Crowley ISD Connections Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 7

Blue Zones Approved
Oakmont Elementary becomes Crowley ISD’s first Blue Zones Project Approved campus
Written by Megan Middleton
Oakmont Elementary third-grader Andrew Santiago
can snack on fruits and veggies at lunch, dance to
vocabulary lessons in class and catch a little yoga after
school.
Santiago is excited that his school is helping him
become healthier as a Blue Zones Project Approved
campus — the very first in Crowley ISD.
“That’s a big accomplishment for us,” said Santiago, a
Blue Zones student ambassador. “We’re becoming really
healthy. Every day we are doing activities in the gym,
outside. We are getting more fit every single day.”
Oakmont celebrated the Blue Zones designation in
February with a special 1-mile morning walk around the
school, followed by a ceremony with Blue Zones officials
and city and school leaders.
Since the Blue Zones Project began in Fort Worth
in February 2015, more than 260 organizations —
including worksites, restaurants, schools, grocery stores
and faith-based organizations — have become Blue Zones
Project Approved or Participating Organizations. Other
participating schools are in Fort Worth ISD, Keller ISD
and Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD.
“It’s very exciting, and I’m very proud to be the first
Blue Zones school in Crowley ISD and to be a part of
this initiative that Fort Worth, Texas is doing,” Oakmont
Principal Dr. Kim Scoggins said.
Scoggins said February’s celebration was the
culmination of a three-year journey.
“We started trying to find healthier ways to educate
and do things differently here,” she said.
Those healthy initiatives include serving more fruits
and vegetables in the cafeteria, offering a Walking School
Bus program to encourage students and families to walk
to school together and using GoNoodle movement videos
that students dance to while learning vocabulary and
math lessons.
Oakmont also is working with REAL School Gardens
to establish a garden and outdoor learning areas for
students, and the school plans to begin sending home
healthy recipes for families via the school newsletter.
“For our students, if we can help them make better
choices in exercising more, we know that helps the
brain,” Scoggins said. “If they can make better dietary
choices … that impacts their ability to learn and function
and be attentive in class.”
Oakmont Counselor Kelley Phillips helped lead the
effort to become Blue Zones Project Approved. Phillips
saw the impact that her own family’s healthy choices had
on their lives. In addition, her husband’s workplace is a
Blue Zones worksite where healthy living is promoted.
“When I saw how that was affecting them, I thought,
‘Wouldn’t that be great if we could bring that into the
schools,’” she said.
Matt Dufrene, vice president and market executive
for Blue Zones Project Fort Worth, was on hand for
Oakmont’s celebration. He said the project is about
“being everywhere in the community where people live,
work and play.”
“We’re really excited that Oakmont Elementary is the
first approved school in Crowley ISD, but we hope that’s
just the beginning of many more,” Dufrene said. “We
hope in Fort Worth that Blue Zones Project becomes
pervasive throughout the community.”
Established in 2010, Blue Zones Project is inspired
by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Fellow and
New York Times best-selling author who identified five
regions of the world — or Blue Zones — with the highest
concentration of people living to 100 years or older.
Blue Zones Project incorporates Buettner’s findings and
works with cities to implement policies and programs
that will move a community toward optimal health and
well-being.
Spring 2018 | CROWLEY ISD CONNECTIONS 7