/news-archive/tag/janea-snyder/ ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Fri, 15 Mar 2019 13:45:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/03/15/university-district-thriving-community/ Fri, 15 Mar 2019 13:45:26 +0000 /news/?p=73697 ... University District recognized as ‘Thriving Community’ for healthy community initiatives]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock University District has been named a “Thriving Community” in recognition of the district’s efforts to promote health and wellness in partnership with the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock School of Counseling, Human Performance and Rehabilitation.  The distinction is given by the to recognize nonprofit organizations, businesses, and neighborhood groups working to build a healthier community. The University District received the award at the organization’s Growing Healthy Communities Conference Jan. 28 at Burns Park Hospitality House. The coalition awards: Emerging Community, Blossoming Community, and Thriving Community. Communities that receive the highest “Thriving” designation demonstrate change through data and environment, system and policy level changes. A community’s ability to make lasting changes to both the environment and public policies is a sign of success and sustainability. In 2011, Dr. Janea Snyder, an assistant professor of health education and promotion in the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock School of Counseling, Human Performance, and Rehabilitation, received an initial grant of $18,000 to support the coalition’s mission to improve health by increasing access to physical activity and healthy eating to reduce and prevent obesity. “This is a really great accomplishment. Since 2010, I have been able to sustain the Growing Healthy Communities effort in partnership with University District,” Snyder said. “The goal for the project is to increase access to healthy food and physical activity in order to reduce the state’s obesity rate.” She has been partnering with University District Director Barrett Allen and Community Health Program Coordinator Angela Armstrong at University District to carry out the initiatives. “It is a great honor for the University District to receive recognition from Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention as one of its Thriving Communities in the Growing Healthy Communities Program,” Allen said. “Since 2010, ����Vlog��ý Little Rock University District has worked toward improving the quality of health of University District residents through projects such as the Wellness Fair, Farmers Market, Garden to Grill Health Awareness Class, and the Community Garden. Over the years, it has managed to climb each tier of the Growing Healthy Communities program to make it to the top as a Thriving Community. We are grateful for this recognition and, we will continue in our efforts to make the University District neighborhoods a healthier place.” Her efforts have been supported by the University District, College of Education and Health Professions, School of Counseling, Human Performance and Rehabilitation, Health Services, FitWell, ����Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty and staff volunteers, and student volunteers from nursing, health education and promotion, and counseling. The collaboration produced numerous initiatives that focused on gardening, wellness fairs, cooking classes, farmers markets, and nutritious food shopping. Some of the more popular programs include the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Growing Healthy Communities Wellness Fair and the Garden to Grill Cooking Class. University District residents receive a free one-year gym membership to the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Donaghey Student Fitness Center in exchange for attending the wellness fair. The Garden to Grill cooking classes teach individuals and families how to cook healthy food on a limited budget. The classes also include a ����Vlog��ý Little Rock health educator, a massage therapist, and dieticians who discuss exercise, stress management, and healthy meal plans. The ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Health, Human Performance, and Sports Management also led a project, Smart Shoppers for Seniors, to help older University District residents shop for nutritious food. Through the program, nutritionists lead grocery-shopping trips for seniors living in University District. “We would not have received this recognition without the contributions, efforts, and support of the University District partnership,” Snyder said. “It takes collaboration to make change happen. It has been a village of people who have contributed to this effort, and I feel that this award sums up the collaboration within our university and how multiple students, staff, faculty, and departments have contributed to this effort.” Snyder, along with Amar Kanekar and Bennie Prince, professors in the School of Counseling, Human Performance and Rehabilitation, published an article, “Growing Healthy Communities Initiative: Transforming the Built Environment to Combat Obesity,” in the Californian Journal of Health Promotion. The article highlights the efforts of the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention and Growing Healthy Communities, including the University District, to combat obesity among Arkansans by increasing access to healthy foods and physical activity. In the upper right photo, Snyder holds the certificate designating University District as a Thriving Community.]]> /news-archive/2018/12/05/derrick-alexander-easterseals/ Wed, 05 Dec 2018 14:05:56 +0000 /news/?p=72868 ... Easterseals Arkansas honors graduating student as Volunteer of the Year]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student who is graduating this month has been recognized for his outstanding volunteer service with children in the community.  Derrick Alexander, a 36-year-old senior from Little Rock, was recently honored by as a Volunteer of the Year for the Academy. He will graduate from ����Vlog��ý Little Rock on Dec. 15 with a bachelor’s degree in health education and promotion. Alexander is an intern for Easterseals Academy at Riverdale, a school for children with developmental disabilities. Alexander jokes that he was selected as a Volunteer of the Year “because I’m awesome.” “The kids love me. The staff loves me,” he said. “I am there every day except Wednesday when I am here at class. I participate in all the activities. I’m just really involved. There are 35 kids in the academy, and I know everyone of them by name.” He call himself a “jack of all trades” who has done everything from working with the students, answering phones, assisting with lessons, and supervising recess, to installing security cameras in the classroom and organizing books in the library. His favorite activity was volunteering during the Special Olympics earlier this semester. “Working the Special Olympics was very fun,” he said. “I got to see the excitement on the kids’ faces when they bowled a strike, picked up a spare, and were just having fun. Whenever they won a medal, there were a lot of laughs and a lot of fun.” Dr. Janea Snyder, assistant professor of health education and promotion and Alexander’s internship supervisor, said it was a joy to witness how much the students and staff at Easterseals adored Alexander during internship site visits. “Health education and promotion majors often have a passion to serve, and this is true for Derrick as he has also served our country,” Snyder said. “While completing his 200-hour health education internship at Easterseals, his heart for serving others and going above and beyond was recognized in him being awarded their Volunteer of the Year Award for the Academy for 2018. He is respectful, generous, and overall just a great guy.” Alexander is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served a tour in Afghanistan as well as relief duty during Hurricane Katrina. He started at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2016 after attending University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College. He remembers visiting ����Vlog��ý Little Rock as a sixth-grader at Franklin Elementary to visit Derek Fisher, former NBA player and coach, who played for the Trojans at the time.   Alexander, a father of a son and two daughters, said his own kids made him want to major in health education and promotion. “One day, I know they will go off to college, so whatever knowledge I have can help them,” he said. In the end, Alexander’s time at Easterseals has left an impression. After graduating in December, he is considering attending graduate school to study special education, a decision he says was influenced by his time at Easterseals. “Everything about the kids and their progress makes me want to work in special education,” Alexander said. “They are all very amazing, the kids and their progress. There are a lot of things about them that are amazing.” In the upper right photo, ����Vlog��ý Little Rock student Derrick Alexander has been recognized by Easterseals Arkansas as Volunteer of the Year for the Academy. Photo by Ben Krain. ]]> /news-archive/2018/09/12/ukraine/ Wed, 12 Sep 2018 18:01:13 +0000 /news/?p=71822 ... International delegation to discuss public health in Ukraine]]> A group of Ukrainian health professionals who are working to reform their country’s healthcare system will be at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Friday, Sept. 14, to speak on “Public Health in Ukraine.” The talk will take place from 9-10 a.m. in Dickinson Hall’s sixth-floor conference room and is free and open to the public. Members of the international delegation, which includes four physicians and one lawyer, accompanied by a bicultural facilitator and a bilingual interpreter, are guests of the U.S. Legislature’s and are hosted by , a nonprofit which contracts with the federal government to bring international delegates to Little Rock for professional training. Dr. Janea Snyder, assistant professor in the College of Education and Health Professions, and Heidi Whitman, program officer for Global Ties Arkansas, arranged Friday’s event as a way for local health care students and professionals to connect with the Ukrainian group. The discussion will center on challenges and solutions for public health problems common to all industrialized nations, such as HIV, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Prior to their arrival in Little Rock, the delegates completed an orientation in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill and had policy meetings with staff from the offices of Rep. French Hill and Sen. John Boozman. In Little Rock, delegates will collaborate on best practices for drafting effective healthcare policy, providing sufficient services for veterans, reforming primary and emergency care, and introducing medical insurance to citizens. The group also will have professional meetings at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Eugene J. Tobin Healthcare Center, AFMC, Pulaski County Crisis Stabilization Unit, and Conway Regional Hospital. The delegation is staying in the homes of area residents serving as hospitality hosts, including the home of Jim Carr, associate professor of construction management at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock, and his wife, Toni Carr, the executive director of Global Ties Arkansas. Others are staying with Terry Richard, professor emeritus of sociology at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock.  ]]>