PEACEFUL PLAYGROUNDS PRESIDENT TO SERVE ON
HEAD START BODY START BOARD
Founder/President Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (October 14, 2008) – Peaceful Playground Inc. President and CEO, Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer has been selected to serve as a Board Member for Head Start Body Start: The National Center for Physical Development and Outdoor Play. The National Center is a key component of the Surgeon General’s Childhood Overweight and Obesity Prevention Initiative and is organized and managed by the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR) and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE).
“I am excited and encouraged to bring my experience and understanding to the Head Start Body Start board,” said Dr. Bossenmeyer. “The future of our nation’s children, their health and well-being, relies on supporting daily, structured activities that create a healthy learning environment. By promoting an environment of mutual cooperation and increasing physical activity helps to decrease childhood obesity.”
The 16-member Advisory Board is comprised of professionals from a range of cultural, linguistic, geographic, and economic backgrounds that will provide guidance on the direction and progress of the project. AAPAR and NASPE, as national professional associations, have a proven track record of providing resources and trainings that are based on current research and best practices. They are committed to identifying and promoting a full range of high quality resources and partnerships in order to provide state-of-art information and services.
Dr. Bossenmeyer brings years of experience as an educator, principal, playground inspector, administrator and author of six books. “When I started Peaceful Playgrounds more than 10 years ago, it was my goal to get more children involved in physical activity rather than waiting in line for their turn or just standing around talking. A child who burns off energy, not only reduced their risk for obesity, but they increase their focus on education when returning to class.”
Head Start Body Start comes out of the largest AAHPERD award ever received, a $12 million, four-year grant to the NASPE and AAPAR from the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This grant will help prevent overweight and obesity among young children in Head Start programs nationwide.
The National Center will help Head Start evaluate its play spaces and educate children and their families about the value of physical activity and healthy eating. In addition, the Center will assist Head Start programs in creating healthy learning environments, both in and outside the classroom, through structured and unstructured physical activity that leads to the physical, cognitive, social and emotional development of young children.
The nation’s 900,000 Head Start children, as well as their families and staff, will benefit from the Center’s broad range of services aimed at increasing physical activity, outdoor play, and healthy eating. Programs will be supported with training, technical assistance, and grants of up to $5,000 to local Head Start centers to improve their playgrounds and outdoor play spaces. Head Start Body Start will also provide information and support to ACF’s Office of Head Start for setting national priorities and developing policies.
Visit Peaceful Playgrounds www.peacefulplaygrounds.com, the NASPE www.naspeinfo.org and AAPAR www.aahperd.org/aapar websites for more information and to follow the Center’s newest efforts.
###
