Healthy Harrison awards school incentives after pilot middle-school program hits engagement targets

John Paul Nardelli of HealthHarrison told the Harrison County Board of Education that a new Healthy Harrison pilot for middle schools met key participation metrics and that partners provided incentives for top-performing schools.

Nardelli said the program used three metrics—enrollment, engagement and “high levels of engagement”—derived from consultations with experts, and that all participating middle schools met at least one metric. He said three schools met all three metrics and two schools met two metrics. The presentation included ceremonial checks and a request to continue the program.

Nardelli identified United Hospital Center as a continuing funder of Healthy Harrison for the middle-school work and said West Virginia University Health Sciences Center also committed support. He thanked principals and district staff for cooperation and invited the principals of the recognized schools to join him for a photo with the checks.

Board members heard the names of schools and principals singled out for meeting multiple metrics: Mountaineer Middle School (John Rogers), Lincoln (named administrators Donato and Scott) and South Harrison (Miss Skidmore) were listed as meeting all three metrics; Bridgeport and “WI” (name in transcript) were listed as meeting two.

The board did not take formal action during the presentation. Nardelli and HealthHarrison framed the program as continuing work to incrementally improve student health and wellness and indicated interest in expanding the methodology to other counties.