunately I’m not going to be here,” Eberle said Wednesday.
- More Local News Headlines
-
