Stacy Kramer

Community Health Partners, 211 Central Ave S, Orange City, IA, 51041

Supervisor – Angela Kroeze-Visser

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Abstract

It’s natural for kids to be active and want to move around. In fact, kids need to move

around. Unfortunately, increasing demands of school, a feeling among some kids that they aren't

good at sports, a lack of active role models, and busy working families have taken a toll on our

youth and they’ve become inactive. The purpose of my practicum project was to show a

community (and a county) a new way to get active and maybe even help improve literacy.

My practicum consisted of starting a StoryWalk in two of the communities that make up

our school district. The StoryWalk concept was first created by Anne Ferguson. According to

Ferguson, “Combining physical activity with literacy may seem like an odd mix, but it’s an

innovative way to get people of all ages out walking while reading children’s picture books.

Pages of a book are transformed into signs that are then laid out on a trail inviting families,

children, caregivers, teachers and others to follow the path of pages” (Letsgo.org, 2014).

The Coalition for a Healthy Sioux County had attempted to get individual communities to

participate in the Let’s Go! 5210 program, a childhood obesity prevention program, over the

summer. Hawarden and Ireton were not involved during the summer so we (myself and the

women I worked with) decided to use the StoryWalk as a way to also introduce the 5210 ideas to

the communities. By combining a StoryWalk with information about Let’s Go! 5210, we were

able to address healthy activities and snacks in a fun, positive, family-friendly manner.

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Introduction

In order to enter the field of public health, I feel one has to be willing to wear “big shoes”

as public health, regardless of aspect, is very broad-reaching. According to the Robert Wood

Johnson Foundation (RWJF), “for too long, being healthy has been defined as simply not

needing to seek medical care, but it is time to look at the bigger picture of health, and how it

extends to work, family, and community life. Factors such as education, obesity, smoking,

unemployment, air quality, poverty, and teen birth rates all influence health” (2014). In my

opinion, public health starts with practicing prevention efforts. For example, there are many

factors that affect health. Some of these factors, such as genetic makeup and age, cannot be

controlled. However, lifestyle can be controlled by healthy living. Being active and eating

healthy are two very controllable means of becoming and staying healthy.

Even though Sioux County received an overall ranking of “1” as the healthiest county in

Iowa for 2013, there are always things that can be improved. The first public health issue

addressed by my practicum was lack of regular and engaging physical activity by both youth and

adults. The second public health issue addressed was healthier eating habits. Poor diet and

physical inactivity cause 310,000 to 580,000 deaths per year and are major contributors to

disabilities that result from diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, and stroke (CDC, n.d.).

The organization that allowed me to work with them was Community Health Partners

which is Sioux County’s public health provider/organization. According to the 2014 fiscal year

annual report, Community Health Partners’ funding comes through grants from Iowa Department

of Public Health, other grantors, fees collected for services provided, and through county

funding. Community Health Partners’ expenses are primarily made up of employee salary and

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benefits, mileage, and contracted staff. Grants supporting CHP for fiscal year 2014 are below

(CHP/Vander Plas, 2014). Funding for the StoryWalk was provided by a grant from Wellmark.

There was a county coalition formed a few years ago, Coalition for a Healthy Sioux

County, which chose to go forward with launching the Let’s Go! 5210 program over the

summer. The purpose statement of the Coalition states, “Community coalitions provide a way for

community members, both individuals and organizations, to join forces to create change within a

community. The strength of a coalition lies in its ability to accomplish more than an individual

person or organization could accomplish on its own. The ability of a coalition to accomplish its

purpose—in this case of addressing health needs in Sioux County—depends largely on how well

the coalition works to build capacity in its community. A coalition that has built capacity can

continue to create change within a community beyond the life of a particular funding source”

(Siouxcountychp.org, 2014).

Upon beginning coursework for my MPH, I attempted to stay involved with the

Coalition, but meetings were either at 7:30 am or noon in Orange City (30 min drive), and that

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didn’t coincide well with my work schedule (i.e. teaching). Therefore, I hadn’t been part of the

meetings until after this past summer. Upon CHP allowing me to carry out my practicum

experience with them and catching up with past information about Let’s Go! 5210, I really felt

that I would be a good fit for this project. My passion is healthy kids (and families) and with a

background in education (and coaching), this opportunity fit my professional goals as well as my

personal goal of helping create opportunities for families to incorporate healthy habits.

Creating a StoryWalk and incorporating Let’s Go! 5210 was one way to encourage

healthy change in the Hawarden and Ireton communities. Thankfully, I was able to work with

two women – one representing the Hawarden community (Dee) and one representing the Ireton

community (Deb). Both of these women have backgrounds in nursing as well as working with

the public (e.g. clinics, outreach, health fairs, etc.). Together, we were able to look at the needs

of both communities and create a previously unused avenue to disseminate health information,

increase physical activity and promote literacy. In doing so, our hope is that we’ve created

lasting partnerships with those who joined us for this StoryWalk as well as created potential

partnerships (and increased interest and participation) for the future that will be able to help

continue bringing Story Walks to these communities.

Discussion

Participation

When I first approached Community Health Partners (specifically Angela Kroeze-Visser

who I had met through previous involvement with the Coalition) about being able to complete

my practicum work with them, I wasn’t sure I would be able. Their past precedence was to only

take on nursing students from two area colleges for practicum work. As I understand it, their

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board of directors met and made an amendment to their acceptance of practicum students.

Whether or not my previous relationship with Angela made a difference, I am extremely thankful

they agreed to take me on as a student!

As I stated previously, Hawarden and Ireton did not participate in the Let’s Go! 5210

summer activities. They didn’t participate because there was no one available to take the lead

and get “something” going. Unfortunately, when I did attend previous Coalition meetings, I was

usually the only one from the Hawarden or Ireton area present. My understanding is that once in

a while there would be someone from Hawarden Regional Healthcare present. However, I think

it was also difficult for them to attend simply because of the time of the meetings and not having

an employee who was actually tasked with “health promotion” or “wellness.” There may be

other reasons that are more likely due to “personality conflicts” or better-stated as “community

conflicts” that date back to the establishment of the county, but that could make for a really long

discussion! However, in all seriousness, I believe both sides would agree that is often-times an

issue within Sioux County.

Moving on, when I first met with Angela to discuss my needs and goals for my practicum

(prior to CHP agreeing to take me), we discussed some aspects of community health

administration, social determinants of health and my “ideal” career path. My “ideal” career path

is to become a health “teacher” for schools who can go into classrooms and regularly teach about

health topics and possibly be their wellness and/or school lunch director. Specifically, I would

love to be able to teach elementary students (on a regular basis) about the importance of being

physically active and making healthy food choices because I feel that our young kids/students do

not adequately know how to make healthy choices. Furthermore, I feel that kids are more likely

to make healthy choices when they have some understanding about how good nutrition is good

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fuel for the body and brain and how being physically active is necessary for both a healthy body

and brain. As a food service and/or wellness director, I could help ensure both students and staff

know how to make healthy choices as well as are offered healthy choices with the intent of

making the healthy choice the easy choice.

At the time of this discussion, I didn’t know anything about Let’s Go! 5210 or the idea of

a StoryWalk. When Angela presented the idea of a “story walk” and suggested I might be able to

be involved with it, I was very excited. The idea of working on a project that tied physical

activity, nutrition and literacy together definitely fit my interests. Angela asked me to put

together information about the StoryWalk (in essence a proposal for my practicum) so I utilized

the Let’s Go! website and generated an outline for creating a StoryWalk. Once I was approved

by the board to complete my practicum with CHP, I then met with Angela, Dee and Deb to start

planning the StoryWalk.

Our first meeting essentially consisted of reviewing the outline (agreeing to the concept),

creating a tentative timeline and delegating duties. My responsibilities after that first meeting

were to research book ideas as well as ideas such as location, partners, and activities related to

the StoryWalk. It was much more difficult than I thought it would be to find a book that was

bilingual (English/Spanish) as well as fitting the requirement that text didn’t cross pages. In my

opinion, it was also difficult to find a book that appeared interesting to kindergarten through third

grade students (I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but appearances

usually leave a first and lasting impression). Subsequent meetings consisted of: choosing the

book and getting it ordered, choosing a lamination type, brainstorming posts and type of backing

to use for pages of the book, incorporating Let’s Go! 5210 concepts, setting/confirming a date,

determining tangibles/take-aways to be given at end of walk, potential partners, and budget.

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Choosing the book was easy once I found a book that fit our needs. We ended up

choosing two books from the “Matt the Rat” series which promoted being physically active,

making healthy eating choices and turning off the television and other screens (i.e. Matt the Rat

Fights Back and Matt the Rat’s Incredible Creations). Ordering the book was a challenge as we

were able to “find” it in bookstore websites, but it wasn’t actually “available.” To make matters

more difficult, we needed 3 copies of each book (two were needed in order to get a complete set

of pages to use for each StoryWalk and one extra copy in case something happened to the one

being used). I finally found the book available through Harvest Sun Press (after initially ordering

from another vendor who didn’t disclose that they had to “find” the book before sending out to

us). All-in-all, we had everything lined up prior to receiving the book. Needless to say, we were

a little anxious about our deadline until the books arrived!

Choosing a location for each StoryWalk was relatively easy simply because each

community recently completed walking trails through or around the community. We chose a

location a few blocks north of both the public and Christian elementary schools in Ireton and a

location adjacent to the public elementary school in Hawarden. Both city administrators were

contacted for approval to utilize part of their walking trails. We chose these areas for both the

ease of access from the schools as well as their location in respect to use by the public in each

community.

In choosing a post and type of backing for the pages of the book, we resorted to our rural

roots and decided to use garden posts and seed corn signs. Knowing there is often wind in our

communities along our walking trails, we knew we couldn’t rely on pages that were only

laminated and attached to a pole (like what was suggested on the StoryWalk website). We

contacted a local farm and home store (Bomgaars) to see if they would be willing to partner with

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us in regards to either donating or selling posts at a discount. They sold us the posts for a

reasonable discount. I then contacted a local seed corn distributor in a neighboring community

(however not in Hawarden or Ireton) if he would be able to donate or sell us used seed corn signs

that are used to distinguish the variety of seed in a given corn field. When I told him what it was

for, he said he’d give us whatever we needed and he did!

Lamination was going to be necessary to protect the pages of the book as well as any

additional information we attached to the sign (e.g. physical activity, healthy habit information).

Because of my tie to the school and therefore local area education agency, and after researching

other options, we initially chose to utilize the AEA lamination services. To be safe, we sent a

sample page to see what the lamination would look like on September 25th. When we didn’t have

it back as of October 6th (as of the writing of this paper, I still do not have it back), we decided to

look at the option of doing it ourselves. In the end, we were able to order lamination sheets from

Amazon with free two-day shipping and borrow a high quality laminator from the school. This

worked great and we were able to laminate everything we needed in a matter of a few hours at a

fraction of the cost of sending it off to the AEA.

In discussing potential partners and a budget, our committee decided that we wanted to

do what we could to pull off the StoryWalk without having to ask for funding. We felt that this

would be a more effective way of reaching people based on interest rather than obligation. Going

forward, we realize we will likely need financial partners to continue updating and/or repairing

books and signs, but our hope was that by doing this initial walk without financial support, we

would get people and/or businesses to partner with us because they believe in the concept.

Regardless, our initial partners were CHP, Hawarden Regional Healthcare, West Sioux Schools,

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Ireton Christian School, Brown’s Supply, Bomgaars, and the cities of Hawarden and Ireton.

Without financial partners, we were still able to stay below budget.

Each sign in the StoryWalk (except the Welcome sign) has five features. On the front of

each sign is the page of the book which is attached with Velcro, a suggested physical activity to

do between each page (e.g. walk like a crab, do 15 push-ups), a fact about 5210 and the Let’s

Go! Sioux County logo. On the back of each sign is information regarding how to incorporate

5210 into daily life. We used an adhesive glue to attach everything except the page of the book.

Velcro was used for the book pages so that it would be easier to reuse the signs for different

books.

A kick-off for each StoryWalk was held on October 16th in both Ireton and Hawarden. I

contacted and invited our partners, along with others, to join us for each kick-off. I also

contacted all of the teachers (and administration involved) so they knew what to expect at/from

the StoryWalk. We separated each school into separate groups and invited them to walk to their

designated StoryWalk for an introduction to the StoryWalk and Let’s Go! 5210. Once they

arrived, I spoke to each group of students about what to do and expect at each page as well as

about the 5210 information on the back of the signs and then they were encouraged to complete

the StoryWalk. Representatives from our partners were available to join them as they “walked”

through the story. All of the classes completed the walk that day and each student left with a

5210 bookmark, five bracelets to remind them to eat five fruits and vegetables every day and an

invitation to take their families on the StoryWalk sometime prior to October 30th when the signs

would be taken down.

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Assessment of Goals and Objectives

The goal of our StoryWalk was relatively simple: encourage physical activity, as well as

healthy eating, and increase reading among youth and families. We discussed ways to measure

how many people complete the StoryWalk, but we never made a final decision. One possibility

for future StoryWalks would be to utilize a realtor’s box and place a notebook and pencil inside

for people to leave their names and a comment about the StoryWalk (kind of like a geocache).

Unfortunately, we didn’t utilize these for this StoryWalk simply because we didn’t have time to

incorporate them.

When we met to discuss initial feedback from the StoryWalk on October 21st, we also

discussed some things we would and/or could do differently for future StoryWalks. The initial

feedback has been 100% positive. For example: 1) Deb happened to walk in to the convenience

store where a group of older gentlemen were having their afternoon coffee and they commented

that it sure was nice to see all the kids using the walking trail. 2) A mom of a five year-old

student who is pretty severely autistic (behaviors, mostly unintelligible speech) told me that her

son was trying to tell her about the StoryWalk and 5210 by putting his bracelets around the

numbers 5-2-1-0 of the bookmark and “telling” her that he needed to eat five. 3) I’ve personally

heard from six teachers who commended the concept as well as including them in kicking off the

StoryWalk.

Going forward, the things we would possibly do differently include: using zip-ties to

better control the sides of the signs, ensure the post stands above the seed corn sign for easier

installation into the ground, garnering more attention to it in the community (we had newspaper

coverage as well as electronic sign coverage prior to the walk but feel that people probably didn’t

really understand what it was), using bulleted information on the signs rather than large chunks

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of text for the 5210 information and, if incorporating the school, setting up times to talk to the

students prior to the actual “kick-off” so they better understand the information they can get from

the signs.

Barriers Addressed and Overcome

When we first met regarding the StoryWalk, one of the first things mentioned was a

desire to create a StoryWalk that was inclusive of and inviting for all people in both

communities. Because each community has a fairly large Hispanic population, we decided the

book needed to be bilingual. We also discussed the reading level of the book and decided that it

should be no higher than a 4th grade reading level due to the assumed literacy level of the

communities. Moreover, according to the principal at West Sioux, many of the parents in the

district, especially Hispanic parents, are illiterate (in either English or Spanish) hence we wanted

to make sure the book wasn’t intimidating. Lastly, we discussed ways to possibly increase

motivation for reading the entire book and hopefully complete all of the physical activities, so we

chose a book that had an accelerated reader level because the students can accrue points when

the pass quizzes based on the book.

Personal Assessment

I realize that this one professional experience with public health is not all-inclusive of

public health. However, I do feel that I had a good introduction to health promotion. When first

outlined the idea of a StoryWalk, I was apprehensive about whether or not I’d be able to get 75

hours out of the project because it seemed relatively simple. What I soon realized was that even

something as "simple” as a StoryWalk required a lot of planning before any “doing” could take

place. Like I stated earlier, simply choosing and receiving a book took a lot longer than I

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anticipated. Additionally, planning is important, but evaluating and making necessary changes

are imperative when creating a program intended to stand for a while.

Had I been tasked with this project to do on my own, I’m not sure if I would have been

successful or at least not as successful in such a relatively short time. I hate to admit that, but I

really feel that because I was part of a three-person team, I learned much more than I would have

on my own and was more successful. I also learned the values of patience and time management.

Because I was part of a team, we were able to collaborate as well as break up responsibilities. In

doing so, I feel I strengthened my communication skills. I also feel that I was able to learn more

about program planning, financial planning and management, cultural competency and

community dimensions of practice skills.

Effective communication is a necessity in order to be successful in most things. For this

practicum, I not only had to effectively communicate with my team but I had to effectively

communicate with our community partners. Thanks to technology, I was able to conduct a lot of

my communication via email, but I also made stops in person to meet with partners (i.e. school

principals and teachers, Chamber coffee, newspaper reporters) and spoke with some over the

phone.

In order for the StoryWalk to meet and exceed its goals, planning was necessary. As a

team, we worked together to brainstorm all aspects of the StoryWalk and how to make it happen

in our communities. Had we not taken the time to plan every step of the event, we may not have

been able to hold the kick-off on October 16th. Part of our planning process included following a

timeline, discussing outcomes for and planning evaluation of the StoryWalk.

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While I didn’t have direct control over the finances for the practicum, I knew we had a

budget and we were fiscally responsible. All too often, I feel that people can become careless

when spending “someone else’s” money, but I can say, with confidence, that we were very

cognizant of what we were spending. At no time did I ever feel that anyone was too casual about

costs. Because CHP, like other public health organizations, is funded with limited dollars from

multiple, often inconsistent, sources, it is imperative for those in public health to be fiscally

responsible. Furthermore, I feel it’s also important to think about the future of a program and

plan for potential needs as well as potential sources of funding. In our case, we hope the concept

drums up conversations and interests in future StoryWalks (and maybe even encourages the

opening of pocketbooks to support future StoryWalks).

The Hawarden community has had a Hispanic presence for over 30 years. Ireton has had

one for about 15 years. As a county overall, we have a strong Hispanic presence and their

cultural differences continue to be better embraced as time goes on. West Sioux, the public

school in these communities, provides all written communication in both the English and

Spanish language. They also have bilingual signage in their buildings. The same can be said

about the hospital and medical clinic in each community. Further, our committee discussed

issues such as lack of resources for how to eat healthy and the poor nutritional value of foods in

our local convenience stores. These factors all play a part in the accessibility of health and health

resources in a community.

I’d like to say that my cultural competence didn’t need improving, but being able to plan

a project that forced me to plan with cultural competence did help me grow in that area.

Thankfully, CHP was already an organization that planned events with cultural competence in

mind. CHP has also sponsored other “health” events in the county so some people realize the

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role CHP plays in county health. This made “my” part of the practicum that much easier simply

because I didn’t have to convince anyone that we needed to account for cultural (and linguistic)

differences.

Lastly, and possibly most importantly, this practicum helped me strengthen my

community dimensions of practice skills. As a coach in the public school district, I’m not

stranger to building relationships with students, parents, and actual or potential boosters.

However, looking at these communities with a public health lens helped me realize the

importance of identifying, creating and maintaining effective partnerships. Small communities

are often okay with accepting status quo, but when health is at stake, I feel it’s important to

disregard status quo and do what is necessary to improve health. With that said, it’s also

important not to be the bull in the china closet. In planning, implementing and evaluating our

StoryWalk, we focused on strength of partnerships and buy-in from the community (schools,

cities, families) as well as recognized how to use community assets and resources to promote,

and hopefully build, the StoryWalk concept (e.g. community walking trail, local schools, city

administration, etc.).

Conclusion and Recommendation(s)

When I was accepted by CHP as a student and tasked with a StoryWalk, I don’t think I

could have been any more excited for a “project.” Likewise, I’m comfortable saying CHP was

excited to have someone who could commit time to creating the first-ever Sioux County

StoryWalk. I feel I was able to bring some new things to the table because of both my

background in education as well as my hometown being Hawarden (and not one of the more

prominent communities in the county).

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My background in education helped me come up with ideas for the StoryWalk that may

not have been suggested otherwise. For example, we chose a book with accelerated reader

points. However, another idea I suggested was to create a lesson plan around the book that was

used. Regrettably, I wasn’t able to complete this due to lack of time. My background is middle

school/high school so I needed access to an elementary teacher in order to make a quality lesson

plan. Even though I didn’t get this done in time for our current StoryWalk, my goal is to

complete a lesson plan that would ideally be able to be used for multiple stories (with maybe a

little bit of tweaking here or there). I really feel that utilizing the schools in promoting the

StoryWalk was important. I also feel that in order to continue engaging schools in activities like

a StoryWalk, it is our responsibility to help make it easier/more practical for them to essentially

“give up” classroom time in exchange for “healthy lifestyle learning” time. If having lesson

plans available makes this an easier choice, I think it should be done.

As I stated earlier, the feedback from the teachers has been nothing but positive. This is

obviously a good thing! Nevertheless, I told them I would do my best to send them 5210

information weekly or biweekly to help them continue incorporating its ideas into their

classrooms. Of the teachers I spoke with, this was something they were very open to receiving.

This doesn’t guarantee it will be used, but it’s at least a start in helping StoryWalk and Let’s Go!

5210 become common names/concepts. Even though my practicum is over, I will do my best to

continue this simply because I feel it’s that important for the health of our society. Teachers have

plenty on their plates (no pun intended), so as I journey into public health, I plan to do my best at

keeping them informed with “simple” information in hopes that they pass it on to their students!

Lastly, because the StoryWalk idea came from Let’s Go! 5210, most, if not all, of the

other communities in Sioux County are interested in creating their own with future hopes of then

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having a “library” of books that can be rotated through each community. Part of my

responsibility yet is to create a guide to setting up a community StoryWalk. I haven’t completed

this yet simply because my committee will meet one more time after the StoryWalk is taken

down to further discuss what went well and what could be made better. So far, our discussion

only led to minor changes, but depending on how the signs hold up over the course of two weeks

and potential human interaction with the signs due to their location, we may need to make

adjustments to how we create and post the signs in order to protect the story and concept. The

intent of the guide I create is to share what worked for our communities as well as what could be

improved or changed going forward. As stated in the purpose of the Coalition for a Healthy

Sioux County, individuals and organizations can (and should) join forces to create change within

a community. Hopefully, the guide I create will help other organizations create healthy changes

in their communities!

.

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References

CDC. (n.d.). Promoting healthy eating and physical activity for a healthier nation. Retrieved

from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/publications/pdf/pp-ch7.pdf

Letsgo.org, (2014). Active learning activity, education and physical activity. StoryWalk™ Lets

Go. Retrieved from http://www.letsgo.org/in-your-community/story-walk/

RWJF. (2014). 2014 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. Retrieved from

http://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/newsroom/features-and-articles/county-health-

rankings---roadmaps.html

Siouxcountychp.org. (2014). Coalition for a Healthy Sioux County - Promote Healthy Behaviors.

Retrieved from http://www.siouxcountychp.org/Promote-Healthy-Behaviors/Coalition-

for-a-Healthy-Sioux-County

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Appendix A

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Appendix B

HAWARDEN REGIONAL HEALTHCARE

IRETON CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

WEST SIOUX ELEMENTARY

CITY OF HAWARDEN

COMMUNITY HEALTH PARTNERS

BROWN’S SUPPLY

BOMGAARS

CITY OF IRETON

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Appendix C

Example of Activity Card

HighKicks

Jumping Jacks

Physical activity helps

maintain a

Physical activity helps build better self-esteem!

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Appendix D

Introduction of Let’s Go! 5-2-1-0

Let’s Go! is helping kids and families eat healthy and be active. They understand it’s important to have a consistent message about healthy habits where you live, learn, work and play. They partner with teachers, doctors, child care providers, and community organizations to help share the same four healthy habits of “5 2 1 0” everyday:

5 – fruits and veggies 2 – hours or less of recreational screen time* 1 – hour or more of physical activity 0 – sugary drinks, more water and low-fat milk

Introduction of StoryWalk

Why have a StoryWalk? Let’s Go! wanted to offer an activity rich in literacy and healthy movement. A StoryWalk™ is a great simple way to encourage physical activity and increase reading among youth and families.

The story you are going to read today is about Matt the Rat.  The story is titled, Matt the Rat Fights Back. Matt the Rat has been eating too much junk food until one day he discovers his tummy is too big for his overalls. With the help of friends and family, though, Matt learns the values of a healthy diet and exercise to get back into shape.

As you read the story about Matt and his friends, you will see that each page has English and Spanish translations. Our hope is that this will help enable more families to be able to enjoy the StoryWalk!

Each sign has one page of the book on it, so in order to read the whole book, you have to walk the whole StoryWalk! On the signs, you will also see a blue and yellow activity sign. This sign gives you an example of a physical activity (blue part) you could perform while you walk from one page/sign to the next. For example, it may say “Frog Hops.” This means you could jump like a frog from that page to the next page. The yellow part just gives a fact about being and staying healthy.

On the back of the signs, there is information about 5-2-1-0 such as healthy snacks, why it’s important to limit the time you spend in front of a screen, options for activities, and the importance of water and milk. You will notice a red “stick figure” on some of the signs. This is Redy, he’s the Let’s Go mascot. Follow his rules to become a happy, healthy kid and/or family! (Don’t feel you have to read all of this with your students, these are put there more for others who happen to walk down the path!) If you’d like more information like what’s on the back of the signs, it’s all available at www.letsgo.org.

So, because it’s such a beautiful day, we encourage you to complete the StoryWalk with your students. The book does have 0.5 AR points! Feel free to do as many of the activities as you like and encourage your students to come back with their families and do the StoryWalk again and again. It is scheduled to be up through October 30 (weather depending!).

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Appendix E

Welcome to the StoryWalk

First page/front cover of book for the StoryWalk

Students answering questions about prior knowledge of StoryWalk and 5210

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The mayor, head school custodian and member of the Sioux County Board of Health putting up the sign in 35+ mph wind

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Appendix F

Evaluation

I sent an email requesting the evaluation form on 10-23-14 at 12:41 pm and have not yet received it as of 9:00 pm on 10-26-14.