Active Middle School Communities Project
The UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Austin and UT Austin College of Education are collaborating on the Active Middle School Communities project focused on understanding barriers and improving opportunities for physical activity in select low-income neighborhoods in Austin. Ultimately, we seek to co-create and test strategies that promote active living among children, families, and the broader community.
Six (6) middle schools (Marshall, Lively, Bedichek, Covington, Paredes, and Dessau) will receive $25,000 each for a community improvement project (e.g., walking/biking programs, safety enhancements). A team of community members — including parents, students, school staff, and neighbors — will guide and select this project.
Here's how to get involved in your community!
1. Participate in an Interview! | ¡Participe en una entrevista!
Participate in an Interview!
Parents, Students, and Community members of the Bedichek, Covington, Dessau, Lively, Marshall, and Paredes neighborhoods, we need your voice!
Participate in an interview for the Active Middle School Communities research project and receive a gift card!
Learn more by filling out a consent form and our project team will contact you about next steps.
Parent/student https://redcap.link/amsc-school
Community member: https://redcap.link/amsc-community
¡Participe en una entrevista!
¡Padres, estudiantes y miembros de la comunidad de los vecindarios de Bedichek, Covington, Dessau, Lively, Marshall y Paredes, necesitamos su voz!
Participe en una entrevista para el Proyecto de Comunidades Activas de Escuelas Secundarias y reciba una tarjeta de regalo.
Para obtener más información, llene el formulario de consentimiento y nuestro equipo se comunicará con usted para informarle los siguientes pasos.
Padres y estudiantes: https://redcap.link/amsc-school
Vecinos: https://redcap.link/amsc-community
2. Join a Committee! | ¡Únase a un Comité!
Join a Committee!
The Active Middle School Communities research project is looking for passionate community members to join a committee focused on improving physical activity and wellness in 3 local middle school communities (Bedichek, Marshall, and Paredes). As part of this team, you’ll help shape strategies, connect with others, and contribute to making a lasting impact. Meetings are held once a month, and you’ll receive $50 per hour for your time. If you're interested in helping us create a healthier community, we’d love to have you on board!
For more information or to apply, visit https://sites.google.com/uth.edu/activemiddleschools
Questions? Contact the project manager, Sarah Bentley - [email protected] - (512) 482-6152
¡Únase a un Comité!
El proyecto de investigación Comunidades Activas de Escuelas Secundarias busca miembros apasionados de la comunidad para unirse a un comité enfocado en mejorar la actividad física y el bienestar en tres comunidades escolares de nivel secundaria (Bedichek, Marshall y Paredes).
Como parte de este equipo, ayudará a diseñar estrategias, conectará con otras personas y contribuirá a generar un impacto duradero. Las reuniones se llevan a cabo una vez al mes y recibirá $50 por hora por su tiempo.
Si está interesado(a) en ayudarnos a crear una comunidad más saludable, ¡nos encantaría contar con su participación!
Para más información o para postularse, visite:
https://sites.google.com/uth.edu/activemiddleschools-esp
Preguntas: Comuníquese con la directora del proyecto, Sarah Bentley – [email protected] – (512) 482-6152
In collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin College of Education, “Co-Creating and Implementing Contextually Responsive Physical Activity Interventions with Low-Income Adolescents” also known as the “Active Middle School Communities Project” is a comprehensive and community-engaged mixed methods study to design and test strategies for improving community-wide and individual-level physical activity outcomes in middle school neighborhoods.
Purpose of the Study
- Physical inactivity is a public health crisis and a major contributor to chronic disease.
- We are conducting a comprehensive, community-engaged study to design and test strategies for improving individual-level and community-wide physical activity outcomes in middle school communities.
Goals
- To identify community-level barriers and facilitators for physical activity in urban middle school communities
- To engage multi-sectoral and multi-generational community actors for co-creating contextually-responsive intervention strategies to improve access to active transport and leisure in urban middle school communities.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of the co-created intervention strategies for improving physical activity outcomes in urban middle school communities.
Funder
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
For more information, see the press release about the $5mil NIH Grant: https://www.uth.edu/news/story/physical-activity-intervention-strategies-in-low-income-communities-funded-by-a-5m-nih-grant-for-collaborative-research-at-uthealth houston-and-the-university-of-texas-at-austin.
Examination of Neighborhood and Perceived Traffic-Related Safety Factors Associated with Active Commuting to School in a Large Urban City.
Burford, K.; Salvo, D.; Kohl, H.; Ganzar, L.A.; Bauer, C.; Resendiz, E.; Zhang, Y.; Hoelscher, D. (2025) Active Living Conference.
Development, scoring, and reliability for the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes for Safe Routes to School (MAPS-SRTS) instrument.
Ganzar, L. A., Burford, K., Salvo, D., Spoon, C., Sallis, J. F., & Hoelscher, D. M. (2024). BMC public health, 24(1), 1-13.
Associations of COVID-19-related Changes across Domains of Children’s Physical Activity and Demographic Characteristics
Ganzar LA, Salvo D, Kohl HK, Hoelscher DM. Poster presentation at St. David's CHPR Conference, Virtual, February 21, 2021
Evaluating the Impact of the Safe Routes to School Infrastructure on Active Commuting in Central Texas Schools.
Hoelscher, D. (Presenter); Zhang, Y.; Ganzar, L.A.; Lanza, K.; Salvo, D.; Bentley, S.; Pérez, A. Active Living Conference 2025.
Parent Self-Efficacy for Child Active Commuting Score is Associated with Child School Commute Habits.
Swinney, K.; Zhang, Y.; Pérez, A.; Salvo, D.; Ganzar, L.A.; Hoelscher, D.M. Active Living Conference 2025.
Methods for Developing and Assessing Reliability of a Micro-Scale, Built Environment Audit Tool for Research and Evaluation of Active Commuting to School.
Ganzar, L.A., DrPH, MPH; Burford, K., PhD; Salvo, D., PhD; Spoon, C.; Sallis, J.F., PhD; Hoelscher, D.M., PhD, RDN, LD, CNS, FISBNPA. Active Living Conference 2025.
Association between Parental Perceptions and Active Commuting to School in Children.
Swinney, K.; Zhang, Y.; Ganzar, L.A.; Perez, A.; Salvo, D.; Bentley, S.; Hoelscher, D.M. TEXPOP 2025
