Washington County Youth Summit in Portland, Ore. for Empower Me 2 B Campaign

The Washington County Commission on Children & Families hosted their 5th Annual Youth Summit last Thursday, and invited me to give a speech to 350 middle and high school kids.

I talked to the kids about how I stay active. It was the same speech I made at the School Based Health Care Teacher Conference in Salem two weeks before, except that I added a slide show of me doing fun things so my presentation would be more appealing for kids.

The Alliance sent out cards for the kids so they would know about the www.EmpowerMe2B.org website. I put the teacher materials at the entrance sign near the door and my mom put cards on all of the kid's tables.

Sunny Ross was the Program Specialist for www.co.washington.or.us/HHS/CCF and was my contact person for the Washington County Commission on Children and Families. She was one of the Youth Summit organizers.

Alex Molden is a former pro football player who was introduced with me and then gave his speech before mine. Alex works for Nike as a Sports Performance Specialist. He also has his own sports training program for kids and adults, All Star Performance Athletics www.aspa-sport.com. He has 5 kids of his own and you can tell that he likes motivating kids and adults. He loves gator ball and was encouraging everyone to Google it and learn how to play it. Here's a link I found about Gator Ball for kid's groups.

Everyone who was part of this Youth Summit conference was part of the movement to stop childhood obesity. The materials the Alliance sent me to hand out are really helpful for teachers and kids. Here's the link again if you want more information on easy ways to be healthy.
www.EmpowerMe2B.org

Having Some Fun in the Surf

Pacific City on the Oregon Coast is a really fun place to surf. My family loves to camp, so we take our trailer to Cape Kiwanda for the weekend sometimes and surf. My dad and mom usually go out on their Stand Up boards. I like to play on my Lopez board.

The water temperature is usually in the low to mid 50's in September. The air was about the same this trip. That's why I'm wearing a wetsuit. Even though it's cold, it's really fun.

I got some good waves, but my friend only got a picture of me in the reforms. I was teaching my mom to use a regular longboard, so I was hanging out in the reforms while she was learning.

Learning Through Movement with Dr. Derrick Mears

The Heart Institute of the Cascades and Clear One Foundation put on a talk by Mr. Derrick Mears. I attended the event so that I could pass out EmpowerMe2B.org sign-up cards and network with the adults who came to the speech.

I was able to hand out about 100 cards and talked with some influential people that are working hard locally and nationally to get kids to develop healthy habits like movement and nutrition.

Here's something about the people I met:

Dr. Derrick Mears:
He has spent 20 years as a teacher and researcher in education. He's Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Western Washington University. And he's author numerous articles on the relationship between physical education and lifetime physical activity including the relationship between physical activity and academic achievement, educational technology and national policy statements relating to physical education and physical activity. You can read more about Dr. Derrick Mears at www.derrick-mears.pbworks.com

Judy Shasek with ExerLearning:
ExerLearning is about getting kids to move more in the classroom without making teachers have to do more. Here's what Judy's card said: Using powerful connections between technology, student empowerment and fitness, this prgram is geared to enhance what busy teachers can do. Here's a video for more info - ExerLearning
We will document our program via video and data collection in hopes of obtaining $1 million in technology innovation, community wellness and 21st century learning grants. Learn more here
For ideas, comments, and questions Footgaming@gmail.com

Kate Wells, Director of Community Outreach & Communications for The Heart Institute of the Cascades
Kate is in the picture with me. She helps me locally to meet and network with other adults who might benefit from knowing about The Alliance for a Healthier Generation and their EmpowerMe2B.org program.

School Based Health Care Conference in Salem, Oregon

Last week I met Anne from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation along with Marecela in Salem for the School Based Health Care Conference in Salem, Oregon. They helped me practice and prepare for the speech I was to give to the teachers and attendees at the conference. School Based Health Care is when there is a health clinic for kids that is in the school. Even Elementary Schools can have one. They help kids stay healthy. The program is really growing in Oregon because my state covers all kid's with health insurance if they don't have any of their own. I spoke about putting movement and exercise into the kid's day and encouraged educators to encourage kids to move as it's good for their body and brain. Here's a copy of my speech:
______________________________________________________________

Good morning. My name is Isabella Acosta Barna. I attend Summit High School in Bend, and I’m a Youth Advisory Board Member for The Alliance for a Healthier Generation. I’m also a nationally ranked epee fencer and in my free time I like to ski, surf and skateboard.

When I was little I had so much physical energy that I had to sit on a ball at the table when I ate or did my homework to help me concentrate. My parents even put up swings to help me relax at the end of the day. Since that time I have been very physically active and it is an important part of my everyday life. I know when I don’t have the opportunity to release physical energy during the day I have a difficult time focusing in the classroom and doing my homework. Having the opportunity to engage in physical activity throughout the day has helped me do well in school, feel better about myself, and be as healthy as I can be.

Along with physical activity I have always grown up with a thorough understanding of nutrition. Starting when I was about five years old my parents went on a complete rampage of the pantry, throwing out any food items with either partially hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. As you can imagine, to a five year old the loss of oreos and cheetos was quite devastating. Soon after that most of my free time was spent walking to my neighbor’s house where they would let me eat all of the OreosI wanted.

But that didn’t last long because through our influence many of our friends also decided to change their diets.

Along with diet I’ve learned that exercise can’t be left out of a healthy life. Nutrition and movement are the keys to being healthy for life, whether movement means bouncing on a ball while at the table, playing or training for a sport. The head and the body are attached, physical education is also mental education.

I don’t think PE should be considered something extra or something that is less important than math or reading. Physical activity has been such an important part of my education, that I believe other kids, if given the opportunity, could improve their quality of their lives though daily physical activity and nutritional knowledge that they will use the rest of their life.

Sadly, most kids in Oregon don’t have the resources that they need to get educated about the importance of activity and nutrition, that would help them get better grades, gain self-confidence, and be as healthy as they can be.

This is why it is so important to give the schools the resources to develop PE classes that offer enough opportunities for exercise and physical activity and that also teach kids how to stay healthy throughout their whole lives.

If you are a teacher or educator who doesn’t have any more money to work with, you can get some good ideas to incorporate movement and nutrition into kid’s lives at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s EmpowerMe2B.org website. Kid’s can join the website and make a commitment to a healthy life. The website has tools for kids and teachers.

I really hope that you will incorporate the messages of physical health into your lesson plans and activities so that we can all help raise a healthier generation. I know that along with parents and peers, teachers are one of the most important influences in a child’s life. I’m glad you’ve decided to help my generation live the best life possible. Thank you.

Go Healthy Month - St. Charles Hospital Healthy Hometown Event

Go Healthy Month is about 5 weeks of September and October. Go Healthy Month is a time of the year that we make a special effort to connect to people to share our EmpowerMe2B.org message that kid's can make a difference in their own lives as well as others by being healthy.

Two ways to be healthy are:

• add more movement in your life
  
• choose good nutrition every time you have a choice about what you eat.

St. Charles Hospital in Bend, Oregon where I live had a health fair called Healthy Hometown in September. I went to the fair and passed out Alliance cards. Mostly though, I introduced myself to the adults in our area that run programs that include kids. I told them about the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and offered my time to them to share the message of the Alliance and their EmpowerMe2B.org site with tools for kids and teachers.

Greeting Cards are Fundraising

We had our annual Youth Advisory Board for The Alliance (now the Empower Me 2 Be organization) meeting last week at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, AK last week. It was great. Our goal is to stop childhood obesity by 2014.

My mom took these photos of the greeting cards that The Alliance for a Healthier Generation made out of my paintings. A portion of each sale goes to support The Alliance.

2009 Summer Nationals

The U.S. Fencing Summer Nationals were in Grapevine, Texas this year. I just got back from a week of competition and I'm happy with my results. I competed in both the individual events and the Junior Women's Eppe Team event.

My results from this past year's national competitions earned me a place as the youngest team member on the Northwest Fencing Center's Junior Women's Epee team. Junior team members are all under age twenty.

Each team includes three fencers and an alternate. There were a total of seventeen teams nationally that competed against each other at the U.S. Fencing Summer Nationals, the final event for the 2008/2009 fencing season. We won the Gold Medal!

In individual fencing events, I earned a medal with a 6th place win (medals are for the top eight finishers) in my age group Cadet - Under age 17 in the Cadet Women's Epee event.

Thanks to all of my coaches and teammates.

Here are some photos of me and my team from Northwest Fencing Center.

Top: L to R - Phoebee Caldwell, Helen Jolley, Coach Sebastian DeSantos, Coach Michael Marx, Emily D'Angostino, me

Middle: us with the gold medals

Bottom: me on the podium for Cadet Women's Epee

Surfing on the Oregon Coast

Last weekend I went surfing on the Oregon Coast with my family. We like to camp at Pacific City at the RV park. It's a fun place with a lot going on. Cars can drive on the beach and often get stuck in the sand. A headland on the north side has tide pools at the bottom and a big sand dune that we climb at least once a day. There are a lot of big logs in the sand that you can sit on and watch the waves and the people.

This trip we saw three Orca Whales swimming in the distance by Haystack Rock. Every time they porpoised I could see their big fin standing straight up.

It was a great trip and the official beginning of my summer now that school is out. Here's a photo of me going out on my surfboard and my dad in the distance doing stand up paddle boarding in front of Haystack Rock.

I went on a 35 mile downriver stand up paddle boarding trip with my parents and a group last weekend on the Deschutes River. It was the longest any of us had continuously paddled. Not counting a few short breaks, we were on the water for over 9 hours. I'm glad I did it, but I don't know if I'll do the same trip again. We had to sit some of the time because we got tired of standing.

The day was really warm and the mosquitoes didn't bother us. We stopped for ice cream at about the 30 mile mark. I like being fit enough to do these kind of adventures. We were the first group to continuously Stand up paddle board this 35 mile section of the Deschutes River in Oregon. Here is a photo of me carrying my SUP board around the Tetherow Log Jam. It was a short walk of a few hundred yards.

Sports Unlimited

I've learned that achieving my goals opens up a new set of experiences. Because I have Olympic and World Event dreams, my training and related event trips get really expensive. I'm selling my paintings and doing as many extra things as I can to help my parents support the level of competition.

Along with looking for sponsorship, Dina Boswell, a friend of my parents suggested I try sports modeling. Dina's son, Ian is a cyclist and also does sports modeling. So, I went through the process of applying to the talent agency Ian is with. Sports Unlimited specializes in athlete / lifestyle models, which means that they employ real-life athletes. Athlete models can't be unusually thin because they need to be accomplished in their sports as well as have muscle tone.

When I was competing at the Nordic Cross Country Skiing Junior Olympics in Truckee, California, my mom met Daphne Hougard, a photographer who specializes in athlete modeling. She's worked on many national and international jobs, and photographed for the clothing catalog Title Nine for eight years. Daphne was working in the Pacific Northwest this month, so she fit us into her trip and photographed me and put together my modeling portfolio.

The photos Daphne took of me are really great. I've never done these kinds of photos and Daphne made the experience really fun. The staff at Sports Unlimited liked the photos and I now have a modeling contract with Sports Unlimited! I'm really excited about this opportunity to be a sports model. With the money I make, I plan to compete on the World Cup level in fencing.

Daphne Hougard Photography daphne@daphnehougard.com 415.302.0733

www.daphnehougard.com/dudegirl_clothing
www.daphnehougard.com/aventura
www.daphnehougard.com/hearts

Thanks to Dina Boswell for doing my initial photos.

Sports and Academics are a Balancing Act

Balancing my interests with my academics can be challenging. The time of the year that my training peaks is during the school year, so I often am exercising / training for 3 - 5 hours per day. Add in weekends away for ski races and fencing competitions and there is even less time in my schedule.

This year was my first year of high school, so it's been hard learning to balance everything and reach my goals in sports and academics. My teachers have really helped me and my coaches try to provide study time in between training times.

I'm happy that I did well this year in both my sports and school work. MBSEF Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation gave me four awards for the 2008-2009 season: Nordic Most Inspirational; Nordic Best Race Results: The Presidents Award of Academic Achievement (to the MBSEF traveling athlete or high school age who had achieved the highest GPA for the second & third terms, a 4.0) and the Emil Nordeen Award (given to the J2 or older Nordic athlete for demonstrated dedication to the sport, race results and GPA).

Thank you to my coaches and teachers for a great year. Thank you MBSEF and my MBSEF Nordic coach, Dan Simoneau for your support.

Fencing Clinic

My coach from the Northwest Fencing Center in Portland, Oregon is Michael Marx. He's a five-time Olympian in Eppe and Foil fencing. Michael and another coach, Carlos Bruno, visited my hometown of Bend, Oregon, to teach a fencing clinic last weekend.

It was a great clinic. He and Carlos taught it at our local fencing club, the High Desert Fencing Club. Afterwards we had a potluck party at our house for all of the kids and adults that were involved. It was really fun.

The local Fox KOHD-TV station news guy, Keith Bleyer came by and interviewed the coaches and some of the kids. Here's a link to that video.

PHOTO: My dad, me and the Kruegers