The Louisiana 4-H Teens Leading Change team with Jamaius White (middle).
The Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter and Louisiana 4-H are collaborating with Wholespire to implement The Health Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project in two parishes over the next four years. LSU AgCenter included funding for The HYPE Project® in their application for a USDA Children, Youth, and Families at Risk grant to engage youth leaders in meaningful community change while developing leadership skills.
“This five-year grant focuses on Jefferson and Orleans parishes, but we hope to expand to other parishes down the road,” said Jessica Stroop, research associate at the LSU AgCenter. “The specific projects will be up to the youth but will broadly focus on systemic issues related to nutrition or physical activity. We also hope to see youth leaders develop skills in presentations, assessments, collaboration, and organization.”
Jamaius White, program manager of The HYPE Project, recently trained the Louisiana 4-H agents on the curriculum in New Orleans, walking them through various activities and discussions that youth will participate in. The LSU AgCenter chose both Advisor Training and Train the Trainer packages based on their approach to implementing The HYPE Project. Some agents will use the traditional model of implementing the HYPE curriculum themselves (Advisor Training), while other agents will use the Train the Trainer model to train others on how to implement the curriculum.
“We’re excited to be providing technical assistance to the Louisiana 4-H agents and helping them understand the curriculum, the operational side of managing a HYPE team, as well as other technical assistance needs, they may have,” said Jamaius White, The HYPE Project® program manager. “I think LSU AgCenter has a strong plan for implementing HYPE in these schools, and I don’t see them needing much assistance.”
Louisiana 4-H is the largest youth development program with clubs and groups in all 64 parishes, territorial divisions similar to counties. Jefferson and Orleans parishes, two urban areas with diverse populations and cultures, were chosen not only to develop youth leadership skills but to also develop 4-H urban programming. 4-H is known for livestock showing competitions and other agriculture-related activities in rural areas, but Louisiana 4-H leaders want to reach youth in urban parishes too. One way they’re doing that is through their Teens Leading Change program, also know as The HYPE Project.
White (not pictured) walked the 4-H agents through The HYPE Project curriculum.
In South Carolina, Wholespire has historically worked with youth-led organizations and groups based on funding sources and directives. LSU AgCenter is the first state-level organization to purchase The HYPE Project curriculum package and the first to implement the curriculum in schools. The key component to their approach is working with a lead teacher, who will be the advisor to the students.
“The school administration has been fantastic, and I’m lucky to have my lead teacher. She really is so passionate about these kids and the program and what we can do,” said Sabrina Hoffmeister, assistant extension agent 4-H Youth Development for Jefferson Parish.
The lead teacher will help run the Teens Leading Change program composed of ten high school seniors. This model is being used in both Orleans and Jefferson parishes, however, this article provides insight into the Jefferson Parish implementation. Information on the Orleans Parish implementation is not available at this time, however, keep in mind that implementing one model in two high schools may not run the same way based on unexpected hurdles and changing situations.
At Riverdale High School in Jefferson Parish, an economically disadvantaged public school (based on 86% of the student population qualifying for free or reduced school meals), Lead Teacher Lauren Broadway is an English instructor in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, an academic program that addresses intellectual, social, emotional and physical well-being of students. She has an established relationship with the IB students, who make up the Teens Leading Change program.
“We considered interviewing students to identify the right candidates, but we thought about the lead teacher. She knows these kids and sees them every day. She’s the one that has chosen the ten students based on their capstone project and their desire to make the community better,” said Hoffmeister.
4-H agents try out the Community Web of Support activity.
A core component of the IB Diploma Program is the completion of a Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) project, also referred to as a capstone project, that demonstrates the students’ knowledge and skills. According to the IB Diploma Program website, a CAS project can address any single strand of CAS, or combine two or all three strands of creativity, activity and service.
The advantages of implementing The HYPE Project at Riverdale High School are extraordinarily unique because of the IB Diploma Program, its alignment with the HYPE curriculum, and the knowledge and experience of the lead teacher. Perhaps one standout advantage is that the IB students already know about policy, systems and environments (PSE).
“My group of students have already taken a PSE class, which is super helpful. They already know those beginning steps of the curriculum, but we will do a little refresh,” said Hoffmeister. “Then, we’ll quickly move into the act phase of the HYPE curriculum and get the ball rolling in September.”
In addition to Hoffmeister being the point person for the Teens Leading Change program in Jefferson Parish, her team includes Nutrition Agent Shawn Verbeten and Assistant Extension Agent Courtney Budenich. The Jefferson Parish 4-H agents will manage their Teens Leading Change program and provide technical assistance, or guidance, to the lead teacher and interact with the students too.
The Riverdale High School IB Diploma Program seniors will begin their HYPE journey within days or weeks of this posting. Based on the information learned by Wholespire, LSU AgCenter and Louisiana 4-H have set them up for success with a well thought out plan, contingencies for roadblocks, and a timeline that could avoid Mardi Gras interruptions.
If you are interested in implementing The HYPE Project in your state, school, community or youth-led organization, visit our website and contact us.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 43 percent of children under the age of 18 in Barnwell County live below the poverty level. Because of their parents’ economic status, those children face more health disparities and inequities than others. For the majority of those children, it means living in affordable housing, also known as public housing.
Affordable housing communities can be found in almost every area of South Carolina, and Barnwell County is no exception. You’ve seen them around—complexes of multi-unit apartments with some green spaces but no visible outdoor recreational structures and no park within a safe walking distance. The HYPE team in Barnwell County saw the same thing. The lack of playgrounds in multiple affordable housing communities concerned them enough to do something about it.
Key partners were rounded up.
A HYPE team member helps with the obstacle course setup.
As soon as the HYPE team decided to focus on improving access to outdoor recreation in affordable housing communities, they turned to the South Carolina Regional Housing Authority No. 3 (SCRH3), the organization tasked with managing public housing and connecting residents to community resources. Getting buy-in from SCRH3 was integral to the success of the project.
“Our kids need something to do. You know, society complains a lot about this particular population, and I mean those residents who live in low-income housing, but they don’t provide any resources,” said Lisa Creech, resident opportunity and self-sufficiency service coordinator at SCRH3. “If you don’t want them to do something in particular, you have to provide another outlet, another resource for them. And I think that’s where we were lacking.”
Prior to joining SCRH3, Creech worked at an agency that wanted to partner with local housing and provide some recreation resources to the kids. As the HYPE team entered the picture, the affordable housing communities received basketball courts. But according to Creech, the kids wanted more.
Creech said on partnering with the HYPE team, “Many of these properties don’t have playgrounds, and for the ones that do have the basketball courts now, that’s all the kids have. So, we were really hoping to give them an opportunity to just be kids.”
Barnwell youth leaders take action.
Children play with the parachute as one boy has fun with tug of war.
With funding from Wholespire, Barnwell County HEALing Partners (funding from Healthy People, Healthy Carolinas) and other leveraged sources, youth were able to follow The HYPE Project process of observing their community, collecting data, and choosing their project focus area. They chose to increase access to physical activity in six local affordable housing communities located in Barnwell, Williston and Blackville. The team relied on a needs assessment they conducted the previous year to determine what type of physical activity to provide through their project.
They already knew SCRH3 and Barnwell County HEALing Partners hosted a field day event, which was successful but needed a little work. So, they analyzed the needs assessment and community feedback from the event and decided to enhance the activities of the field day and take it to multiple affordable housing communities during spring break.
“I thought it was very important that the youth take the lead on this project, and they did so well. I’m so pleased that I did not even imagine they would take it on the way that they did. But I think it’s because we made them understand that this is your project, and I think that message took it to another level,” said Pamela McKnight, HPHC project coordinator at Axis 1 Center of Barnwell, the fiscal agent for Barnwell County HEALing Partners.
The HYPE team planned the improvements from start to finish, adding additional (and traditional) field day games, purchasing recreation equipment, increasing the frequency from once a year to twice a year, and creating a HYPE Tour that would take the event to multiple affordable housing communities in the county.
The obstacle course tested everyone’s agility with the use of pool noodles, cones and other affordable materials.
“We brought out all the games that we played as kids for Field Day. We had tug of war; jump rope, hula hoops; obstacle courses; the large parachute—all things field day. The kids came out in droves, and they had a great time. We provided healthy snacks, and they got to be kids,” said Creech.
Not only was the purpose to increase access to physical activity, but it was also to give those particular community members a sense of community and belonging.
“I think it actually gave the parents and the children the opportunity to do something together because, when you think about it, everybody’s lives are busy. You have parents working long hours, and then you may have an older sibling taking care of the younger kids while the parent is working,” said Susan Ingram, HYPE advisor and project coordinator at AXIS 1 Center of Barnwell. ”But this project allows the parents and the children to play together. It was a beautiful thing to see.
In addition to field day games, McKnight said the HYPE Tour also included arts and crafts, health and wellness information from local vendors, and healthy snacks. “We also use that opportunity to show parents how easy it is to have a nutritious snack, and the children loved it. We did fruit kebabs with yogurt, and the children absolutely loved it. Nine times out of ten, none of those children had fruit or yogurt.”
Leveraging the HYPE Project for a greater impact.
Tug of war was popular among everyone.
Since the HYPE Tour, Creech says that she has noticed a change. “Since the field day, I do see the kids out playing, but it would be really nice to have some permanent structures for them.”
When you leverage a policy, systems and environmental change project for a greater impact, it means you influence additional change. You brought more attention to the needs of the community, and another entity or partner is investing in the community’s future. The HYPE team in Barnwell County did just that. Their actions and concerns about the lack of outdoor recreational structures in affordable housing communities put a brighter light on the situation.
According to McKnight, there have been conversations about adding some permanent structures to some of the low-income properties. Things could change for the children, and the HYPE team would play a role. Barnwell County HEALing Partners is considering building naturalized play areas on the properties because, through this project, they realized that not all of the affordable housing communities have areas for children to play. The health coalition continues to research naturalized play areas.
“Another project we were looking at in concert with the Housing Authority is sidewalk play,” says McKnight. “We want to make it permanent. So, permanent sidewalk directives like do jumping jacks or do hopscotch on the sidewalks to give children something that they could do.”
The HYPE team has inspired Barnwell County HEALing Partners to do more to improve access to physical activity throughout the county. There are tons of ideas, big and small, and several larger projects in the making. It’s safe to say that the movers and shakers of all ages in Barnwell County are doing some pretty big things that other communities can learn from, and a lot of it involves youth engagement.
Are you interested in hosting a Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) team to increase access to healthy choices in your community? HYPE teams learn the process of creating and implementing a civic action project through a five-phase curriculum. The project they choose can impact many people.
HYPE projects must address a policy, system or environmental (PSE) change within the community. PSE strategies are improvements that stand the test of time. They’re sustainable and available to anyone in the community.
The HYPE Project® is a curriculum-based approach to youth empowerment designed to build advocacy skills so teens can become a strong voice in their community. HYPE motivates teens to address the problem of obesity and other chronic diseases. While HYPE focuses on healthy eating and active living, teens can use the skills they learn to be lifelong champions of positive change.
HYPE was created to help teens get involved in community health improvements. Any group or youth-serving organization can host a HYPE team. Examples are community health coalitions, church youth groups, schools, nonprofit organizations, civic engagement organizations, youth development organizations, and more.
The benefits of HYPE are plentiful and depend on how engaged individual youth are with their HYPE team and the process of creating healthy change. The program benefits teens by leading efforts to improve the health of their community. One of the primary personal benefits is acquiring new knowledge and skills that can help with future education and employment goals. It’s a chance for youth to make decisions, share ideas, influence change, get involved in their community, and be proud of their contributions and accomplishments.
Founder & President, Columbus and Edith Rogers Mansell Foundation
When The Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project® began ten years ago, Wholespire knew teens’ potential impact on their communities. What we didn’t completely realize were the impacts The HYPE Project would have on the adult advisors.
Cathy Breazeale, former director of prevention services at Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County (BHSPC), was one of the first HYPE adult advisors to pilot the new youth engagement program in 2012. We caught up with Cathy for the 10th anniversary to learn about her experiences with The HYPE Project.
What motivated you to become involved in The HYPE Project as an adult advisor? In looking at the program it spoke to me about helping youth understand that the way you perceive food and exercise at an early age can help you in the long run. I’ve never seen a program like this and I was really excited to be a part of it.
When you were the lead adult advisor, what was your position? I was a Director of Prevention Services and I had staff – Tiffany and Ben. I was responsible for looking at the budget and the action plan. When we said that we were going to do something, I made sure that we did it. All of us made sure the youth engaged like they were supposed to. To be honest, when we first started, it didn’t happen that way because it was new to us. We weren’t sure how to make The HYPE Project work on top of our other projects. When you’re meeting for two hours, you don’t have a lot of time to plan community events and work on these types of projects. We had tobacco projects, and alcohol projects and so I was kind of like the person that steered to ensure that we did do what it is we said we were going to do.
Your HYPE Team was composed of the BHSPC Youth Board. What is the youth board? The youth board is a group of youth that are advocates for behavioral health issues related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues. It’s about community. What it is environmentally that they see in their community that they think needs to be changed? They get other youth engaged in their community and on the youth board. They’re also a spokesperson for issues that they were working on. But, they first have to buy into what that is.
After completing their PhotoVoice project, the Pickens County HYPE Team chose to focus on improvements at Haygood Park. They assessed the park and found some concerns:
Pickens County HYPE Team members assessing Haygood Park in Easley, SC, as Cathy Breazeale observes and advises.
No signs posting map and event/rental information
No bike racks
No water to drink
Restrooms need improvements
Dangerous big hole
Poor maintenance and landscaping
Litter and graffiti
Playground
No benches
No shade
No lights
The HYPE team presented their concerns to the Parks and Recreation Department, and they were successful in getting making the park more appealing with landscaping. However, since the completion of their civic action project, Pickens County has made improvements to Haygood Park and it’s being used more by residents and visitors. There’s even a dog park!
Do you remember any of the reactions from the youth about participating in HYPE? Well, negatively they didn’t want to do it. They wondered why we were looking at what they were eating. But, I can still remember the presentation comparing the weight of fat to the weight of muscle. It brought about a conversation. Sometimes, we downplay health because we think small people are healthy and larger people are not healthy. That’s what our brain tells us and so even talking about those particular things — the weight of fat and muscle — brought about a conversation and impacted the youth. Also, I would say 80% of the HYPE team played some type of sport, and so once again, they are thinking ‘I play sports, I’m healthy.’ Uh, but so it did. It brought about a lot of different conversations about those things, but in the end, I believe that The HYPE Project changed behaviors.
Youth used the Community Park Audit Tool developed by Kansas State University and the University of Missouri.
How has your experience influenced the way you work with the youth now? When we hosted a lot of events, we used to always get sodas. But, I always tried to make sure that we had water there. We would tell our event participants that they can drink sodas, but they need to drink X amount of water per day. And so [The HYPE Project] helped. It helped me, personally. I also use [healthy choices] even now at our local church where we work with youth. I just try to give them the things that I know they want, but also put in some of those healthy choices too.
Is there any advice that you would give new adult advisors? Uh, yes. I would advise them to build a plan of action with participation from the youth at the beginning, instead of waiting. I do that even now when I look at grants and proposals to send. Don’t just look at the money. You know you’re on this timeline and it’s happening, and now I gotta do something. When we take that approach, sometimes doing something is something we didn’t put a lot of thought into.
I would also say from the beginning, act like the funding ends in a week. Come up with ideas, several ideas, and then use those ideas to streamline the project within those months that you have to do it. This lets you say, ‘We’re going to do this, or we’re going to do that. We’re gonna add this and I believe that it would be better.’ The project would be better.
If you had another opportunity to lead a HYPE team would you volunteer again? I would, because of the previous statement that I made of the things I’ve learned and even in working with [the Columbus and Edith Rogers Mansell Foundation] and knowing that. Our target group isn’t just teens, but it’s parents with youth ages 5 to 17. So now I know that. That’s our target population.
The HYPE Team assessed all features of Haygood Park, including the volleyball court.
The parents at the beginning will be involved because I’ll get it. It’ll be a balance, even though the youth will be the ones that will do the project. We will let them do the planning of it and then the parents would come in and we have a meeting of the minds so that they can talk about as young people what it is they see in their community and what they feel needs to be changed.
So being a part of something like that, it’s kind of like being able to take the test again. This time I’m going to study. And not just okay, I know it’s a test. I just need to make a 75. I wanna make 100 this time.
Do you have any other thoughts you’d like to share? HYPE is a, uh, it’s a unique program because you don’t hear about healthy living a lot concerning youth. I know we talk about obesity this and that in our states, but HYPE should really be nationally known. I feel it should be.
We couldn’t agree more with Cathy! Several of the Pickens County HYPE Team moved on to college and are starting businesses and careers in healthcare. Many are still involved in their community. And Haygood Park is thriving with recreational sports, squealing children, and happy dogs.
Whether you live in a rural community or the middle of a city, healthy foods can be hard to come by. That’s because South Carolina is filled with food deserts. Grocery stores in neighborhoods and towns close all of the time due to their bottom line — sales and money — and some communities may have never even had a grocery store at all. When people can’t rely on grocery stores for easy access to produce, a food desert is born. Fortunately, teens in the 7th District AME Church are changing the landscape of their food supply.
Through a partnership between Wholespire and the 7th District AME Church, youth involved in the Young Peoples Division (YPD) took advantage of opportunities to give their communities access to healthy foods through The HYPE Project®. After learning about policy, systems, and environmental change and how the food choices a person has affect their health, many youth teams began focusing their community-based projects on community gardens.
“Church gardens seemed to be popular projects, not only for the youth but also for the entire congregation,” said Trimease K. Carter, youth engagement manager at Wholespire. “I think they are popular because youth found out that gardens are a fun, learning experience. Plus, the congregations get excited about helping with the gardens, watching the produce grow, and getting to take some home.”
During the final round of funding for YPD programs in the 7th District AME Church, a few youth teams focused on building new church gardens, while other youth teams, who were previously funded, chose to maintain their gardens based on the success of their initial garden project.
According to Pastor Clearance Mitchell from Singleton AME Church in Georgetown, SC, “Our success was in our garden beds. Although this year we endured interesting weather changes that caused some damage to our garden beds, we were still able to reconstruct and be a blessing. Although our giving numbers were lower than last year, we still were able to give fresh produce to a few senior citizens.”
In Turbeville, SC, the youth team at Oak Grove AME Church was funded all three years. Their first project focused on policy changes, like removing salt shakers from church dining tables. Church leaders approved the policy and left the youth wondering what to do next. So, they focused on educating their congregation on alternatives to salt. To do this, they decided to build an herb garden to use in taste tests and church meals as a way to replace or reduce salt. Their efforts have seemed to pay off.
“Our church is located within the stroke belt of South Carolina. Persons tend to eat an abundance of fried and fatty foods,” said Dr. Ila McFadden, YPD director at Oak Grove AME Church. “Through The HYPE Project®, our youth have helped our congregation think differently, and they have given them the desire to improve their overall health through proper diet, nutrition, and the importance of water as a beverage.”
Just like Wholespire’s mini-grant opportunities, funds awarded to the youth teams were used to purchase supplies and support their initiatives. Youth teams worked on multiple projects at the same time and took on active roles with each project. From brainstorming and setting church policies to planning and implementing healthy eating, active living, and safety projects, the youth of the 7th District AME Church YPD program truly stepped up to the plate. They showed their leadership skills and influenced not only their peers but also adults. They demonstrated what youth engagement can be for community coalitions and other youth groups in South Carolina.
For more information about The HYPE Project®, email Youth Engagement Manager Trimease K. Carter at Trimease@wholespire.org.
According to Pastor Clearance Mitchell from Singleton AME Church in Georgetown, SC, “Our success was in our garden beds. Although this year we endured interesting weather changes that caused some damage to our garden beds, we were still able to reconstruct and be a blessing. Although our giving numbers were lower than last year, we still were able to give fresh produce to a few senior citizens.”