County School District a Blue Zones Project Approved Worksite

This article was in Thursday’s (May 24th, 2018) Herald and News

Written By: Samantha Tipler

Klamath County School district, with its nearly 850 employees and 6,500 students, is now a Blue Zones Project Approved worksite. Leaders from the KCSD Staff Wellness Team and Blue Zones Project Klamath Falls celebrated with a ribbon cutting at the May 17 school board meeting.

“The bottom line for any worksite is that healthy employees produce more and cost less,” said Blue Zones Project Community Program Manager Jessie DuBose. She is also a Henley High graduate and her children are third-generation Henley students. “Becoming a Blue Zones Project Approved worksite means that the Klamath County School District has implemented enough best practices around wellbeing to hit a tipping point where they will start where they will start to see those values played out.”

Tying in with Blue Zones Project helps connect the KCSD and the Wellness Team to the greater community movement toward health in the Klamath Basin.

“It gives us more resources and it’s out in the community,” said Meghan Stock, PE teacher at Henley Elementary and a leader on the Wellness Team. “It’s not just our district, which is a big group in our community. It’s everybody: grocery stores, schools, worksites and helping get parks and bike lanes.”

Over the past year and a half the KCSD Wellness Team has worked to meet Blue Zones Project requirements and instituted ways employees can be more active, eat better and improve their health.

Those include providing healthier foods at meetings, building a yearly calendar of events and encouraging standing desks and fitness ball chairs. And the Wellness Team expanded incentive programs. The 100 Mile Club asks employees to track the miles they exercise and through Blue Zones Project, added other non-physical components such as reading books, volunteering or cooking healthy recipes. This spring the district and Blue Zones Project hosted a walking Moai competition lasting 10 weeks. And the Wellness Team encouraged employees in the Burpee Challenge where 78 employees completed 5,050 burpees.

The presentation to the board included testimonials from KCSD employees about how the Wellness Team and the healthy district incentives have affected their lives.

“The wellness program is a good way for me to find community with my coworkers and express my interests at work,” wrote Nicole Sheidler, fifth grade teacher at Shasta Elementary. “I also got to participate in an incentive-based challenge I would never have done on my own.”

“To me it is awesome that KCSD is actively encouraging the staff to choose healthy lifestyles and make healthy choices,” wrote Sally Taylor, a math teacher at Mazama High School who participated in the 100 Mile Club and the Burpee Challenge.

Blue Zones Project is now in 42 communities across nine states. Klamath Falls was the 26th and is rapidly becoming an example for others. Theresa Ross, Shasta PE teacher, Wellness Team leader and chair of the Blue Zones Project schools committee, has given presentations to other Blue Zones Project sites in Oregon featuring what the KCSD has done.

“It’s super fun to go to other school districts around the state,” Ross said, “and brag about something that we have, that’s really great, and is something no one else has.”

“People want to be more like Klamath Falls,” DuBose said, “and specifically do more of what you’re doing. It’s amazing.”

To read this article and others on the Herald and News website, please refer to the following link:

County School District a Blue Zones Project Approved Worksite (H&N)

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