Community Engagement
Best Practices
Loudon County Schools
In the 2022-23 school year, Loudon County Schools supported National Play Outside Day, the first Saturday of every month, with a different outdoor activity challenge to engage families and the community. Each month’s activity was appropriately themed for the season. The first event at a local park hosted a “touch a truck” and cardboard boat race. Other months, families and the community were encouraged to participate in local hiking and walking trails, pools, and parks. Local water sports companies supported kayaking and paddleboarding opportunities. The Loudon County Schools Coordinated School Health team even offered a bonus opportunity to provide a selfie of an individual or family enjoying the challenge of the month on any day throughout the month for a chance to win an appropriately themed play package, randomly drawn.
More outdoor time is linked with improved motor development and lower obesity rates and myopia (nearsightedness) risk. Safely getting some sun also helps make vitamin D that bodies need to stay healthy and strong. Other benefits of outdoor play include better impulse control, healthy curiosity, and critical thinking. Research also shows that stress and depression are lower for all people who spend time in nature, and children, in particular, show increased focus and reduced symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Tools and Resources
Implementing Play Streets in Rural Communities
The Guide to Implementing Play Streets in Rural Communities provides guidance and recommendations to community groups, schools, faith-based institutions, or other organizations, on how to plan and put on a Play Street in rural communities based on first-hand experience from community partners in rural Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas.Active Living Resources for Communities
Active Living Resources for Communities
- The way communities are designed has a great influence on how active we are. When communities are safe, well-maintained and have appealing scenery, children and families are more likely to be active.
Let's Move! Cities, Towns and Counties
- Resources from Let's Move! Cities, Towns and CountiesPower Up Fitness - At Home
Project Learning Tree - Activities for Families
- When children spend time outside, exploring in nature, it can improve their creativity and imagination, classroom performance, and academic achievement, as well as their overall physical and mental health.
- To help families and kids at home, Power Up has fitness activities you can do right in your living room. Simple games, exercise demonstrations, and fun physical activities -- no equipment needed. Filter by category, for example, "toddler friendly" or "at home PE".
- Healthy Parks Healthy Person (HPHP) is a simple app that encourages Tennesseans to engage in outdoor physical activity. App users can earn points by participating in healthy activities in any park in Tennessee and then redeem their points for free rewards!
Resources for raising physically literate kids
A joint use agreement (JUA) is a formal agreement between two separate government entities–often a school and a city or county–setting forth the terms and conditions for shared use of public property or facilities.
- Joint Use Agreement 1: Opening Outdoor School Facilities for Use During Non-School Hours is the simplest of the model joint use agreements. It is an agreement in which the community can use designated school district outdoor recreation facilities.
- Joint Use Agreement 2: Opening Indoor and Outdoor School Facilities for Use During Non-School Hours is a model agreement in which the community can use designated school district indoor and outdoor recreation facilities.
- Joint Use Agreement 3: Opening School Facilities for Use During Non-School Hours & Authorizing Third Parties to Operate Programs is a model agreement in which the community can use designated school district indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, and it also allows for third parties, such as youth organizations or youth sports leagues, to operate recreation programs using school facilities.
- Joint Use Agreement 4: Joint Use of District and City Recreation Facilities is a model agreement in which the school district and local government agree to open all or designated recreational facilities to each other for community and school use. It also allows for third parties, such as youth organizations or youth sports leagues, to operate recreation programs using school facilities.
Tennessee Recreational Joint Facility Use Finder
- This tool helps communities find recreational centers or facilities that have agreed to share indoor and outdoor facilities such as playgrounds, gymnasiums, and athletic fields.
Involve Families in Physical Activity in Schools: Data Brief
This brief highlights national data to describe the state of family engagement in physical activity in schools in the United States of America, and identifies key strategies and ideas that parents, school districts and schools can use to improve family engagement.
Jack Hartmann Kids Music Channel
- Jack Hartmann is a 2016 Parents' Choice Approved Award Winner for the CD, Brain Breaks. These songs for kids are based on curriculum and brain research.
SHAPE America Activity Calendars
- Elementary and secondary level physical activity calendars are updated each month in both English and Spanish.
National Program for Playground Safety
- The National Program for Playground Safety leads projects that increase quality and safety of play environments for the health and well-being of children. They offer comprehensive training to educators and advocates, undertake collaborative projects that improve research and support the development of best practices regarding safe and inclusive play environments, and advocate for policies that improve the quality of programs and the lives of children.