Winning school projects include gardens, relaxation room, and “buddy benches” to enhance well-being on campus.
Fort Worth students are taking charge of their own well-being, and Blue Zones Project is rewarding their unique ideas to support better, healthier lives. Student groups at six Fort Worth ISD schools have been awarded Wellness Innovation Grants by Blue Zones Project — a community-led well-being improvement initiative — and underwritten by the R4 Foundation. The annual grant competition asks students to come up with creative ways to enhance well-being on their campuses. Winning plans range from an outdoor learning center with gardens to a “Chill Zone” designed to help students manage emotions and reduce conflict.
“It’s always inspiring to see the creative ideas students can come up with to improve well-being on their campuses,” said Matt Dufrene, vice president of Blue Zones Project Fort Worth. “Our goal is to make Fort Worth one of the healthiest cities in the nation, and when kids and teenagers get on board, we know our efforts will continue into the next generation—and that’s the foundation for real change.”
This third annual Wellness Innovation Grant competition included four awards of $5,000 and two awards of $1,500. Winning schools represent different grade levels and areas of the city.
$5,000 grant awards:
- Como Montessori. A student leadership group called Youth Voices for Change at this K–8 campus (where the mascot is a bumblebee) applied for a grant to develop The Busy Bee Wellness Center. The center is designed to encourage physical activity, creative thinking, positive student relationships, and healthy eating habits. Programs at the center are set to include intermural sports, arts and crafts, a “Regulation Station” that will give students an opportunity to downshift and connect (with comfortable seating, games, fidget toys, and relaxing lighting), and a healthy snack box. Students plan to tap into the expertise of faculty and staff as well as community mentors to lead activities.
- Kirkpatrick Middle School. The Kirkpatrick Wildcat Spirit Ambassadors will use their grant award to implement a Wildcat Buddy Bench plan to ease mental health struggles among students. Benches will be placed in student common areas, the counseling office, and certain classrooms. The plan also includes a pavilion area where students can gather. In addition to creating a buddy system to help students with their concerns, the project is designed to raise general awareness about the need for mental health support.
- Lowery Road Elementary School. To make their school a place where students can de-stress and better manage their feelings, a group of fourth- and fifth-graders known as the Leopard Pack designed a student lounge called The Chill Zone. The grant will be used to deck out the lounge with games, stress balls, bubbles, “water drawing” boards, relaxing seating, decorations, a stage with microphones, and a peer mediation station. Funding also will be used to train students as peer mediators. The lounge will host workshops for yoga, breathing techniques, and trust-building exercises, with the goals of helping kids develop calmness and better handle conflict. In addition, the Leopard Pack proposed the creation of an outdoor walking path that can be used by students and the community.
- North Side High School. Students at North Side High School plan to create dual gardens within their campus. One garden is designed to support emotional well-being. It will include sand and water features as well as flowering plants native to Texas, and students will be able to use the garden area to practice yoga or tai chi, meditate, or study. The second garden will allow students to grow herbs and vegetables and care for monarch butterflies. Both gardens will have plants that attract other butterfly species, hummingbirds, and pollinators. There will be a presentation area for speakers, and plans call for farmers market events, social gatherings, and wellness activities.
$1,500 grant awards:
- Edward J. Briscoe Elementary School. A group of students in third through fifth grade will use its grant to create a running club called Kardio Kidz, aimed at boosting cardiovascular health and promoting social-emotional wellness. The club will host community events, including weekly wellness walks and monthly fun runs. Grant funds will go toward step counters, project incentives, healthy foods, running shoes for students in need, club T-shirts, and an end-of-year health fair.
- Westpark Elementary School. This school’s gardening and butterfly clubs plan to enhance an outdoor learning center that can be used by all grades. Their project includes expanding the campus vegetable and butterfly gardens, purchasing eco-friendly supplies, composting, and developing signage to identify plants and provide information to students and the community. The area will also have a solar-powered water feature and a “learning walk.”
“We are proud to support the innovative ideas of area students and create the foundation for a lifetime of wellness, self-confidence, and success,” said Bret Helmer, R4 Foundation president and CEO. “This is much more than a grant. These projects support student wellness, school and community pride, and leadership skills. We look forward to continue sponsoring Blue Zones Project’s Wellness Innovation Grants into the future.”
Wellness Innovation Grant projects are set to get underway by this summer. The program is part of Blue Zones Project’s ongoing work with the Fort Worth ISD and other Tarrant County area school districts. Other efforts include walking school bus programs, support for campus wellness committees, and healthy campus celebrations.