Student Helps Launch a Community Walking Program Using a School Track

Share On Social!

Edison High School students, families and community members partner with school officials to open school’s new lighted track for a regular walking program.

EMERGENCE

Awareness: Toward the beginning of her sophomore year, Edison High School student Brianna Reynosa began to notice there had been some changes to her school’s lunch menu.
“It started with the new lunch menu. When I noticed the changes in the menu, I asked [Edison Principal] Mr. [Charles] Munoz about it and he began to tell me about how obesity was a problem in the community, and how he wanted the students at Edison to be healthy,” Brianna said.

Before, Brianna hadn’t really stopped to think about the consequences that come with making unhealthy lifestyle choices.

She began to think about her grandmother’s struggles with diabetes and how obesity contributes to the disease. She also considered what Munoz told her about his own experience with diabetes and two heart attacks.

She thought more could be done for her community. When she heard about the San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council (MFC) Student Ambassador program, she applied in May 2012. Of 269 students in grades 5-12 who applied, Brianna was among the 35 selected.

Learn: Ambassadors first attended a training/orientation. This was a turning point for Brianna. At the training, she learned of healthy initiatives that other students were bringing to their schools. The leadership training gave Brianna an opportunity to realize that it was possible to make a healthy impact at her school. She just had to draw up a game plan and present her ideas to her school principal.

Brianna decided to find a mentor to help her put together a plan of action.

Denise Cardenas, who works with the athletics department at Edison High School, agreed to be her mentor. Ms. Cardenas was Brianna’s track coach and someone Brianna felt she could turn to for support. She also had experience organizing school events.

Being an ambassador taught Brianna about living a healthy lifestyle, being a leader, and allowed her to exchange ideas with others on how to go about bringing healthy changes to one’s school. It also allowed Brianna to hear from local leaders, non-profit organizations, and obesity prevention advocates from the community. This experience further instilled in Brianna the importance of promoting changes that give everyone the opportunity to make healthy decisions.

Frame Issue: Edison High School had just installed a newly renovated track.

Brianna thought about organizing a walking event at the new, lighted, outdoor, all-weather terrain track. The Edison campus is nearby many fast-food restaurants and few physical activity options. So Brianna thought promoting the idea of walking was a great way to add physical activity options and thus encourage healthier lifestyles. Equipped with what she had learned at the ambassador training, Brianna brainstormed some ideas for getting people to walk. Brianna thought about bringing a walk for diabetes to her school, and then she contemplated an all-night walk-a-thon. She wondered if these events would create the type of lasting change that she hoped to see at her school.

She told her principal about her desire to encourage walking at Edison and among the surrounding community through walking events. She gave him an approximate date for when she wanted her walking event to launch.

DEVELOPMENT

Education: Brianna hoped that she could launch a walking event at Edison High School by January 2013.

However, much work remained. Part of Brianna’s Student Ambassador Action Plan required her to provide short- and long-term goals and describe what steps she should take to carry out her plan. She also had to think of ways to sustain her healthy initiative once the school year ended. So, she began to research what resources she would need to organize such an event. She wanted to prepare her school for the healthy changes to come so she searched online for “healthy tips for teens,” and asked permission to present these tips to the student body. Every morning, after announcements, Brianna would present a healthy tip over the school’s PA system, and the students began to notice. Brianna later learned that February was heart month, so she spoke to Munoz and Cardenas about launching a walk in February.

Mobilization: Because Brianna’s initial idea wouldn’t create any type of lasting change, she and her mentor approached Munoz with a new idea. Rather than an all-night walk-a-thon, Brianna and her mentor thought about starting a school initiative which would allow teachers to take their students out to walk during class time. Every month, each department could take turns going out to walk with their students. Before this plan was taken any further, Brianna sought approval from Munoz. The idea seemed great, but Munoz believed Brianna’s idea for a walking event could have an even further-reaching impact.

Debate: Munoz liked the idea of getting the student body to walk. But he wanted to give the students as well as the greater community an opportunity to engage in physical activity, during after-school hours. So Brianna suggested a new idea to Munoz: Why not have Walk with the Principal Night at Edison?

Who better to garner school and community support for a walk than a respected figure like Munoz, principal of Edison for 20 years. Munoz thought about the idea and began to realize that this would be a challenge for him. He would have to be serious about making a long-term commitment, not only to the student body but to teachers, parents, grandparents, children, and many others in the community, and he personally feared that he might not be physically fit enough to lead this effort.

Munoz remembered what his high-school-aged godson had asked him: “Padrino (godfather), are you going to be around to see me graduate from college?” With all of this in mind, Munoz decided to take the challenge and agreed to support, promote and participate in Walk with the Principal Night. An initiative such as this had never occurred at Edison, and, thanks in part to the renovated track and Brianna’s effort, Munoz believed this was an opportunity to engage the student body, their families, and the community in more physical activity.

With support for a Walk with the Principal Night, Brianna wanted to make sure that it would not be a one-time event, and that her work would have lasting impact on the student body and the community. This was the perfect opportunity to give everyone—not only those involved in extracurricular activities—a chance to participate in physical activity. So she discussed the possibility of continuing the tradition of having a regularly scheduled monthly Walk with the Principal Night with Munoz. After all, Edison did have a new lighted track, with lights that were scheduled to be on from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Brianna discussed her plan with Munoz, he considered the idea, and agreed to be a part of Walk with the Principal Night every first Thursday of the month at least for the rest of the 2013 school year. Now, Brianna could work out the details of her plan and begin to contact people.

ENACTMENT

Activation/Frame Policy: Once Brianna had the support of Munoz, she created a check list of the things she would need to organize the kick-off event. Brianna wanted the kick-off event to get the community’s attention, so she contacted organizations who shared a common interest for improving health.

Brianna wanted to get T-shirts and give out healthy snacks to those who attended, but she would need financial support. Cardenas thought of someone who might be able to help and contacted Olga Hernandez of the San Antonio Independent School District Board. Hernandez had helped Edison get new lights for the track and was in full support of providing the community with new avenues to participate in physical activity. So she sought out sponsors who were willing to donate funds to help pay for the kick-off event. Organizations like the Health Collaborative, The Red Cross, and students from the Edison High School of Health professions, agreed to set up booths and offer health literature and free health screenings. Brianna also planned on setting up a booth where she could provide the community with healthy recipes.

She spread the word by creating flyers and posting them throughout the school. She also made sure that students heard about Walk with the Principal night during morning announcements. Additionally, postcards announcing the initiative were sent to the homes of all the students.

One of Brianna’s short-term goals was to encourage all who attended the kick-off event to walk four laps around the school’s new track, which is 1 mile. She also wanted to get people to agree to make healthy lifestyle changes by signing a health pledge. So Brianna got to work and created a health pledge for attendees to sign. She also created a letter to invite the local middle school and elementary schools to come support the kick-off event.

Change: After lots of careful planning and the support of Munoz and a member of the local school board, a regular series of Walk with the Principal Night events was set, with the first on Feb. 28, 2013. Families, children, local firefighters, health educators, and fitness enthusiasts all showed up to the first Walk with the Principal Night to express their support for this healthy initiative.

IMPLEMENTATION

Implementation: The first Walk with the Principal Night was a great success. More than 400 participants attended the kick-off event and most signed healthy pledges. As people arrived to the kick-off event they signed in and entered the high school’s track and arena. They collected a bag, which contained health literature and fresh fruit.

The entire group of attendees listened to Brianna give a brief speech, where she encouraged everyone to make healthy lifestyle changes and to make walking a part of their daily lives. She explained how Walk with the Principal Night would be occurring every first Thursday of the month. Munoz shared his story and the crowd cheered as he spoke of his desire to see people live long, healthy lives.

He announced that the lighted track would be open to the community and how he hoped that everyone would follow his example, by coming out to walk. A physical education instructor and former student of Edison lead the entire group in stretches prior to the start of the walk. Then, at the sound of a starter pistol, the entire group began walking around the track. Latin music played in the background as the community enjoyed their walk around the track.

Equity: Through Walk with the Principal Night, Brianna hopes that other schools will be encouraged to open their recreational facilities and other students and community members will form their own walking groups. Munoz has not only led monthly walks at Edison, but he has made it a point to encourage the community to walk with him every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, as well. The renovated track remains open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Sustainability: The interlocal agreement that Edison High School entered into with the City of San Antonio for the installation of track lights has served to improve the safety of the walking track at Edison High School and made Brianna’s idea for a monthly Walk With the Principal Night possible.

Munoz has truly been inspired by Brianna’s desire to bring a healthy change to the school, and wants Walk with the Principal Night to continue at Edison for years to come. He wants to be a champion for health in his community, the same way Brianna has been. Already, more members from the student body and the community are coming out to walk with Munoz, and a fund has been established so that Walk with the Principal Night can continue even after Brianna has graduated.

This success story was produced by Salud America! with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The stories are intended for educational and informative purposes. References to specific policymakers, individuals, schools, policies, or companies have been included solely to advance these purposes and do not constitute an endorsement, sponsorship, or recommendation. Stories are based on and told by real community members and are the opinions and views of the individuals whose stories are told. Organization and activities described were not supported by Salud America! or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and do not necessarily represent the views of Salud America! or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.