Annual Wellness Program Brings ThedaCare Staff into Schools
ThedaCare employees will offer activities, advice, and encouragement to promote healthy habits for students and their families during the second annual Good to Go initiative held April 25-29. More than 300 ThedaCare employees will span out to six Northeast Wisconsin elementary and intermediate schools to engage young people with special activities that may include leading a gym class, mindfulness practice, healthy snack options, playground games, and more.
School leaders from Menasha, Oshkosh, Waupaca, Shawano, New London, and Berlin collaborated with committee members from ThedaCare to create programming that both engages children and leaves them with ideas about how integrate simple wellness behaviors into their future lives. Schools rotate each year so ThedaCare employee volunteers will reach thousands of children over time.
“Making healthy choices is about your physical activity level and your food choices, but it’s also a mindset,” said Jean Blaney McGinnis, community health coordinator at ThedaCare and Good to Go project manager. “By making simple, small changes like the ones we are bringing to the schools, young people can build on early success and begin to identify themselves as people who care about good health. Addressing obesity is ThedaCare’s number one community health priority, and starting early is the goal of Good to Go.”
Sarah Poquette, principal at Merrill Elementary School in Oshkosh, said, “Health and wellness are just as important as reading and writing in school. Students need to learn how to care for their bodies so they can be successful and productive adults.”
“We are excited to work with ThedaCare employees to model healthy lifestyles to our students and show them how taking a few minutes out of the day to be mindful, eat a healthy snack, and enjoy physical activity can positively impact one’s day,” Poquette said.
ThedaCare employees will volunteer through the organization’s Helping Hearts employee volunteer program. Blaney McGinnis said many help before or after their regular work shifts or take a day off to volunteer. Last year’s Good to Go program logged 730 volunteer hours and this year’s is on track to exceed 1000 hours.
For more than 100 years, ThedaCare™ has been committed to finding a better way to deliver serious and complex healthcare to patients throughout Northeast Wisconsin. The organization serves over 200,000 patients annually and employs more than 7,000 healthcare professionals throughout the region. ThedaCare has seven hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose as well as 34 clinics in 14 counties. ThedaCare is the first in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, giving specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a non-profit healthcare organization with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs as well as a foundation dedicated to community service. For more information, visit www.thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on Facebook and Twitter.
