Welcome to the Healthy Kansas Schools Website!

The goal of Healthy Kansas Schools is to promote school health policies, procedures, and programs that improve health behaviors. Healthy Kansas Schools (HKS) operates from the premise that healthy children are more capable of learning and, thus, better students. The logical extension is that better students help create healthy communities. Healthy Kansas Schools emphasizes the connection between recommended health practices, academic achievement, and lifelong healthy behaviors. Healthy Kansas Schools is multi-faceted; providing technical assistance, health policy and standards guidance, training opportunities, direction on funding opportunities, and on-going communication. Healthy Kansas Schools utilizes a broad network of partners and resources to help create healthier schools and, in turn, healthier communities.

HKS Objectives:

1. Facilitate a shift in school culture to one that values and emphasizes physical activity.
2. Facilitate a shift in school culture that enhances healthy dietary choices.
3. Facilitate a shift in school culture that continues to promote tobacco-free lifestyles.
4. Facilitate the removal of barriers that impede progress toward developing healthy students.
5. Facilitate partnerships between school personnel, families, and communities to emphasize health within and outside the school setting.

Primary HKS projects:

• Kansas Fitness Information Tracking project (K-FIT) is a three-year initiative funded by the Kansas Health Foundation to provide fitness assessment tools and trainings to 900 schools across the state. Physical Educators will be able to use this high-quality assessment tool to improve their physical education programs and provide valuable feedback on fitness levels to students, parents, and school administrators. In addition, fitness data gathered from participating teachers will be shared with KSDE to assist with understanding the critical relationship between fitness levels and academic indicators. For more information on K-FIT navigate to the K-FIT page on this website.
  
  
• Let's Move in Kansas Schools (LMIKS) is a two-year project funded by the Kansas Health Founcation (KHF) to provide training on becoming a Certified Director of Physical Activity for physical education teachers at up to 200 Kansas schools. HKS and KHF are collaborating with the National Association of Sport and Physical Activity and the Kansas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance on this project. LMIKS emphasizes enhancing existing physical education programs, coordinating physical activity opportunities across the curriculum, offering ideas on how to promote the importance of physical activity, and providing support for planning physical activity events. The over-arching goal is that every school provides a comprehensive school physical activity program with quality physical education as the foundation so that youth will develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime. For more information on LMIKS navigate to the LMIKS page on this website. 
  
  
• Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a bi-annual survey of health behaviors of Kansas high school students. Six categories of health behaviors are assessed, consisting of: Dietary Behaviors, Physical Activity Behaviors, Tobacco Use, Alcohol or Other Drug Use, Sexual Behaviors that Contribute to STDs and Unintended Pregnancy, and Unintentional Injuries and Violence. Development of a booklet outlining the results from the 2011 Kansas YRBS is underway. Previous-years' survey results can be found on the Survey Data page on this website.
  
  
• School Health Profiles (SHP) is a bi-annual assessment of health education policies and practices of middle and high schools in Kansas. Building principals and lead health educators are surveyed to determine the current status of health education in Kansas schools. HKS is currently in the process of collecting 2012 SHP surveys. Previous-years' survey results can be found on the Survey Data page on this website.
  
  
• Local School Wellness Policies guidance and monitoring are assisted by Healthy Kansas Schools. The link below will provide an overview of the changes seen in reported school wellness policies practices for Kansas between 2006 and 2010. HKS will be assisting with technical assistance and future trainings on upcoming changes to school wellness policies guidelines as outlined by the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

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Wellness Policies - Progress from 2006 to 2010

Wellness Policies 2006 - 2010

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We are in the process of updating this website.
We request your patience while we get it ready for you.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Mark Thompson, Project Director at 785-296-1473 or email him at mathompson@ksde.org.