The Blog

Corpus Christi ISD is working to implement a coordinated health program for all grade levels with both physical education and physical activity components. They are ready to make it policy that all of their students learn about their health and get moving more, but the program needs to be affordable and accessible by all coaches in the district. Richard Torres, the district’s specialist for health and physical education, had great news for district leaders seeking a program to put in place: there’s an app for that.

“This is the curriculum we want to adopt because it’s research based, and it’s got the TEKS in it. It’s been structured to meet our needs. I did a campus visit just today and the principal is gung-ho about it. She says, ‘it’s supporting our gardens, it supports our core subjects, it supports physical activity, so we want it.'”

–Richard Torres, Specialist for Health & Physical Education, Corpus Christi ISD

Richard introduced the Teach Healthier App to coaches in CCISD when it launched last winter, and many coaches are already leading the lessons on a daily basis! Many Corpus coaches have provided us with valuable feedback over the past nine months that helped inform our most recent app update. The district will be purchasing iPads for all 150 of their coaches, who will be required to use their CCISD logins on the iPads to access Teach Healthier daily.

The key to Corpus’ incredible health efforts in recent years – including implementing school gardens across the entire district – is their extremely supportive leadership.

“This is the first time in about ten years if not more when we have a superintendent who understands the importance of physical education,” Richard enthusiastically explained. “He’s an ex-coach and he’s an ex-athlete, so he understands. Then, we have a deputy superintendent who understands that there’s so much research supporting that if students are participating in physical activity and eating healthy their scores are going to come up. We have administrators at the very top who are supporting what we’re doing.”

The Corpus Christi ISD SHAC has also been extremely active for three years now. They are an impressively heterogeneous team of volunteers including cardiologists, doctors, and a range of other brilliant professionals.

Want to bring the Teach Healthier App to your district? Share this story with your school and district leaders, and we will continue to post about Corpus’ implementation process. It is possible to make nutrition lessons and frequent physical activity a districtwide policy when lessons are available right at your fingertips, align with state and national standards, and are totally free!