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The SHIP has landed at the LifeWork Center, in North Branch, a site for students involved in special education programs within all the school districts in Chisago County.  

The State Health Improvement Partnership is proving especially beneficial for the older LifeWork Center students.  Stacy Johnstone has 28 pupils enrolled in the center and those 18 to 21 are learning practical skills and healthy behaviors thanks to SHIP funding.  The program works with developing healthy eating habits using funds for functional kitchen equipment and utensils.  The nutrition aspect of their education gives the students more than just itchen skills-- it works in recipe comprehension, making shopping lists, even setting oven temperatures.  The classes help students gain comfort and familiarity with their own nutrition.

Tied to healthy habits is gardening.  A tower graden is in its second year of being cultivated and harvested at the LifeWork Center, in North Branch.  Tower gradens take up less space and are easier to navigate if someone has a disabilit.

The LifeWork Center also has purchased Hokki stools meant to provide a way to redirect a pupil’s extra energy.  There are also upright desks at the center.

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