CATCH Kids Get Healthy

The story below was written by Jessica Newton, CATCH Afterschool Coordinator at Summit Cove Elementary (SCE). She is in her first year coordinating CATCH programming at Summit Cove Elementary. Her story below illustrates one example of the positive impact the CATCH curriculum has had on one particular participant at Summit Cove Elementary.
*Please note: The names used in this story have been changed in order to protect privacy.

At Summit Cove Elementary we currently offer CATCH programming to a diverse group of children with hugely varying backgrounds in nutrition and physical activity. Some participants have been practicing healthy living at home since birth, and while others have never played a sport, been given the opportunity to participate in recreation outside of the normal school day, or to learn about healthy eating until participating in CATCH. It has become clear to me that the impact CATCH programming has on each participant and family, while differing greatly, is equally important.

One second grader in particular stands out to me as someone whose life has been, and continues to be, positively impacted by her everyday participation in CATCH at Summit Cove Elementary. Rachel (not her real name) is a happy little girl, but not very healthy, falling into the obese category for kids (96-99th percentile) which is cause for concern, given the percentiles for kids being quite liberal with 5-95th percent being considered normal weight.

Rachel is one of the kids in our program who has not had as many opportunities outside of CATCH to learn about nutrition, try delicious healthy foods, or to participate in local sports clubs, and other "GO" activities. Rachel is typically very enthusiastic about attending CATCH programming each and every afternoon. She loves all of the nutritious snacks and enjoys trying new foods. She is very interested in the nutrition lessons, frequently raising her hand to answer questions, and showing excitement when she gets answers correct. Rachel focuses on, and is fully involved in, the daily nutrition lessons, retaining the information and answering questions correctly 9 out of 10 times. When we are doing stretches and exercises she always gives 110%, doing her absolute best. When we are playing various tag games and other "GO" activities she is energetic and excited to play. When we are learning new sports skills she is persistent in learning and improving. Rachel is clearly learning, growing, and making improvements towards her health and fitness.

Rachel is just one example of the awesome kids at Summit Cove who I have the privilege to teach. My favorite thing about being a CATCH Coordinator is seeing the kids’ excitement when they progress and make individual improvements. The CATCH Curriculum makes it easy to plan fun and interactive lessons that teach the children about making healthy choices while helping to improve their fitness levels and lead more healthy lives. Kids like Rachel help me see the impact the CATCH program is making on the local community and on individual participants in the program.

Keystone Science School is now offering Summer CATCH Camp. Learn more and enroll your child this summer!