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).
Three (3) of the schools—Bedichek, Marshall, and Paredes—are currently (2025–2028) working within intergenerational committees to co-design projects that make it easier and more fun to walk, bike, and be active in school neighborhoods. Committees are made up of parents, students, school staff, and neighbors. For more information visit https://sites.google.com/uth.edu/activemiddleschools
Questions? Contact the project manager, Sarah Bentley - [email protected] - (512) 482-6152
Tres (3) de las escuelas —Bedichek, Marshall y Paredes— están trabajando actualmente (2025–2028) en comités intergeneracionales para co-diseñar proyectos que faciliten y hagan más divertido caminar, andar en bicicleta y mantenerse activos en los vecindarios escolares. Los comités están conformados por padres, estudiantes, personal escolar y vecinos.
Para más información, 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.
