An Open Letter to IsPOD Supporters

August 31, 2012

Dear IsPOD Teachers, Trainers, Ambassadors, and Advocates,

NCAAHPERD is very thankful and appreciative of your work and dedication to the Alliance’s In-school Prevention of Obesity and Disease (IsPOD) initiative. Your passion for teaching and commitment to your student’s health has made this collaborative effort to address and reverse childhood obesity an extraordinary success.

From the beginning, the objective of IsPOD was to make the SPARK educational resources and teacher training available to all K-8 elementary schools in all 115 North Carolina counties. This objective has been substantially achieved; with K-8 teachers from all 115 counties and every school district in the state receiving SPARK training in regional workshops and booster sessions from the mountains to the coast.

The addition of FitnessGram and the teacher survey to the IsPOD initiative provided important information about the effectiveness of the SPARK™ programs. Through the life of the IsPOD initiative, aggregated reports were made available to those interested - including our state legislators, assisting them in their decision-making concerning the impact of physical education and obesity within the state.

As of August 31 of 2012, the 4-year, nearly 4 million dollar grant funding for IsPOD provided by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust will end. Although NCAAHPERD’s funding for the IsPOD program will end on that date, the IsPOD initiative will be sustained in the following ways.

• School systems wishing to provide low-cost SPARK K-2, 3-6 or Middle School* training or workshops for their teachers may contact NCAAHPERD. Alliance sponsored Certified SPARK Trainers can conduct SPARK workshops anywhere in North Carolina, so long as the trainings are under the direction and guidance of NCAAHPERD. School systems should not contact trainers without going through NCAAHPERD, as the trainers may not conduct SPARK themed trainings without prior knowledge and approval of the Alliance.
• *In 2011, SPARK released a new middle school physical education program (MS PE section). Contact SPARK directly at 1-800 SPARKPE or by email at for more information.
• SPARK is committed to supporting all SPARK trained physical educators. They provide FREE consultation and support via phone and email. Additionally, there are a number of free resources at www.sparkpe.org.
• With regard to fitness testing in the schools, Human Kinetics is committed to assisting districts and schools continue their FitnessGram efforts. Interested schools should contact Sarah Dean, K-12 Educational Consultant, Human Kinetics, Inc., 1607 North Market Street, Champaign, IL 61820, Phone: 800-747-4457, Ext 2465, Fax: 217-351-1549, Email: for pricing and ordering information.
• As required by the Memorandum of Agreement between NCAAHPERD and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, all data provided by NC DPI, merged with NC DPI data and resulting from this study was returned by NCAAHPERD to NC DPI as of August 31, 2012. Requests for archived FitnessGram data should therefore be directed to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Data Management Group.
• The above does not imply any connection between NC DPI and the data collected by NCAAHPERD's IsPOD program. NC DPI has not endorsed or participated in the aforementioned IsPOD initiative as it pertains to the SPARK program or the collection of FitnessGram data.
• After August 31, 2012, information regarding the IsPOD initiative will gradually be moved from the IsPOD website to the NCAAHPERD website. All inquiries about IsPOD should be directed to NCAAHPERD rather than the IsPOD staff.

In closing, we want to thank the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation for the initial grants that started the IsPOD initiative. The Alliance is especially thankful to the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust for committing nearly 4 million dollars to the statewide implementation of this project over the last four years.

We also want to thank the teachers, trainers, ambassadors, and advocates that have joined with NCAAHPERD in its efforts to address and reverse childhood the obesity epidemic. We appreciate your ongoing support of and commitment to a healthier student population in North Carolina and are confident that together there is much more that we can accomplish in the future!

Sincerely,

The NCAAHPERD Board of Directors