2018 ANNUAL REPORTPhysical Activity | Healthy Eating | Mental Health

Maintenance Schools (53)

Expansion Schools (17)

School Jurisdiction Partners• Alexander First Nation Education• Aspen View Public Schools• Beaver Lake Cree Nation • Edmonton Catholic Schools• Edmonton Public Schools• Elk Island Catholic Schools• Fort McMurray Catholic Schools• Fort McMurray Public Schools• Frog Lake Education Authority• Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School• Northern Lights Public Schools• Northland School Division No. 61• Sahtu Divisional Education Council• Swan Valley School Division• Tlicho Community Services Agency

The APPLE Schools Foundation 2018 | Charity Registration Number 881165211RR0001

VISIONHealthy Kids in Healthy Schools

Why do we need APPLE Schools?Chronic diseases and obesity havedrastically increased in children.According to the 2014 REAL Kids Albertaevaluation, 29 per cent of Grade 5students in Alberta are overweight, and8 per cent are obese.1 Healthy kids learnbetter, so APPLE Schools works withunderserved school communities tomake health an easy choice. Students inAPPLE schools show a 35% increase inphysical activity, eat 10% more fruit andvegetables, and are 40 % less likely to beobese than in comparison schools.APPLE Schools helps students eathealthier, move more, and feel betterabout themselves so they can achievemore academically.

1. Academic citation: REAL Kids Alberta (2014). Summary of Resultsfor REAL Kids Alberta.

What is APPLE Schools?APPLE Schools is an innovative school-focused health promotion initiative. Itimproves the lives of more than 20,000students annually in 70 schools acrossnorthern Alberta, Northwest Territories,and Manitoba. The project supportshealthy eating, physical activity, andmental health by implementing thecomprehensive school health model,and is governed by a board of directorschaired by Dr. Lory Laing.

MISSIONTo inspire and empower schoolcommunities to lead, choose, and be healthy by recommendingand supporting measureable and sustainable changes. www.appleschools.ca

Table of Contents

2 APPLE Schools Timeline

3 A Year in Review

4 Celebrating 10 Years

5 70 Schools in Alberta and Beyond

Planting the Seeds for a 2019 Expansion

6 New Partnerships

7 Sustainable Funding

8 School CommunitiesUpdate

14 Research

Award WinningOrganization

15 Knowledge Exchange

17 New Resources

16 APPLE Schools in the News

17 Expanded Social Networks

A Grande Farewell

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Dear Friends,

I am excited to share the APPLESchools story from the past year asthe organization has entered a newchapter in supporting healthy kids inhealthy schools.

All the preparation our team hasbeen doing in the previous year cameto fruition as our APPLE tree brancheshave spread out in Alberta andbeyond. We are excited to beexpanding in Canada, working withnew communities in Manitoba andNorthwest Territories. This expansionforged valuable, new partnershipsthat are integral to our work in thoseareas. We are building partnerships inBritish Columbia as we prepare forexpansion into the province in 2019.

The Public Health Agency of Canadagenerously extended their funding tosupport our expansion efforts for 2019,and we secured new funding sourcesfor existing schools in the Edmontonarea. Many generous supporters havebeen helping us to inspire wellness in

school communities, which we are sograteful for.

In January, our project team celebratedAPPLE Schools’ 10-year anniversary. We were so humbled by the manyattendees, the leaders who sharedinspiring words with the crowd, and the students who totally energized theevent, demonstrating what a fun,healthy APPLE school really looks like.

APPLE Schools’ board of directorswelcomed three new directors to bringleadership and expertise, including aretired APPLE Schools staff memberwho will continue to share her long-term knowledge of the project. Allthree directors have already beenessential to the project.

Most importantly, our tenacious,hard-working school healthfacilitators and champions continueto do a tremendous job paving theway for sustainable, healthy schoolcultures for generations to come. Thestories of initiatives happening in theschools that we continue to hear are

emblematic of what we strive toachieve, and they fuel us to keepmoving forward. We see morestudents, parents, and teachersputting greater value on communitywellness and being proactive inimproving eating, mental health, andphysical activity habits.

Thank you to each supporter who hasbeen alongside APPLE Schools duringthis year of growth, and for the last 10 years. A special thank you to thecharitable, generous funders who trust us to deliver results in theircommunities and provide the meansfor the APPLE Schools team to do whatwe love to do. An extra special thankyou to all the staff and students in theschools who bring the project to life.

Sincerely,

Jenn FlynnExecutive Director

A YEAR IN REVIEW

FUNDERS

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2018

In January, we proudly celebrated 10years of APPLE schools! The event tookplace at Belmead School in Edmonton,one of the original APPLE schools, withmany of our friends and partnersjoining in the celebration. It was anopportunity to thank the generousfunders and incredible people whohave worked hard to support healthykids in healthy schools.

The APPLE Schools team feelsincredibly humbled and grateful tohave celebrated with students,teachers, administrators, partners,board of directors, funders, and manyothers. We look forward to 10 moreincredible years!

10 Challenges in 10 WeeksTo celebrate the anniversary, schoolswere invited to participate in a healthychallenge. Each school had 10 weeks tocomplete 10 healthy activities as agroup. Schools that participated wereentered into a draw prize for one ofthree healthy prize baskets. InEdmonton and remote schoolcommunities alone, there was a totalof 180 entries! Every item in the basketwas donated by the following partners:

• Be Fit For Life

• BOKS

• Dairy Farmers of Canada

• DancePl3y

• Elite Sportswear

• Ever Active Schools

• Frisbee Rob

• ParticipACTION

• Rookie Rugby

• Sportfactor

The lucky winners of the basketswere: Annunciation School inEdmonton, North Star ElementarySchool in Cold Lake, and St. AnneSchool in Fort McMurray.

CELEBRATING10 YEARS

In classic APPLE Schools style, student leadersengaged the crowd in a daily physical activity.

Allan Markin, the founding funder of APPLESchools, captures the crowd with his heart-feltwords about the project.

Student leaders welcome guests at the 10 yearcelebration.

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We developed this poster for each school to hangin a prominent area. Each time they completed anactivity, they would take a photo of it, add it onthe poster, and send it to APPLE Schools to sharewidely. This progress photo was shared on Twitterby a Fort McMurray school.

APPLE Schools entered a newchapter this year as we set the stagefor expanding the project in Albertaand beyond. The project is nowoperating in 70 schools acrossAlberta, Manitoba, and NorthwestTerritories (N.W.T.). We are on trackfor reaching our goal of expanding to10 new schools every three years tosupport 31,000 students annuallystarting in 2028.

Alberta ExpansionAPPLE Schools expanded to threeschools in Alberta.

• Amisk Community School, BeaverLake Cree Nation, Alberta.

• Dave McNeilly Public School, FortMcMurray, Alberta

• Elsie Yanik Catholic School, FortMcMurray, Alberta

Manitoba and Northwest TerritoriesAPPLE Schools started working withtwo schools in Manitoba, and two inN.W.T. Since the last report, ourproject team strengthenedpartnerships with the governmentsof Manitoba and N.W.T. and workedwith local school jurisdictions toselect schools that would mostbenefit from APPLE Schools. Thesenew schools are:

• École Swan River South School –Swan River, Manitoba

• Minitonas School – Minitonas,Manitoba

• Chief Jimmy Bruneau School – Behchoko, N.W.T.

• Chief T’Selehye School – Fort Good Hope, N.W.T.

Staff with strong communityconnections were hired for theschool health facilitator positions,which sets them up for a verysuccessful first year of introducingwellness to their remote schools.

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PLANTING THE SEEDS for a 2019 Expansion

The project team spent this yearlooking ahead and ensuring allthe pieces are in place for a 2019expansion in British Columbia(B.C.) and Alberta. We have beenworking closely with DASH BC,strengthening partnerships tobetter facilitate the transition intotwo B.C. schools. DASH BC is theleading organization of schoolhealth promotion using acomprehensive school healthmodel in B.C., an ideal partner forAPPLE Schools. We have alsoconnected with the ministries ofhealth and education with theGovernment of British Columbia,and they have both agreed towrite letters of support to thePublic Health Agency of Canada(PHAC) to voice their support forour initiative in their province.

Additionally, we plan to continuegrowing the project in Alberta.With the generous support of ourfunders, we will be adding twonew Alberta schools inSeptember. We will be workingclosely with existing partners todetermine locations beforeJanuary 2019.

70 SCHOOLSIN ALBERTA AND BEYOND

Two staff members flew to N.W.T. to meet withcommunity members last April. When theyarrived at Chief Jimmy Bruneau School, therewas an array of healthy snacks prepared foreveryone to enjoy.

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NEWPARTNERSHIPSIt really does take a village. APPLE Schools’ partners are integral to helping support healthy kids in healthy schools. Thesepartners provide the connections, information, resources, time, support, and momentum that is essential to reach ourvision. Our existing partners stand alongside APPLE Schools, allowing school communities to sustain healthy environmentsfor students. For a full list of our partners, please visit appleschools.ca.

2018 saw several new and valuable partnerships blossom, all of which made it possible to reach ourexpansion goal:

Active for Life Created health promotion

postcards with APPLE Schools’logo and provided several

thousand copies to distribute at no cost.

Beaver Lake Cree Nation

Committed to provide humanresources support for the

school health facilitator andfinancial reconciliation offunding agreements for

Amisk Community School in Alberta.

The Bouchier GroupCommitted to fund the

project and provide advice forsecuring future funding,especially in the Regional

Municipality of Wood Buffalowhere the company operates.The CEO is on APPLE Schools’

board of directors.

DASH BCCommitted to working with

APPLE Schools to expand into B.C. in 2019.

EdmontonCommunityFoundation

Provided a grant to fund APPLEschools in the Edmonton area

until the end of 2019.

First Nations and InuitHealth Branch, Alberta

Region – IndigenousServices Canada

Provided a healthy eatingsession at an APPLE Schools

training event; facilitatedconnections between First

Nation communities,community health advisors, and

APPLE Schools to supportschool health champions in

nutrition work.

Government ofManitoba

The Healthy Schools Consultantfor Health, Seniors and Active

Living, used our criteria toidentify a suitable school

jurisdiction for APPLE Schools to work with, which is

Swan Valley School District.

Government ofNorthwest Territories

The Coordinator for Health,Wellness, and Student Support

created a committee todetermine selection criteria

for APPLE schools in N.W.T. and ensured all ministriesand community leaders became

aware of our work.

Government of BritishColumbia

Agreed to provide letters ofsupport from the ministries of

education and health in supportof expansion into B.C. in 2019.

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As APPLE Schools continues toexpand, so do our fundraisingefforts. The team has been workinghard to build relationships andmake connections with people incompanies and organizations whoshare our passion for buildinghealthy communities wherechildren can thrive.

APPLE Schools was honored toreceive a funding extension of morethan $900,000 from PHAC, whichmatched the additional dollarscommitted from charitable funders.These funds will allow the projectto support additional schools in the2019-20 school year and beyond.

New funders, including TheEdmonton Community Foundationand the Stollery CharitableFoundation, have come on boardto support APPLE schools in theEdmonton region.

Existing corporate funders havebeen so pleased with the projectoutcomes that three of themhave extended their funding: CNRL increased their fundingcommitment to $70,000 per yearfor three years, Pembinacommitted to an additional$70,000 per year for three years,and Inter Pipeline increasedsupport by an incredible$250,000 per year until 2024.

When APPLE Schools requestedextra funding from Inter Pipeline,two students from Anzac Schooland Bill Woodward School joinedour staff in presenting to theCommunity Investment Committee.They shared examples of what theirhealthy school community lookslike and led the committee in adaily physical activity to bringAPPLE Schools to life, leading to theapproval of the funding extension.

Inter Pipeline presented APPLE Schools with a $650,000 cheque as part of their fundingcommitment, at École Dickinsfield in Fort McMurray.

Sahtu DivisionalEducation Council

Committed to provide humanresources support for the

school health facilitator and financial reconciliation of thefunding agreement for Chief

T’Selehye School in N.W.T.

The StolleryCharitable Foundation

Provided a grant to fund APPLE schools in the Edmonton

area until 2020.

Swan Valley School District

Identified the two expansionschools in Manitoba and

connected APPLE Schools torelevant community members.

The district also providedhuman resource support forschool health facilitators, andfor financial reconciliation ofthe funding agreement for

École Swan River South Schooland Minitonas School

in Manitoba.

Tlicho CommunityServices Agency

Committed to provide humanresources support for the

school health facilitator andfinancial reconciliation of the

funding agreement for Chief Jimmy Bruneau School

in N.W.T.

SUSTAINABLEFUNDING

New Partnerships continued

Students sit around a relaxed therapy dog. A class gets energized playing a positive, upbeat game.

2016 Expansion SchoolsIn their second year of being an APPLEschool, 10 out of 12 2016 expansionschools developed a draft wellnesspolicy for their school communities.The policy will create consistency andsustainability in maintaining thehealthy school changes that schoolhealth facilitators worked hard toimplement in the first two years. Theschools also participated in follow-updata collection to determine thechanges occurring in students’behaviours. This year, the schools had a0.5 FTE school health facilitatorsupporting them and their actionplans, and they continue todemonstrate community capacitybuilding for a healthy, sustainableenvironment. Lastly, the school healthfacilitators attended the annualShaping the Future Conference, wheretwo of them took their learnings fromthe first one-and-a-half years as school

health facilitators and presented onways that schools in rural and remotecommunities can create healthychanges following the comprehensiveschool health model.

2016 Expansion school stories

Anzac and Bill Woodward CommunitySchool hosted a Mental Health Fairshortly after Christmas.

Students attended numerous sessionsdealing with grief and loss, addictionprevention, stress and test anxiety,abusive versus positive relationships,consent, and social relationships. Theevent addressed the social stigmasurrounding mental health andpromoted a healthy school culture.Several partners helped with the event,including Be Fit For Life, Al-Anon forTeens, and PAWS pet therapy, whoeven brought a therapy GermanShepherd to demonstrate the soothingpower of pets.

SCHOOL COMMUNITIES UPDATE

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The real action happensinside APPLE school walls.This is where we see theleadership, energy, andideas come to life. It iswhere the lifelong changeshappen thanks to theefforts of superintendents,principals, teachers,parents, students, andschool health facilitatorsand champions.

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Aurora Middle School students havebeen taking full advantage of theirbeautiful year-round growing dome,where they grow food and enjoyclasses. They grew and harvestedtomatoes, pea shoots, basil, and manyother greens, and enjoyed them as asnack. The entire school had a tastetest for pea shoots, which the Grade 7class prepared.

The school even created a pea shoottaste test sheet and shared it with us.We posted the resource on our websiteto share with other health promoters.

Fort McMurray SchoolsSince 2010, APPLE Schools has beenworking with most elementary schoolsin Fort McMurray and providingsupport to the high schools, slowlycreating a healthy city. People in thecommunity have been so supportive ofhealthy initiatives that there arereports of grocery stores changing theway they stock healthy food toaccommodate the demand.

Schools in the public district have seena lot of success this year. They haveimproved at implementing thedistrict’s Health Promoting SchoolEnvironment policy to ensure a safeand healthy environment for allstudents. Implementation hasimproved significantly from thedistrict leadership level down to theschools; the superintendent even sentout information about promotinghealthy fundraisers in schools whichare turning toward creative solutionslike raffle tickets. The district has alsoinvested more time to increaseIndigenous learnings at school eventsand created an FNMI StudentAdvisory Committee.

Schools are building strongpartnerships with local businesses,making wellness a whole-communityinitiative. Superstore has donatedapples to schools and Save-on-Foodshas donated and served breakfast atWalter Gladys Hill school and Dr. Clark school.

The Fort McMurray Catholic SchoolBoard continues to make healthyschool communities a priority andhas shown amazing growth and

sustainability in their healthyschool initiatives.

Various school administratorsprovided their school healthchampions with built-in APPLE schoolprep time in their schedules. Thisshows that they recognize the valueof this position in their school andwant to encourage their staff tocontinue building upon their success.

Aurora School students pose with their bounty of fresh greens they grew in their dome.

2016 Expansion Schools:

• Anzac School and BillWoodward School (Anzac)

• Athabasca Delta CommunitySchool (Fort Chipewyan)

• Aurora Middle School (Lac la Biche)

• Chief NapeweawComprehensive School(Frog Lake)

• Cold Lake Middle School(Cold Lake)

• Conklin Community School(Conklin)

• Father R. Perin School (Janvier)• Fort McKay School

(Fort McKay)• Glendon School (Glendon)• North Star Elementary School

(Cold Lake)• Vera M. Welsh School

(Lac la Biche)

Tyler Smith (right), school health mentor for FortMcMurray Public Schools, thanks Superstore fortheir apple donations for schools. Along with agift, he left a Proud to Support APPLE Schoolsposter to hang in the store.

Many schools have successfullyembedded sustainable, student-ledinitiatives into their culture. Forexample, St. Gabriel School’s studentsprep and deliver healthy taste tests toall classes without the assistance of theschool health champion.

Fort McMurray School Stories

Westview Elementary School haspartnered with Westwood HighSchool to implement many healthyinitiatives involving the olderstudents helping younger ones. Forexample, the high school foods classvisited the elementary to createyogurt parfaits with Grade 2 studentsand helped to lead a yoga session intheir physical activity class.Westwood High School also has avolunteerism class that visits theelementary to help the youngstudents in their classrooms. Theseyoung leaders are setting a powerfulexample in building a connected,supportive, healthy community.

Father Turcotte School’s principalprepared a healthy reward with theclass who wore the most blueclothing on Alzheimer AwarenessDay. The winning class workedtogether to prepare smoothies foreveryone and enjoyed a smoothieparty. In the same school, a teacherfrom a Grade 1 class put together anactive Easter egg hunt with cross-curricular math problems and usednon-food prizes as a healthy reward.

Fort McMurray Public Schools

• Beacon Hill School • Christina Gordon School • Dr. K. A. Clark School • École Dickinsfield • Fort McMurray Islamic School • Greely Road School • Thickwood Heights School • Timberlea School • Walter & Gladys Hill Public

School • Westview School

Fort McMurray CatholicSchools

• École St. Paul • Father Beauregard School • Father J.A. Turcotte O.M.I.

School • Good Shepherd School• Sister Mary Phillips School• St. Anne School • St. Gabriel School • St. Kateri Catholic School • St. Martha School

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Students and principal at the classroomsmoothie party.

A high school student helps her elementarybuddy to make a healthy snack, which theyboth enjoyed after the activity.

Edmonton and AreaSchoolsAll 32 Edmonton and area schoolshave been APPLE schools for aminimum of five years, and wecontinue to see new, positive shiftshappening toward wellness. The 10Challenges in 10 Weeks activityhighlighted how much theEdmonton-area schools are doing tomake healthy living a priority. A realeffort was made to not only completethe challenges, but to highlight themon social media, sharing theinitiatives with other schools.

We are seeing schools increasinglyvalue knowledge exchange events,with more school representativesattending and participating thanever before and using our resources.For example, many of the schoolsused the Winter Games monthlycampaign to highlight the Olympicssports and the traditional games wetaught them at a previousknowledge exchange event.

Daily physical activity bins havetaken on a new life in Edmontonschools. Over the years, some binshad lost their supplies or teacherswere not using them. Schools havepulled out the bins, refilled them,and now they are rotating themthrough the school with each classusing a bin for a week or twobefore passing them on.

Edmonton Area School Stories

In January, Sifton School hostedthe Sifton Arctic Winter Games. Itwas very chilly outside so thegames were moved indoors, butthe students had a blast. Theyplayed Snow Snake, High Kick, StickPull, Side Reach, and much more.An elder even came to the schoolto teach students about traditionalInuit food, like seal dip, "traditionalgum" (beluga whale), and caribou.Some students were lucky enoughto have a taste.

Annunciation Catholic Schoolstudents have been showing extracare for their mental health. Forexample, early in the school year,the school launched the UnwindYour Mind monthly campaign fromAPPLE Schools. Students focusedon ways they can relax and dealwith daily stresses and problemsand stay positive. Their campaignbulletin board displayed ways thatstudents can be mindful each day.

“I can be mindful by goingoutside or meditating, orlooking at the sky.”– Student

“You can take a walk outside orread a book. Or breathe inthrough your nose, and exhalethrough your mouth.” – Student

Edmonton Catholic Schools

• Annunciation School • Holy Cross Académie

Internationale • Our Lady of Peace Catholic

School• St. Benedict School • St. Francis of Assisi School• St. Kateri School

Edmonton Public Schools

• Athlone School • Belmead School • Brightview School • École Richard Secord • Glendale School • Hillview School • Homesteader School• Inglewood School• Lee Ridge School • Prince Charles School • Sakaw School • Sherwood School • Sifton School • Tipaskan School • Youngstown School

Edmonton Area Schools

• H.E. Bourgoin School (Bonnyville)

• Jean Vanier Catholic School(Sherwood Park)

• Kipohtakaw Education Centre(Alexander First Nation)

• Landing Trail SchoolIntermediate (Athabasca)

• Madonna Catholic School(Sherwood Park)

• Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School (Warburg)

• Rochester School (Rochester)• Smith School (Smith)• St. Luke School

(South Cooking Lake)• St. Theresa School (Wabasca)• Whispering Hills Primary

School (Athabasca)

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A Grade 2 student jumps as high as he can ina game of Sledge Jump while his classmatescheer him on.

Unwind your Mind monthly campaign bulletin board

Ongoing evaluation of the projectensures that APPLE Schools remainsfueled by evidence, making it the one-of-a-kind Canadian health promotionproject that it is. 2017-18 was animportant research year withqualitative data being analyzed, andquantitative data gathered.

Researchers from the PopulationHealth Intervention Research Unit inthe School of Public Health, directedby Paul Veugelers, PhD, gatheredbaseline data from the 2018expansion schools. They conductedtwo-year follow-up research with the2016 expansion schools. Once thesurveys are finalized into a researchreport, each school will receive a copyand use the data to make appropriate

changes to their healthy school actionplan so it is guided by the scientificresults. The data was collected fromstudent, parent, and principal surveys;and student-worn pedometers.

Kate Storey, PhD, RD, who developeda research program called Settings-based Intervention Research throughChanges in Lifestyles andEnvironments, published the APPLESchools Expansion Report. This reportprovides a summary of findings fromthe first year of the process evaluationfrom the 2016 expansion schools. Oneof the key findings is that 100% ofsurveyed school health facilitatorsreported an average increase in theirknowledge and confidence toimplement a comprehensive school

health approach in nearly all areasdue to the support of the schoolhealth mentor and knowledgeexchange opportunities.

Paul Veugelers also published aresearch article titled Long-TermEffects of Comprehensive SchoolHealth on Health-Related Knowledge,Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, HealthBehaviours and Weight Status ofAdolescents. The key finding was thatchildren who attend APPLE schoolsshow an improvement in health habits,and APPLE Schools helps to reducehealth habit inequality for vulnerablechildren, therefore children whoattended an APPLE school maintainhealth habits that are equal to theaverage child in Alberta.

RESEARCH

Award Winning Organization

Jenn Flynn, executive director (left), and Tyler Smith, school health mentor (right), proudly accept theBoard Award of Excellence from Linda Mywaart, board chair for Fort McMurray Public School DistrictBoard of Trustees..

APPLE Schools became an award-winning organization, receiving threeawards for championing healthyschools in the Fort McMurray PublicSchool District and Northland SchoolDivision No. 61. The awards are:

• Alberta School Board AssociationFriends of Education Award(nominated by Northland SchoolDivision No. 61),

• Alberta School Board Award ZoneOne Friend of Education Award(nominated by Northland SchoolDivision No. 61),

• Board Award of Excellence(nominated by Fort McMurrayPublic School District).

We feel incredibly honoured to havereceived such recognition for doingwhat we love to do.

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KNOWLEDGEEXCHANGE

Fall 2017

Fort McMurray and Edmonton

To ensure that school healthchampions felt ready and confidentto promote health in the 2017-18school year, the APPLE project teamhosted a fall knowledge exchangeevent in Edmonton and in FortMcMurray. Some of the goals of theevent included sharing successfulpractices, creating connectionsbetween people, increasing theunderstanding and application ofcomprehensive school health, andcelebrating success.

Evaluation highlights:Education is a keycomponent of APPLESchools as it ensures thevital sustainability pieceof the project. The projectteam hosted the annualfall and spring knowledgeexchange events to bring all health promotersin APPLE schoolcommunities together for learning and sharing.We also held a majortraining event for the2016 and 2018 expansionschool health facilitators.This is the first time APPLESchools has ever hostedan event for schoolsoutside of Alberta.Evaluations indicated thatattendees left feelingconfident to own theirleadership role as healthpromoters in their schoolcommunities.

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School health champions created a healthyHalloween snack to make with students.

100% strongly agreed or agreed this

PD enhanced their confidence intheir ability to support their

school community.

100% strongly agreed or agreed this PD increased their knowledgeand skills of physical activity,healthy eating, and mentalhealth resources and tools.

“It really was well-organized, and I appreciated the interaction

and sharing with other schoolcommunities. Valuable

information, ideas and contacts.

”School health champion

School health facilitators demonstrate community connections, monthly campaigns, and whole-schoolevents through a creative physical activity.

Spring 2018Fort McMurray and Edmonton

The project team hosted anothersuccessful year-end knowledgeexchange event in Edmonton to sharesuccessful practices and strategies inpromoting wellness in schools betweenschool health facilitators, school healthchampions, and school health mentors.

Evaluation highlights:

August 2018A major event took place at the end of August. We hosted an intensivethree-day training session for the 2016 and 2018 expansion schoolhealth facilitators to improve theircompetence and confidence increating a healthy school community,develop knowledge, skills, andattitudes necessary for their role, and develop a sense of team.All expansion schools had arepresentative at the event. The 2016 expansion school group receivedtraining on transitioning into a year-three 0.2 FTE role from the previous0.5 FTE role; and the 2018 expansionschool group received training andsupport for their brand-new role.

School health facilitators becamefamiliar with APPLE Schools’ bestpractices and resources, andseveral community partnersattended to present on resourcesthat support healthy schools. Staffensured that all resources andcontent were relevant to allprovinces with APPLE schools andappropriate for new and returningschool health facilitators.

Evaluation highlights:

100% strongly agreed or agreed this

PD provided sufficientopportunities to learn and share

promising practices. (Edmonton)

100% strongly agreed or agreed this

PD enhanced their confidence intheir ability to support their

school community.(Fort McMurray)

100% strongly agreed or agreed the

event increased theirunderstanding and knowledge of

comprehensive school health,essential elements, the annual

cycle, creating sustainablechange, resources, and their role

as school health facilitators.

100% strongly agreed or agreed the

session increased theirconfidence and ability to

implement healthy initiatives.

“I really enjoyed both the fall andspring PD sessions this year.

You guys worked hard to make it a win-win opportunity for

both seasoned and new health champions. I walked away both times feeling as

though I had contributed and also gained knowledge.

”School health champion

“Awesome training. Amazing resources and greatconnections made. Thank you

again for the experience. Looking forward to the year!

”School health facilitator

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Pilot draft of the Guide toImplementation, whichwill be shared nation-wideto help school leaders

implement a health promotionprogram based on the APPLE Schoolsmodel. After gathering initial inputfrom stakeholders, the pilot draft wasused at the August training event toinform new school health facilitators,and it will continue to be used toinform and support.

Temporary tattoos forstudents, sent to eachschool to use as ahealthy non-food reward

for participating in the 10 Challengesin 10 Weeks.

Various daily physicalactivity bins for the 2016expansion schools, andnew bins for the 2018

expansion schools. These bins are usedregularly in the classroom to increasephysical activity and provide energybreaks for students throughout the day.

Updated and improvedresource webpage tomake resources moreaccessible and user-

friendly for our audience. We improvedand uploaded more healthy holidaycelebrations, action plan templates, funfitness circuits, and taste tests, addingto the colourful variety of initiativesthat school staff can try based on theirschool population’s needs.

A resource partnerswebpage on the APPLESchools website torecognize the incredible

organizations that we collaborate withfor support, resources, and formalendorsement.

An updated Proud to bean APPLE School posterfor each APPLE school. Theposters are displayed in

the entrance of the school. It serves asa reminder that the school is dedicatedto becoming a healthy community andthat every person in the school is partof the journey.

A brand-newpromotional postcardwhich will be distributedto potential funders and

anyone seeking general informationabout APPLE Schools.

Motivational materials toinspire and generateexcitement about healthpromotion for APPLE

Schools. All staff members in eachAPPLE school received lanyards, andschool health facilitators received waterbottles, lunch bags, jackets, andnotebooks. All materials display theAPPLE Schools logo as a visual reminderof our support, partnership, and thegoal we strive to achieve as a team.

A student from St. Theresa School in Wabascafinds a unique place for his APPLE Schools tattoo.

NEW RESOURCESThe APPLE Schools team is always working on developing new resources that help school healthpromoters to bring our vision to light.

1 3

Grade two students at Glendon School play agame using the sponge daily physical activity bin.

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2

4

5

6

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Front of the postcard

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APPLE SchoolsIN THE NEWS

CTV Edmonton produced asegment on the importance ofestablishing healthy sleepinghabits. They reached out to APPLESchools to talk about our sleeppromotion campaigns andhighlighted the Be a Sleep Starmonthly campaign.

Marg Schwartz,SustainabilityManager, isinterviewed by a CTVEdmonton reporter.

A page from the RedRiver Current,showing studentsdemonstrating theFinger Pull.

Screen shot of GlobalEdmonton newscoverage.

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The school health facilitator inFort McKay sent stories eachmonth to the Red River Current, acommunity newsletter, about thelocal APPLE school. The storieswould keep the community up-to-date on the healthy initiatives inthe school, like nutrition monthactivities, learning about choose-most-often foods, or learningabout the Arctic Winter Games.

Global Edmonton joined APPLESchools for the 10-yearanniversary celebration. Theyran a segment on the six o’clocknews highlighting APPLESchools’ program and thetremendous difference it canmake in school communities.

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Last August, the project team tippedour hats to Marg Schwartz, APPLESchools’ sustainability manager, whoretired after an extensive 40-yearcareer in education and health.

Marg has been with APPLE Schoolssince its inception. In 2007, Dr. PaulVeugelers handpicked Marg toimplement a project that improves thewell-being of children in Alberta andlift it off the ground. As theorganization’s first manager (andemployee), she played a key role inplanting the roots that became APPLESchools and expanded the project to70 schools by 2018. She played a vital

role in developing APPLE Schools’successful program and carrying itforward for more than 10 years.

Marg’s knowledge and connectionshave embedded APPLE Schools intothe education and health promotionworld in Alberta. She began as aphysical education teacher in a smallAlberta town. Since then, she’sprovided leadership across Albertaand Canada in health, physicaleducation, and ComprehensiveSchool Health through scientificpublications, presentations andhundreds of national, provincial andlocal in-services. Marg has also

worked in government, helping towrite the K-12 Physical EducationGuide to Implementation for AlbertaEducation, and several other learningresources. To top it off, she was thefirst school health and wellnessmanager for both Alberta Educationand Alberta Health.

APPLE Schools would not be whereit is today without Marg’s dedicatedefforts and boundless energy. Weare grateful for the leadership andcharisma that she shared with APPLESchools, and thankfully continues toshare as a member on the board ofdirectors.

FAREWELLto Marg Schwartz

Expanded Social Networks

APPLE Schools launched a new socialmedia account – we are officially onInstagram. The organization and theschools have so many visual stories totell and initiatives to share with peoplethat Instagram became an appropriateplatform to expand to. APPLE Schools’followers include schools, school staff,partner organizations, and manycommunity businesses. The accountattracts new followers each day, andwe are at almost 200.

3-50 University Terrace 8303 - 112 Street NWEdmonton, Alberta T6G 2T4780.492.0361 info@appleschools.cawww.appleschools.ca

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIR

Dr. Lory Laing Professor Emeritus School of Public Health University of Alberta

SECRETARY

Mr. Ellery Lew Trade-Mark AgentWITTEN LLP Barristers & Solicitors

TREASURER

Ms. Yvonne M. YoungPrivate consultant

DIRECTORS

Ms. Nicole Bourque-BouchierCEOThe Bouchier Group

Mr. Bill ClappertonVice-President, Regulatory, Stakeholder andEnvironmental Affairs CNRL

Mr. Matt JenerouxMember of ParliamentEdmonton Riverbend

Mr. Bob SadlerAssistant Dean(Administration) School of Public HealthUniversity of Alberta

Ms. Marg SchwartzFormer Director and Sustainability ManagerAPPLE Schools

Dr. Paul VeugelersProfessorSchool of Public HealthUniversity of Alberta