staff writer for BCBS of Louisiana Foundation
Many of our Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana grantees have seen major success in the past year and a half — and we love using this space to celebrate those amazing achievements. But we are also keenly aware of the struggles that come with spearheading change. Engaging a community is easier said than done. We know that. And so do the folks at Great Resources WhereY’at (GRoW), where finding the right partner to host their dynamic array of Saturday classes (serving kids in the Gentilly and New Orleans east neighborhoods) has been an enormous hurdle. Since the program launched last year, GRoW has had to shift their program site again and again. Last month, they moved to their third, Medard H Nelson charter school in Gentilly. Below, GRoW’s Zone Coordinator Danielle Burrell shares why it’s been so hard to find the right space — a place to make older and younger kids alike feel at home.
Q: Since GRoW began, there have been a lot of successes. But also some challenges — like finding the right school campus to play host site for the program. How do you feel about the latest, and third, change, to Medard H Nelson in New Orleans?
A: I would say that GRoW is excited to partner with New Beginnings schools and we have received a warm welcome at Nelson. However, we are still in search of the location for GRoW that is “just right,” which remains a challenge and part of the adventure. We are aware that being school based will continue to confuse and alienate some youth and families, who will still assume, no matter how much we try to campaign and use our PR messaging to convey otherwise, that the program is only for those who attend Nelson.
Q: Why do you think it’s a challenge, particularly in New Orleans, to get that message through?
A: The distinction of serving “youth who live or go to school in 70122 OR 70126″ is a marketing/PR/messaging challenge because New Orleans operates by neighborhoods, and not as much by zip code. An early error in the branding was that they were intending to serve Gentilly (70122) and New Orleans East (70126), but the language on marketing materials and spoken by staff was only “Gentilly”. Because of how New Orleanians think about their communities, it was very important not to alienate New Orleans East by leaving them out, so I have worked very hard to change that messaging and thinking and get everyone to say “Gentilly and New Orleans East.”
Q: I understand you are already doing well at Nelson, with some old and new faces showing up for GRoW Saturdays. But you also feel that further growth could happen with a high school setting for the older kids. Explain why you feel that way. And what are some of the other difficulties at the new campus?
A: We are doing well with recruitment and retention and we are excited to see some of our older youth joining us (even if they are being forced by their parents, which we see and deal with every week!) But part of the reason we suspect that GRoW would further flourish and attract tweens and teens if located at a high school (or community center) is that the elementary school environment feels very amateur and “babyish” for older kids. The feedback from them is that it doesn’t feel like the program is for them; it’s at a primary school with “playgrounds for little kids” (a direct quote from my 15 year old daughter who is also sometimes a forced GRoW participant). And while Arthur Ashe had wonderful facilities, Nelson doesn’t have a gym, which is a challenge overall to our programming because we are now fully exposed to the elements and variability of New Orleans weather, with most activities now based outside.
Q: So it’s a struggle to attract and maintain the older kids?
A: Our recruitment efforts do succeed in pre-teens and older teens to show up (in getting parents to bring/force/insist that they try it out), but we are very aware that having older youth in one space with shared activities with younger kids is something that does not fully hold their attention. On the other hand, the little ones are very happy! But yes, one of my first recommendations when I joined the GRoW team last year was to move the program to an area high school (which I understand was part of the original plan, but fell through). Or to a community center type space. I don’t envy Mat the challenge as project director of identifying viable facility partner opportunities.
Q: Talk about some of the things the GRoW programs are doing to help mitigate that problem?
A: Some of the things we are doing to fight through the struggle to attract and retain our research target age group is to have the Health Nutz Nation (an online based fitness program) operate on GRoW Saturdays as a class just for ages 13 and up. The website is still being finished, but when it is, we will still be the “Online Social Aid and Fitness Club,”; but we are already seeing retention over the past few weeks of our older group who generally would not have come back to GRoW.
Q: Another hurdle has been in finding ways to keep youth engaged in the same activities week after week. What are you hoping to do to keep them from getting bored too quickly?
A: By next week, I’d like to try to introduce guest instructors/classes. We are finding that youth are becoming bored with the same classes each week (dance, yoga, biking, karate), and while we did implement sports classes last fall with our Up2Us Coaches (soccer, basketball, tennis), it is important that GRoW’s lineup of activities be ever-changing and always evolving to keep interest high. Just as adults get bored with their workouts, young people need variety too, and we want to give them that at GRoW.
Q: And you’ve talked about adding new classes that maybe even the parents may enjoy and want to participate in?
A: I am hopeful that rotating in some different activities will attract and get more of our GRoW parents to stay and participate. One of the classes we know that parents have asked for is Zumba (which is easy to bring to GRoW because I am a Zumba instructor and have staff who can lead classes for GRoW moms). Also, I am excited to work with Young Audiences, for example, because they have an army of various dance and fitness artists who we hope will also be part of our guest class series.
Q: Since GRoW began, there have been a lot of successes. But also some challenges — like finding the right school campus to play host site for the program. How do you feel about the latest, and third, change, to Medard H Nelson in New Orleans?
A: I would say that GRoW is excited to partner with New Beginnings schools and we have received a warm welcome at Nelson. However, we are still in search of the location for GRoW that is “just right,” which remains a challenge and part of the adventure. We are aware that being school based will continue to confuse and alienate some youth and families, who will still assume, no matter how much we try to campaign and use our PR messaging to convey otherwise, that the program is only for those who attend Nelson.
Q: Why do you think it’s a challenge, particularly in New Orleans, to get that message through?
A: The distinction of serving “youth who live or go to school in 70122 OR 70126″ is a marketing/PR/messaging challenge because New Orleans operates by neighborhoods, and not as much by zip code. An early error in the branding was that they were intending to serve Gentilly (70122) and New Orleans East (70126), but the language on marketing materials and spoken by staff was only “Gentilly”. Because of how New Orleanians think about their communities, it was very important not to alienate New Orleans East by leaving them out, so I have worked very hard to get change that messaging and thinking and get everyone to say “Gentilly and New Orleans East.”
Q: I understand you are already doing well at Nelson, with some old and new faces showing up for GRoW Saturdays. But you also feel that further growth could happen with a high school setting for the older kids. Explain why you feel that way. And what are some of the other difficulties at the new campus?
A: We are doing well with recruitment and retention and we are excited to see some of our old youth joining us (even if they are being forced by their parents, which we see and deal with every week! But GRoW would further flourish and attract the tweens and teens if located at a high school is that the elementary school environment feels very amateur and “babyish” for older kids. The feedback from them is that it doesn’t feel like the program is for them; it’s at a primary school with “playgrounds for little kids” (a direct quote from my 15 year old daughter who is also sometimes a forced GRoW participant). And while Arthur Ashe had wonderful facilities, Nelson doesn’t have a gym, which is a challenge overall to our programming because we are now fully exposed to the elements and variability of New Orleans weather, with most activities now based outside.
Q: So it’s a struggle to attract and maintain the older kids?
A: Our recruitment efforts do succeed in pre-teens to show up (in getting parents to bring/force/insist that they try it out), but we are very aware that having older youth in one space with shared activities with younger kids is something that does not fully hold the attention of our pre-teens and teens. One the other hand, the little ones are very happy! One of my first questions recommendations when I joined the GRoW team last year was to move the program to an area high school or to a community center type space. I don’t envy Mat the challenge as project director of identifying viable facility partner opportunities.
Q: Talk about some of the things the GRoW programs is doing to help mitigate that problem?
A: We’ve allowed Health Nutz Nation (an online based fitness program) to operate on GRoW Saturdays as a class just for ages 13 and up. The website is still being finished, but when it’s done, we will still be the “Online Social Aid and Fitness Club.” But since offering the program on Saturdays as a class, too, we’re already seeing retention over the past few weeks among our older group who generally would not have come back to GRoW.
Q: Another hurdle is finding ways to simply keep kids engaged in the same activities week after week. What are you hoping to do to keep them from getting bored?
A: By next week, I’d like to try to introduce guest instructors/classes. We are finding that youth are becoming bored with the same classes each week (dance, yoga, biking, karate), and while we did implement sports classes last fall with our Up2Us Coaches (soccer, basketball, tennis), it is important that GRoW’s lineup of activities be ever-changing and always evolving to keep interest high. Just as adults get bored with their workouts, young people need variety too, and we want to give them that at GRoW.
Q: And you’ve talked about adding new classes that maybe even the parents may enjoy and want to participate in?
A: I am hopeful that rotating in some different activities will attract and get more of our GRoW parents to stay and participate. One of the classes we know that parents have asked for is Zumba (which is easy to bring to GRoW because I am a Zumba instructor and have staff who can lead classes for GRoW moms). I am excited to work with Young Audiences, for example, because they have an army of various dance and fitness artists who we hope will also be part of our guest class series.
POST SCRIPT: We are happy to announce Danielle’s team actually did offer their first Zumba class for students and parents last Saturday! How’d it go? Says Burrell, “We did launch the first GRoW moms Zumba class with great success! The PTO president at Nelson participated and gave Mat direct feedback immediately following, sharing that she feels confident Zumba at GRoW will be a great recruitment tool to get parents to show up and get actively participating. They had great time!”
For more information on the GRoW program, click here!