Jane Ellery, Ph.D. Director of Wellness Management Ball State University Susan Burns

1. The Silent Partnership Model:Developing a Community School Corporation-University Partnership to Enhance Student Wellbeing Jane Ellery, Ph.D. Director of Wellness Management Ball State University Susan Burns Indiana Youth Institute Consultant Michael Burns Consulting Additional Authors: Neil Schmottlach, Ball Brothers Foundation Cathy Whaley, Fisher Institute Karen Jones and Joannne Baierwalter, Muncie Community Schools Steven Hall, Delaware Community Schools Mary Watkins, Mt. Pleasant Township Schools Cheryl Graves, Daleville Community Schools

2. In the beginning… • Workplace Wellness initiatives focusing on teachers and staff at the schools • Win-win partnership: excellent learning laboratories/improved employee wellbeing • “Passport to Health” and students interns • School Wellness Policy Requirement followed by Ball Brothers approaching us to help schools with wellness plans

3. Aim • Responding to Public Law 108-265 and Indiana Department of Education/School and Community Nutrition Programs Policy 87, Delaware County will develop a “School Wellness Coordinating Center” to support Muncie area school corporations as they develop, implement, and evaluate Local Wellness Policies.

4. Multi-faceted Approach • A full-time coordinator • An online information repository • A Wellness “materials” exchange • A monthly information dissemination plan • A series of training workshops for teachers, staff, and community partners • A “reward” system

5. Proposed Goals Year 1 • Plan for Long-term sustainability • Document the current school wellness experience • Establish a “support” system for teachers and service staff Year 2 • Develop targeted interventions related to improving student well-being • Expand the age ranged covered through this project Note: Goals will be refined during the first few months of the project based on initial data collection efforts and feedback from partners.

6. Partners • School Districts: Muncie Community Schools, Delaware Community Schools, Mt. Pleasant Township Schools, Daleville Community Schools. • Indiana Youth Institute:Coordinate data collection efforts and basic training related to collecting and using data for decision-making. • Additional Partners: We anticipate working with many community agencies, organizations, and individuals in Delaware County.

7. Benchmarks/Measurements • The specific measures for project evaluation will be determined following initial data collection efforts, and all partners will be included in the process. • Key areas that will be assessed include: • Student health/wellness • Employee health/wellness • School district satisfaction • Community mobilization

8. Planning Theoretical Framework: • Salutogenesis (as proposed by Aaron Antonovsky): Focus is on factors that support human health and well-being rather than on factors that cause disease.  Antonovsky suggests that individuals feel a “Sense of Coherence” if their lives are meaningful, manageable, and comprehensible.  • Meaningfulness: What I do is important. • Manageability: I have access to or a willingness to search out the resources I need. • Comprehensibility: What is going on around me is understandable, orderly, and consistent rather than chaotic, random, and unpredictable. • General resistance resources (GRRs): Move beyond simply looking at what is available and instead concentrate on the ability for resources to be used and re-used for the intended purpose. • Multi-dimensions of wellness: Physical, emotional, social, intellectual, occupational, spiritual, and environmental • Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets

9. Emotional Resilience Social Environment Peer/Social Support Volunteer Rates Voting Percentages Collaboration Empowerment Coherence Comprehensibility Manageability Connectedness Coalition Capacity Meaningfulness Hardiness Organizational Culture Social Networks Organization Capacity Supportive Leadership Sense of Community Shared Vision Potential Measures

10. Initial Planning • Summer luncheon with partners was held on July 14, 2006. • Updates to initiative plans and timelines were made based on the information exchanged during the discussion. • School districts will… • Identify projects related to their School Wellness Policy to use to develop a proposal for the upcoming $10,000 grant funding cycle. • Determine how 2 Graduate Assistants will fit into their wellness plans, including helping write well-being related grant proposals. • Consider how best to both quantitatively and qualitatively document current and future experience in school wellness. • Ball State will… • Work with IYI to incorporate suggestions for reaching various groups into “Formative Research” data collection plans. • Continue devising an evaluation strategy and data collection plan to support county-wide evaluation efforts. • Develop a plan to share both general information and specific contact information for this initiative. • Work the identified interests into the overall plan and timeline outlined in this report.

11. Formative Research Phase: • Collected Parent Voice at Parent-Teacher Conferences in October… will also have other venues • Devising a strategy to hear from: • Teachers • Staff • School Board members • Students

12. Parent Voice • Top 3 Concerns: • Type of food choices available to the children • Amount of exercise and physical activity • How much time the parents are able to spend with their children • Definition of Wellness: • All over the board • What else can your school do to help: • Encourage sick children to stay home

13. Community Voice…

14. Where do we go from here? • Grant proposals based on current wellness policies • Continue our formative research and strategy formation • Take the identified “needs and wants” to potential community partners • Revise school wellness plans • Develop school-level and community-level evaluation plans • Continue working with community partners to maintain a shared vision and consistent message • Publish a 2007-2008 “County School Wellness Plan” working paper as an action plan

15. Jane Ellery, Ph.D. Director of Wellness Management Ball State University Susan Burns Indiana Youth Institute Consultant Michael Burns Consulting The Silent Partnership Model:Developing a Community School Corporation-University Partnership to Enhance Student Wellbeing Additional Authors: Neil Schmottlach, Ball Brothers Foundation Cathy Whaley, Fisher Institute Karen Jones and Joannne Baierwalter, Muncie Community Schools Steven Hall, Delaware Community Schools Mary Watkins, Mt. Pleasant Township Schools Cheryl Graves, Daleville Community Schools