Life Sustaining Physical Activity and Nutrition - LifeSPAn

  • WHAT IS LifeSPAN?  

    LifeSPAN circle of healthy foods and activity LifeSPAN (Life Sustaining Physical Activity & Nutrition) is an evidence-based SNAP-Ed program that helps families lead healthier lives. SNAP-Ed is the education portion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (federal food assistance). LifeSPAN helps teach participants how to establish healthy eating habits and increase their time spent being physically active. In this program, nutrition facilitators work with classroom teachers to implement fruit and vegetable centered curriculum for students in PreK-5/6. The curriculum that we use is evidence-based, centered around increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and increasing physical activity.

    In addition to direct education, the LifeSPAN team works with local partners and community coalitions to increase food access and free/low cost physical activity opportunities. The purpose is to help improve policies, systems, and the environment of the community to create sustainable change in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

LifeSPAN Staff

  • Paula Finfrock: Paula serves as the project director for LifeSPAN. By overseeing the project as a whole, she is in charge of project reporting and communicating with our fiduciaries, the Michigan Fitness Foundation. She provides support for LifeSPAN nutrition facilitators who teach PK-12th grade students through culturally relevant, evidence-based nutrition programming.  The program's focus is to support families by working towards increasing access to local resources that help them integrate healthy eating and physical activity into their daily life.

    Kathryn Hills: Kathryn is our elementary school nutrition facilitator. She teaches the K-5/6th grade students all about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables as well as being physically active. 

    Cara Ortiz: Cara is our preschool nutrition facilitator. She visits preschool classrooms to help students learn about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables as well as being physically active through fun, interactive lessons. 

    Kariann Paoli: Kariann is our native nutrition facilitator. She is responsible for implementing lessons from the 13 Moons of Anishinaabe Nutrition, a culturally relevant curriculum.  In addition to facilitating nutrition lessons in classrooms, Kariann works with the LifeSPAN team to create sustainable change within our communities, focusing on increasing healthy food access and free/low cost physical activity opportunities. 

     

Additional Resources

  • This project was funded in whole or in part by the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Michigan Fitness Foundation.

    This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
Last Modified on October 11, 2022