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American Heart Association High School Program Guide

Tiffany Rogers Sarah MacPhail Tassie Munroe Justin Honeycutt

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Table of ContentsExecutive Summary.......................................5Market Analysis..............................................6Primary Research...........................................7Ideation Phase..............................................14kickStart! Program Design..........................17Works Cited..................................................22Appendices...................................................24

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Executive Summary

The goal of the kickStart! campaign is to get high school students physically active and interested in instituting a healthy lifestyle change that exceeds their years in high school. To create kickStart!, we employed creative strategy, Web and social media tactics, and collaboration with the already existing Start!Walk campaign. Ultimately, we aspire to see high school students develop healthy lifestyles and thus motivate their friends and family to do the same.

Primary and secondary research of our target audience, high school students, revealed that it is a population motivated by incentives like getting out of class and wearing t-shirts to school, for example. The research data led us to develop a kickball tournament that will attract high school students and their families. To motivate a behavior change each school will be presented with information on the dangerous consequences an unhealthy lifestyle produces and Life’s Simple 7 information on how to improve.

Our Goal

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Market AnalysisThe Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease was formed in 1915 by a group of physicians and social workers concerned about the lack of information available on heart disease. From this organization, the American Heart Association (AHA) was officially founded in 1924. In 1949 the AHA launched their first national fund-raising campaign. Through this effort, $2.7 million was raised. Since then the AHA has grown rapidly and has vastly improved the public’s knowledge of heart disease through a variety of different initiatives.

The four main causes within the AHA are Power To End Stroke, Go Red for Women, Go Red Por Tu Corazon and Start! “Power To End Stroke is an education and awareness campaign that embraces and celebrates the culture, energy, creativity and lifestyles of African Americans.” Power To End Stroke offers ways to text message friends information that could save lives, soul food cookbooks and ways to become a spokesperson within communities.

Go Red for Women and Go Red Por Tu Corazon are organizations for American and Hispanic women interested in becoming heart healthy. Go Red For Women offers women the opportunity to share their stories and attend Go Red for Women Luncheons in their communities. Go Red Por Tu Corazon was at the Latin Grammy Awards and provides traditional Hispanic recipes that are heart healthy,

Start! encourages people within their workplace to get moving. Through the Start! website people can establish walking plans, track work outs and meals and participate in the annual Start! Walk in their community. There are also tips on how to improve the environment within the workplace.

The AHA also has many grassroots programs like Hoops for Heart and Jump Rope for Heart. Hoops for Heart and Jump Rope for Heart are organizations within the American Heart Association that encourage students to set an amount of money to raise and then reach that goal. Kids have an opportunity to create their own web page and email. “Kids using their Web Page to raise funds can raise 3 times as much!”

Kids also get to submit t-shirt design ideas and videos sharing stories on how their family is eating healthy or how heart disease has affected loved ones.

Hoops for Heart and Jump Rope for Heart are sponsored by Subway and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

The American Heart Association

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SWOT Analysis

• Second only to the federal government in non industry funding of cardiovascular and stroke research. It funded more than $1.2 billion in research over the past decade

• The AHA covers a broad range of issues and is therefore a brand that is recognizable on a multitude of different platforms

• Since the AHA has been researching since 1915, the brand has a strong heritage and tends to be more respected and trusted than other non-profits

• The AHA covers a wide variety of general heart related issues and are able to promote their cause with a plethora of materials

• A strong national platform is still in the early stages of development since a majority of their efforts are grassroots approaches

• Minimal advertising

• Lacks a national spokesperson for the organization as a whole

• Website is difficult and confusing to navigate

• Image associated with an older generation- since heart disease or cardiovascular related issues tend to affect older people, younger people tend to be unaware of the AHA and the problems it seeks to impact

• Could build more of its brand around a national spokesperson, someone famous, or survivors of cardiovascular disease or stroke.

• Engaging a younger generation could motivate families as a whole to live a healthier lifestyle

• Continue endorsing products and building off the brands that are already sponsored by the AHA

• Involving high school aged students in an AHA event could produce more money and progress toward the 2020 goal

• Several non-profit organizations, such as Relay for Life and United Way, work toward similar goals

• Convincing them to take time to participate in another activity, even one geared toward improving their health, could prove difficult

• Multiple communication mediums and advertisements inundate the high school age population every day, which could cause message clutter for future AHA programs

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

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U.S. Physical Education and Health ProgramsThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has defined children’s health as the extent to which an individual child or groups of children are able or enabled to: a) develop and realize their potential; b) satisfy their needs; and c) develop the capacities that allow them to interact successfully with their biological, physical, and social environments.” By this definition, children of the United States need to be given the knowledge and skills to make healthy decisions concerning eating habits as well as physical activity, a need that has not yet been fulfilled. According to the CDC, the occurrence of childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years, with the occurrence of adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increasing from 5.0% in 1980 to 18.0% in 2008. These children are subject to higher risks of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and joint problems, though this is not by any means an exhaustive list.

While the prevalence of obesity in children grows, a July 2009 report conducted by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education shows a decrease in funding for physical education programs at the high school level. Of the high schools surveyed, only 10% said they had seen an increase in funding for physical education programs since 2006. Furthermore, 37% said funding had stayed the same, and a startling 53% had cited a slight or substantial decrease in funding physical education programs. This is a huge disadvantage to the health of American teens, as the CDC has cited schools as the most important influence on behavior development in adolescents. Integrating health education into high school curriculum is extremely important if a positive impact is expected to be made on cases of childhood obesity in the United States.

Competing Non-Profit Programs

generationOn is a division of the Points of Light Institute funded by an investment from the Hasbro Children’s Fund. Their missions states, “with service-learning and volunteer actions its core, generationOn mobilizes the energy, ingenuity and compassion of all young people, starting at an early age, to discover their power and potential to solve real world problems through service.” generationOn is a recent combination of three separate programs including Children for Children, The League and Learning to Give. generationOn also includes “1,800 Kids Care Clubs and thousands of schools that reach more than two million young people in all 50 states and around the world.” The focus of generationOn is on “youth-service.” According to generationOn, youth-service combines service-learning and community service. Participants have the opportunity to participate in hands-on volunteering and giving to their communities.

generationOn

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Do Something is one of the largest organizations in the United States and helps students promote causes they care about most. It can be any cause an individual or group wants to take action on and make a difference.

In the past year, “850,000 teens took action” and Do Something is hoping that 1.2 million will take action in 2011. And “3.1 Do Something clubs are created everyday.”

The most popular campaign through Do Something is the Teens for Jeans campaign. This campaign has “clothed one third of the youth homeless population in the United States by collecting 625,000 pairs of jeans.”In 2008, United Way announced a 10 year plan “to target health, education and income.” The

Do Something

United Way

three main strategies in regards to health are, “increase access to nutritious foods for families, increase opportunities for physical exercise and play, and increase knowledge of healthy food and exercise options.”

In order to “increase access to nutritious foods for families”, United Way plans to make nutritious foods easier to find and afford, improve the food in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs and advocate policies that require set standards for all food served in schools.

By improving students’ access to safe exercise and play facilities, creating after-school physical activity programs and supplementing physical education classes with instructors who are equipped to help students grow confidence, behaviors and skills necessary to be physically fit, the United Way hopes to provide more physical activity opportunities to students.

And, the United Way hopes to “increase knowledge of healthy food and exercise options” through advocating health improvements in the workplace, integrating “behavior-focused nutrition education” into the school systems.

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Target Audience: The American Teen

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The target audience for kickStart! is U.S. high school students, specifically students attending public schools. “In recent years there has been an increasing trend in volunteerism and community service projects in American high schools.”

Colleges today are looking for community service and volunteer opportunities on every incoming high school resume. In turn, high school students are looking for more ways to be involved and show the difference they have made. In addition, some high schools require a specified amount of community service in order to graduate.

High school students are prime targets for a health-based initiative that allows them to participate in numerous ways, for multiple benefits.

How U.S. Teens Use Social MediaThe different ways teenagers communicate with one another has been an evolving process that has hit a landslide in the past decade. Conversations that used to take place in person or on the phone are now happening through social media and texting.

As social media becomes popular teens are truly leading the way. Only 10% of adults create con-tent on the web, whereas 64% of teenagers have. Another study suggests that teenagers feel a need for feedback, and social media fills this need. This leads 55% of adolescents between the ages of 12-17 to have a social networking profile.

The other form of technology that teens have embraced is texting. Texting is in fact on the verge of replacing phone calls between teenagers. A study conducted claims that 75% of teenagers own a cell phone and 88% of those teenagers text from their cell phone. The surprising fact is that 54% of these teenagers text their friends on a daily basis while only 34% of them call their friends for the same purpose. Finally, 30% of texting teens send over 100 texts a day. These shocking statistics show definite trends towards internet and texting communications.

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On November 9th, 2010, a focus group was conducted with two history classes at Ar-lington Heights High School. Students were in either 10th or 11th grade, and were asked to share with us experiences they had with community service and what drove them to participate in these activities. Through our discussion time with the selected students from Arlington Heights High School, we found that these particular students were interested in community service and volunteering for several different reasons. They participated for clubs, church, and sometimes to just get out of class.

Most students found out about community service opportunities through various clubs and announcements. Announcements are made after second period and cover a wide va-riety of options throughout the entire district. This way the students are open to a number of activities without being restricted to their particular school.

A majority of the students we spoke with were active in AVID. AVID, which stands for “Achievement Via Individual Determination,” is a club catered to prospective first-genera-tion college students that provides them with academic and social skills to help them get into a college following high school graduation. Through this club, the students are made aware of the benefits of volunteering for their potential college résumé. Another bonus mentioned was potentially receiving scholarships for community service. Through AVID, students have volunteered with the Fort Worth Zoo for their Halloween event, Boo at the Zoo, which the students were quick to mention allowed them to miss part of the school day.

The students reiterated multiple times how much more willing they would be to participate in anything if it allowed them to get out of class, even for a short amount of time. They mentioned that a couple weeks ago, United Way hosted a “powderpuff football game,” wherein girls played in a football game and boys were cheerleaders. Students were given the opportunity to pay one dollar to watch the game and miss class for a good amount of the afternoon. Also mentioned was a blood drive held at the high school, which also al-lowed those donating blood to miss a portion of classes.

When asked, all students in both classes said they participated on Facebook. Few to none said they had a Twitter account, and some said they did not know what Twitter was.

One vocal student did a good amount of community service through his church. He said he was involved with community service for personal reasons, and was not affected by encouragement from his parents.

Overall, the students seemed to respond most to the option of missing portions of class and the ability to put something that stands out on their résumé or college application. Money did not appear to be an issue if it involved paying to get out of a class function, as long as the amount seemed reasonable.

Primary ResearchFocus Group: Arlington Heights High School

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Survey Results

To understand the American teenager further, we decided to survey a variety of students around Texas and collected data from 31 students that ranged from freshmen to seniors in high school. The following is a summary of the insightful answers that helped us form a mind map and create kickStart!.

Heart Disease is Not Top Of MindOur first question in our survey was designed to obtain a broad analysis of the emotional attitudes that high school students feel toward various health-related problems. They were given a variety of diseases and asked to rank them 1-4, 1 being no connection and 4 being a very strong connection. Sadly, Heart disease had a very low response rate with the majority of students giving heart disease a “1” for emotional connection. Breast cancer on the other hand sustained a very large emotional connection amongst students with 35.5 percent ranking the emotional connection a 4.

Key FindingHeart disease is clearly not on the average high school student’s mind. With programs like Susan G. Komen for competition, the American Heart Association needs to focus strongly on awareness building.

Childhood Obesity is ExpandingWhen asked about how students felt about the growing problem of childhood obesity, they were much more aware of the severity of this problem. None of the students felt that childhood obesity was not a growing problem and 58.1 percent of students “strongly agreed” that obesity is a growing issue.

Key FindingWith this information the American Heart Association can play off of the awareness that high school students already have about the severity of childhood obesity. The campaign can therefore be geared around how to solve these problems by eating healthier and exercising more. They can also take this knowledge and link it to heart disease so that students are more aware.

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From Jumps... to Hoops… to...?A large amount of students surveyed did in fact participate in at least one of these activities with the majority of them participating in Jump Rope for Heart. Many of them have strong lasting memories of these worthwhile experiences.

Key FindingStudents remember their childhood activities and remember both Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart fondly. Since they have such lasting positive memories of other AHA activities, the American Heart Association should model an event that is closely related to the other two so that high school students will be more accepting of the new campaign.

They’re Volunteering!Of the 31 students surveyed, 24 of them plan to do over 25 hours of volunteering this year. When asked why they were volunteering, a majority of them claimed that a main reason was to build their college resume.

Key FindingStudents clearly place a large value on volunteering, and this undoubtedly contributed to their desire to build a solid college resume. The American Heart Association should play into this goal by creating a program that is nationally recognized so that high school students will be inspired to participate in it and build their resume.

The Sky is the LimitThe students were finally asked to come up with an idea or event they would like to participate in. They came up with a variety of ideas that included sporting events, concerts, carnivals, running, and Relay for Life. The majority of them favored the idea of concerts and sporting events.

Key FindingThey very much like the idea of competition and programs that would encourage a large amount of student involvement in order to raise awareness.

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Volunteer

resume buildercommunity involvement

funengage

texting

dietnutrition facts

lifestyle change

service learning

“get out of class”

sports

resume builder

exercisesports

Facebook

“on the web”

college-bound

Incentive

Teens

Health

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Ideation ProcessOur Brainstorming ProcessWhen brainstorming what ways the American Heart Association should get high schoolers involved in an event concerning physical health and activity, many things came to mind. The figure to the left is our Ideation Map (Figure 14.1), which has words we connected with our target market based on our research.

In the end, we wanted to create an event that

educated teens about healthy living,

allowed them to fundraise for a cause,

and let them get up and get active.

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The Big Idea...

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Mission Activity

Like other programs implemented by the American Heart Association, we believe the kickStart! program would benefit from having a coordinator who oversees each particular region where the event will take place. The coordinator, in turn, will select recruiters for each school district participating.

For the team recruitments, kickStart! District Recruiters will attend a school assembly given at each school during their operating hours as scheduled by the school principal. The purpose of this assembly will not only encourage students to join their school’s kickStart! team, but will also explain multiple ways students are capable of changing their everyday habits to positively impact their health. A school assembly would address all subgroups and club members of the given school. Since behavior change is a goal as well as recruitment, this will allow those who won’t be participating in the tournament to learn about the need for physical activity and healthy eating habits.

Furthermore, the recruiter will have the opportunity to explain the Three Fold Winning Strategy, which is comprised of fundraising, tournament success, and spirit. Each school will be judged on a point system wherein the top three schools in each category are awarded 1, 2, or 3 points for their achievement, where 3 is given for first place, 2 for second, and 3 for third. Figure 18.1 demonstrates the way this system will work in the tournament setting.

After the informational assembly, Team Recruiters for each campus will be in charge of recruiting the team members, or Fundraising Kickers, and walking them through the registration process. These will be teachers from each campus who will be in charge of submitting registration fees, setting up the Team Profile, and shirt orders.

Fundraising Kickers will take part in promoting their school’s Team Profile page, through which donations can be made. They will also be able to take in-person donations, which will be turned in to the Team Recruiter prior to the kickStart! Tournament.

Moving through this recruitment structure (Figure 18.2) will ensure maximum event participation from each campus and will allow the student body in its entirety to learn about the kickStart! Mission.

Recruit students from various high schools to join their school’s kickStart! kickball team for the district wide kickStart! tournament. The presentation given for recruitment will foster a potential behavior change in those attending the presentation while serving to recruit program participants.

How It Can Be Done

Anticipated Results

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Figure 18.1

Figure 18.2

Recruitment Design: kickStart!

kickStart! Tournament Bracket

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Fundraising Activity

An important aspect of any American Heart Association event is fundraising. KickStart!’s fundraising goal is to involve all students at each high school with multiple fundraising opportunities. With kickStart!, fundraising will be a very important aspect because of the intense competition created by the schools. Remember that in order to win the competition, students must excel in every aspect of the three-fold method. This three-fold method will accentuate the necessity of fundraising to the students. There will be four ways that students can fundraise for kickStart!; cost for entry, t-shirt sales, online and in person donations, and ticket sales through attendance.

1. Cost for entry:Each participant on the team will be required to pay twenty dollars. The twenty dollars will include their entry, their t-shirt, and a meal on game day. Altogether each team will pay $300 dollars to participate.

2. T-Shirt sales:Fundraising kickers will urge their fellow students, friends, and family to purchase t-shirts and wear them to the event. There will be a cost incentive for game entrance if they are wearing their t-shirt at the event. This is not only a fun way for the students to raise money, but it also builds brand awareness.

3.Online and In-Person Fundraising:The next way the team participants will fundraise is through online and in-person donations. We recommend using the same format that Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart uses. Each team will create a profile and request money through social media and other tactics explained on the AHA’s website. They will also be given packets so that they may fundraise in-person to family members and friends. AHA has very successful outlets for this kind of fundraising and kickStart! will simply model themselves out of the already existing success.

4. Attendance and Ticket SalesThe final way that a school can fundraise is through ticket sales. Tickets will cost five dollars or two dollars for those who wear a kickStart! t-shirt to the event. Attendees will be able to specify which school they are supporting when they buy their ticket at the event. This way the funds from the ticket sales can go to each school’s overall fundraising account. Attendance will be strongly encouraged because of this last fundraising initiative. With strong attendance, more funds will be brought in and more people can be reached with the brand’s message.

Anticipated ResultsMaximum fundraising participation through multiple fundraising opportunities. This allows students to get involved on many different levels.

How It Can Be Done

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Event Activity

The main event of kickStart! is a kickball tournament within specified school districts. The tournament provides students an opportunity to get physically active and learn how to incorporate healthy behavior changes in their lifestyles.

The kickStart! kickball tournament will take place at a local baseball park, as designated by the AHA. The teams will each be given a bracket, t-shirt and coupon for a lunch to be served during the day. Throughout the entire tournament, stations will be set up promoting the Start! Walk, Life’s Simple 7, and American Heart Association cookbooks for sale. Furthermore, informational booths and posters will be set up at the event to educate students and their family members about lifestyle changes they can make to positively impact their health.

The tournament will start at nine o’clock in the morning with a championship game time tentatively set. The games will last 40 minutes with a mercy rule that will end the game if one team is ahead by 15 points. Each team will have to lose two games before they are eliminated.

The schools will have each submitted a spirit cheer video prior to the day of the kickStart! tournament. The top three videos will be chosen to do their cheer in front of everyone at the beginning of the tournament to foster a sense of unity and spirit.

After the championship game, the school that raised the most money and the school that won the cheer will be announced. Finally, the school with the most overall points will be announced the champions of their kickStart! tournament and be awarded a kickStart! Championship Trophy, or another award deemed appropriate by the American Heart Association.

Anticipated ResultsStudents will participate in the kickStart! kickball tournament, allowing participants to be physically active and promote healthy activities to family members and others in attendacnce. Information on healthy living habits will allow students to learn about making lifestyle changes for better health.

How It Can Be Done

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Sponsorship

Subway is an obvious choice because they are already sponsors of the Start! Walk. By supporting kickStart! Subway will increase their market even further by reaching out toward high school students. Upon entering the tournament, each player will be given a sandwich coupon that can be redeemed at a Subway station within the tournament area for a meal during the event.

Jamba Juice would be a new partner for the AHA, but one that would prove very beneficial. Jamba Juice already has some community programs implemented, including a school lunch program, school appreciation fundraising and community appreciation fundraising. The kickStart! tournament would allow Jamba Juice to further their presence in the community, within high schools particularly. Also, Jamba Juices uses all-natural ingredients, real fruit and real fruit juice. They promote a healthy lifestyle and eating options that correspond with the AHA mission.

For the kickStart! t-shirts we chose Champion as a potential sponsor. Champion is not an obvious choice, but they are a respected brand with athletes and known on a national level. Champion currently does not sponsor any non-profit organizations, so involvement with kickStart! would create a beneficial partnership for both businesses.

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Works CitedAmerican Heart Association - Learn and Live. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.

startwalkingnow.org/>.

GO RED CORAZÓN INICIO. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.goredcorazon.org/>.

Go Red For Women. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.goredforwomen.org/>.

“CDC - Data & Statistics.” Educational and Community-Based Programs. 2009. Web. 18

Nov. 2010. <http://www.cdc.gov/datastatistics/>.

Dolliver, Mark. “The Age of Teen Texting.” Brandweek 51.17 (2010): 22. Academic Search

Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Dec. 2010.

Heyano, Lauren. “Teen Serving Now.” Alaska Business Monthly 26.5 (2010): 27. Print.

“History of the American Heart Association.” Www.heart.org. 1 June 2010. Web. 14 Nov.

2010. <http://www.heart.org/>.

Jones, Ashley. “Something to Talk About.” EContent 31.2 (2008): 10-11. Academic Search

Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Dec. 2010.

Jones, Susan R., Thomas C. Segar, and Anna L. Gasiorski. “A Double-edge Sword:

College Student Perceptions of Required High School Service-learning.” Michigan

Journal of Community Service (2008): 5+. Print.

Kapp, Amy. “Empowering Young People through Service: YouthBuild Philadelphia, a

YouthBuild AmeriCorps Program.” Academic OneFile (2009): 8+. Print.

Koh, Howard K. “The State of the American Child: The Impact of Federal Policies on

Children.” United States Department of Health and Human Services. 29 July 2010.

Web. 10 Nov. 2010. <http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/2010/07/t20100729a.html>.

“Physical Education Trends in Our Nation’s Schools.” National Association for Sport and

Physical Education (2009): 1-38. Print.

Planty, Mike, Robert Bozick, and Michael Regnier. “Helping Because You Have To or

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Helping Because You Want To?” Youth & Society 38.2 (2006): 1-26. Print.

Power to End Stroke. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://powertoendstroke.org/>.

Streich, Michael. “High School Volunteerism and Community Service: Finding Ways to Give Back

to the Community by Student Organizations.” Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers’

Network. 30 Dec. 2008. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.suite101.com/content/high-school-

volunteerism-and-community-service-a87347>. Westcott, Scott. “Face Time.” Chronicle of Philanthropy (2007). Print.

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AppendicesSurvey1. By participating in this survey I am allowing my results to be used in creating a campaign for the American Heart Association.

AgreeDisagree

2. On a scale of 1 to 5, rate the personal or emotional connection you have with these diseases, where 1 is low connection and 5 is strong connection.

Breast Cancer 1 2 3 4 5Heart Disease 1 2 3 4 5Diabetes 1 2 3 4 5Skin Cancer 1 2 3 4 5

3. How strongly do you agree or disagree that childhood obesity is a growing problem in the United States today?

Strongly DisagreeDisagreeNeutralAgreeStrongly agree

4. Have you ever been involved in an awareness or volunteer program sponsored by the American Heart As-sociation (i.e. Jump Rope for Heart or Hoops for Heart)? If so, what were you involved in?

5. How many volunteer hours do you intend to complete this year? In the comment box please specify whether it is required by your school or extracurricular activity or personal reasons.

Less than 1010-2526-3536-4546 or more

6. What sort of volunteer and fundraiser program do you feel would be beneficial for the American Heart Asso-ciation to educate high school students? Please go into detail.

7. Please indicate your gender.

FemaleMale

8. What is your current classification?

FreshmanSophomoreJuniorSenior

AHA Presentation • December 2010