Eating right, being active, and maintaining a healthy weight are important ways to reduce your risk of cancer, as well as heart disease and diabetes, making it important to develop healthy habits as soon as possible. For the School Health Coordinator Leadership Institute (MICHIANA), this means creating healthier school environments where children can thrive and develop healthy lifestyles that will continue into adulthood and lessen their disease burden.

MICHIANA began in 2003 and is a replicate of the original American Cancer Society National School Health Coordinator Leadership Institute. MICHIANA includes 10 teams from Indiana and 8 teams from Michigan. Each team consists of a health representative, an administrator, and a community representative, making this the largest Institute replication in the country to date.

The Institute teams of Indiana (Batesville, Brown County, Evansville, Goshen, Greencastle, Greenfield, Indianapolis, Middlebury, Southern Wells, and Vigo County) and Michigan (Adrian, Benton Harbor, Flint, Hudson, Houghton Lake, Hale, Jackson, and Taylor) were recognized by Nancy Yaw, CEO of the American Cancer Society, Great Lakes Division in February for completing three years of training.

All 18 Institute district teams formed a School Health Council and assessed their school district with the new Healthy School Report Card tool. This assessment helped them develop a Healthy School Improvement Plan. All teams are honoring their commitment to two additional years to implement their Healthy School Improvement Plans as well as track, evaluate, and report their progress.

Plans may include having recess before lunch to give kids the opportunity to be active, a strategy that has also been shown to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables. Schools can also put healthy options such as water and 100% juice in vending machines instead of pop. District teams may also recommend that schools provide daily physical education, offer screenings for depression, or hire a school nurse.

MICHIANA received national recognition from the Center of Disease Control Department of Adolescent School Health and the ACS National Office for being the closest Institute replication. The program’s evaluation data is now being shared to assist other states with future Institute replications.

Due to MICHIANA’s success, ACS has made the commitment to launch and help fund MICHIANA II and III, with the goal of training 40 additional school district teams. Indiana and Michigan Departments of Education and Health sent requests for MICHIANA II applications to all school districts in October. Ten teams will be selected from each state by the end of December and orientation is scheduled for April 2008. Additional funding sources are being explored to launch MICHIANA III with 20 more teams in April 2009.

The School Health Coordinator Leadership Institute would not be possible without dedicated volunteers. To get involved and help kids be the best they can be, please contact Dru Szczerba, ACS director of cancer prevention and health care systems initiatives at (248) 483-4336 or e-mail at dru.szczerba@cancer.org.