“Through the collaboration with the Alliance, we have increased the awareness of health and nutrition within our program, including developing a new curriculum that combines healthy lifestyle elements with fun and play. The Alliance was a great resource not only in supporting this new idea, but also in cultivating the curriculum’s use throughout the year.”
*-Sean Tate, Program Manager, CP3 Afterschool Zone, New Orleans, LA*

CP3 Afterschool Zone is a network of providers in one New Orleans neighborhood that has made a commitment to work together to provide a variety of safe, high-quality opportunities for central city youth. Last fall, CP3’s program director had a vision to create a class devoted to health and wellness for his K-1st grade students. With the help of Alliance resources and coaching, the director reviewed several healthy eating and physical activity curricula and chose lessons that fit into CP3’s hands-on, active-learning model. CP3 then partnered with Alliance staff to infuse the existing lesson plans with play and physical activity. The results: the 8-week Health & Play curriculum!

CP3 has piloted the curriculum with two groups of Kindergarten and 1st graders. During the classes, students actively explore five pillars of health, MyPlate standards, and practice making healthy choices about both food and physical activity. The highlight of the course is a field trip to the New Orleans Children’s Museum, where the CP3’s students shop in a kid-sized grocery store stocked with Louisiana foods, then create and serve balanced MyPlates in the Kid’s Café.