Every week, we shine a light on a Springboard to Active Schools trainer who is making a difference in their community and state. These blogs highlight trainings that the trainers have conducted on implementing a Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP), training insights and tips, and fun facts.
We met with Caroline Green, the Community Programs Coordinator for the Maryland Department of Health, to learn more about her training experience.
- Share a brief overview of one of your Springboard to CSPAP Implementation trainings.
What: Classroom physical activity and recess.
Who: Teachers, nursing staff, administrators, and local health department (LHD) employees.
Where: Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS).
- Who were the key partners you worked with to make this training happen?
I worked closely with the Nurse Coordinator from GCPS and the Director of Health Education for the LHD. They let me know what training content the staff were interested in and helped with scheduling the training.
- What superpower did each partner bring to the table?
They reviewed my PowerPoint ahead of time and gave me great suggestions, like doing a “share and learn” session at the end, which ended up being a good addition, and sharing the resources on Google Drive after the training for all the teachers to access.
- Did you learn anything new about your partners through this process? If so, what did you learn?
They’re all genuinely interested in keeping their students healthy. Sometimes, it’s easy to assume that health may not always the priority for a school system, but GCPS is doing great things to ensure that their students are physically active and eating well. They also focus a lot on the outdoor environment, which is very cool and something I don’t see that often in our other jurisdictions. They get students outside, even in the snow, and have an Environmental Education Center. In fact, a staff member from the Center was at the training.
- What are three words to describe your audience before the training began?
Ready for home. My session was part of a longer meeting and was the last one of the day.
- What are three words to describe your audience at the conclusion of the training?
Motivated for action.
- What is one way you got the participants to be physically active?
I did the Over/Under Activity. Also, the staff had received bike pedals for under their desks, and they all had access to those before I got there. They had incorporated the bike pedals into their day-long meeting.
- What part of the training are you most proud of?
I gave them lots of different ideas for incorporating physical activity into their school days.
- What part of the training was the most challenging?
Public speaking. I don’t enjoy getting up in front of so many people for two hours.
- What is one thing that surprised you at your training?
I thought the staff had been introduced to CSPAP before, so I only provided a brief overview during my presentation. From the evaluations, it seemed like some people didn’t have knowledge of CSPAP.