Elaine’s Project

Dr. Elaine Kohler worked with passionate dedication to improving the health of inner city children. Dr. Kohler is remembered by her colleagues at Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee and within the community she served with deep respect for her advocacy and medical work in the fields of diabetes, obesity, heavy metal toxicity and mental health.

Elaine’s Project is inspired by Dr. Kohler’s legacy and will address the damaging and often deadly health effects that inner city economic, environmental and social conditions have on its resident children and their families, particularly through increased health services and educational programs emphasizing lifestyle, nutrition and access to healthy foods. The goal of Elaine’s Project is to create a replicable Project-Based Learning program for healthier lifestyles and living environments toward improving student and family health, building awareness and capacity with an emphasis on generational sustainability.

It is currently providing funding to a partnership that is composed of the Academy of Leadership and Learning, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute and Children’s Hospital Services. Elaine’s Project will establish a Center of Excellence in health education at the Academy of Learning and Leadership, a City of Milwaukee, independent public charter school. The purpose of the project is to integrate child and family education based on a baseline assessment of student health needs and opportunities in the community with activities designed to steadily improve the health status of the children and their families. These capacity building activities will provide children with foundational health improvement tools while creating a model environment for replication at home and in the larger community.

Elaine’s Project is adapting the best practice methods illustrated by a program from the University of Michigan by Dr. Kim Eagle called “Project Healthy Schools”. The study was conducted with a baseline screening of sixth grade students with the goal of identifying patients at high risk for developing atherosclerotic disease. Michigan’s Surgeon General has officially recognized the program’s success which is now a model for middle schools throughout Michigan.

High quality health and physical education provides students with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to develop and maintain active, healthy lifestyles. Elaine’s Project will also draw upon the increasing adoption of garden-based models to create a place-specific program meeting the needs of the students at Academy of Learning and Leadership.

Teutonia Urban Gardens