A bicycle is like school health in that…

It’s amazing to believe Oregon’s Health Education cadre of trainers has sustained over 17 years! I just finished a proposal for ASHA, with the hopes of being accepted so I can share how we’ve done it. This group of highly dedicated educators from around Oregon gets together a few times a year for their own professional development. Over the years, I have been a trainer on the cadre, the coordinator, the fiscal lead, and helped facilitate the retreats (like this week).

This past Monday, we had an update on our revised Oregon Health Education Standards and Grade Level Maps (found at: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=3813). We talked about the Healthy Kids Learn Better (HKLB) Coalition’s advocacy efforts heading into legislative session. The HKLB Coalition is our statewide Coordinated School Health advocacy group, sustained over 15 years. We spent some time reviewing the HIV Funding Opportunity from CDC. And, we did some visioning for the cadre. I’m attaching a few photos below.

I used the bicycle as a training metaphor. At the beginning of the day, I had cadre members write on a post-it note the answer to this prompt, “How is school health and/or health education like a bicycle?” Below are the incredibly clever responses…

• The wheels and spokes are partners, handlebars represent guidance
• Chain links people together
• Sometimes with health education, we feel like we are pedaling uphill
• Sometimes when riding, you need a support van. Reading, writing and math are always sitting in the van, while we are chasing it
• Spokes represent the prongs of the coordinated school health model
• All spokes, when tightened  and in place, are able to handle many trails- diverse trails that reach more children and their health needs
• A bicycle only works when someone is driving or steering
• There are a lot of components that work together to create a strong, effective, efficient system
• Hub = kids and Newton’s Law of Inertia- anything at rest stays at rest until MOVED.  We need to push school, family and community to be part of the school health movement.
• Bikes have many parts that all work together to move thoughts, actions and people forward.
• Bicycles move with energy. They won’t stand up without support.