10-Year Annual Report: Highlight Stories

August 28, 2014 | By Eileen Kitrick

Outcomes-Driven: CATCH My Breath Reduces Incidence of Youth Vaping
Make Health Fun(Damental): The CATCH Philosophy in Action in Michigan
Equity: Reinvesting Earned Revenue in Promising Projects
CATCH Founder & CEO, Duncan Van Dusen, Writes an Amazon #1 Best Seller
Social, Emotional, and Mental Health: Important Components of CATCH’s School-Based Health Education
CATCH Latin America Helps Students in Bogotá through a Mind-Heart-Body Approach
Collaboration: Educator Engagement through School Community of Practice
Reaching Rural Schools: Partnerships with H-E-B in Texas and Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky in Eastern Kentucky
Trust: Commitment to Aligning Programs with National and State Standards
CATCH My Breath Expands to New York City Public Schools to Prevent Youth Vaping

Outcomes-Driven: CATCH My Breath Reduces Incidence of Youth Vaping

In 2020, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health investigator, Dr. Steven Kelder, and colleagues from UTHealth and CATCH Global Foundation, published a quasi-experimental study of CATCH My Breath in Public Health Reports, the official journal of the office of the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service. The study titled, “A Middle School Program to Prevent E-Cigarette Use: A Pilot Study of CATCH My Breath”, evaluated knowledge, attitudes, and vaping behavior among students in six Texas middle schools who participated in the CATCH My Breath program compared to six similar control schools.

**Figure 2.** School-level prevalence of past 30-day electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among central Texas schools receiving the CATCH My Breath e-cigarette prevention program (intervention schools, n = 6) and those not receiving the program (control schools, n = 6), January 2017–May 2018. The P value reflects a bivariate analysis (t test) comparing school-level e-cigarette prevalence at baseline and 16-month follow-up, stratified by intervention schools and control schools.

After controlling for covariates at a 16-month follow-up, 45% fewer students in the intervention schools than in the control schools reported ever using e-cigarettes. This finding made CATCH My Breath the first – and as of mid-2024 – the only youth vaping prevention program with evidence of vaping behavior reduction.

Since publishing the study, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) named CATCH My Breath as the only school-level youth vaping intervention in the evidence-based resource guide series, Reducing Vaping Among Youth and Young Adults.

“CATCH My Breath continues to be recognized as the go-to vaping prevention program for school-aged youth,” says CATCH Director of Government Partnerships, Marcella Bianco. “We have worked with countless local and state departments of education and health to implement this program.”

CATCH My Breath is designed for grades 5-12 and available at no-cost to schools in the United States. After seven years of exponential growth, the curriculum is available in English and Spanish and each year reaches 2 million students in 5,500 schools across 15 countries. The program is delivered in collaboration with 750 community trainers and is used in 90% of the Top 250 schools districts in the country. To learn more, visit catchmybreath.org.

Make Health Fun(Damental): The CATCH Philosophy in Action in Michigan

With multi-year grant funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, CATCH has successfully implemented a wide-range of whole child health programming in schools across the state of Michigan. Since 2020, 47 schools have implemented CATCH’s signature Whole Child Guided Journey approach and received physical education and social-emotional learning training and resources. As part of this work, CATCH has built alliances with organizations like MiSHCA, SHAPE Michigan, Michigan Department of Education, Michigan State University, and more.

CATCH’s unique Mind-Heart-Body approach is at the core of its Pre-K-12 health education programs, helping students build both a healthy body and a healthy mind. The year-long Whole Child Guided Journey provides professional development and mentorship for school wellness leaders to foster a school environment where students see healthy role models, hear coordinated health messages, engage in healthy activities, and benefit from parental involvement in school health. Additionally, there is a strong focus on empowerment and sustainability, which allows schools to institutionalize wellness practices and continue them on their own indefinitely.

Ealy Elementary School in Whitehall, Michigan is a shining example of how the Whole Child Guided Journey can transform a school. These dedicated educators worked diligently to remove barriers to health in their school community and empower students to make healthier choices.

We are incredibly grateful to the Michigan Health Endowment Fund for making all of this possible. View the inspiring journey of Ealy Elementary School through a video they created.

Equity: Reinvesting Earned Revenue in Promising Projects

In 2016, less than two years after its inception, CATCH Global Foundation created CATCH Promise, a global health equity fund to support under-resourced schools in need of high-quality physical and mental health education. CATCH invests money earned through its fee-for-service offerings to seed early stage projects in low-income areas and secures philanthropic support to scale and sustain them.

The initiative began with a focus on low-income urban schools and featured projects in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, Jefferson Parish New Orleans, and Chicago. The Chicago Project engaged 15 Chicago Public Schools to implement CATCH’s signature Whole Child Health programming that covers physical activity, nutrition, and Whole Child leadership. Schools focused on delivering coordinated and interactive programming, and involving teachers, students, parents, and administrators in wellness.

One school partner, Sor Juana Elementary School on the Southwest side of Chicago, hosted a kids heart health challenge with 14 stations including yoga, basketball tricks, long rope jumping and an obstacle course, and then shared their event’s success through social media. Other partners’ accomplishments have also been documented through the Chicago case study to inspire other schools about what is possible.

“It’s important for students to see what’s on their plates and figure out for themselves what types of foods they’re eating.”
– Mireya Balcirak, Sor Juana Elementary School CATCH Team Parent

“CATCH inspired some great discussions with our class about healthy living. The best discussions we had were about food choices. The Go, Slow, Whoa framework helped our discussion and student understanding. Students also had fun calculating their target heart rate.”
– 7/8th Grade Math Teacher, West Park Elementary School

In subsequent years, CATCH Promise has expanded to provide free programming to all communities in the educational areas of youth vaping prevention (CATCH My Breath), oral health (CATCH Healthy Smiles), and general educator support (CATCH Educators’ Club). In total, these programs reach approximately 10,000 educators and millions of students each year.

CATCH Promise also supports pilot physical education programs in low-and middle-income countries around the globe with a focus in Latin America, East Africa, and India. Evaluation reports have demonstrated that CATCH is successful in increasing student activity levels in all three of these cultural contexts. For more information, visit our Latin America, India, and Kenya pages.

CATCH Founder & CEO, Duncan Van Dusen, Writes an Amazon #1 Best Seller

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and on the eve of his 50th birthday, Duncan Van Dusen published, When Are We Going to Teach Health?, which quickly hit #1 on the Amazon sales charts.

Inspired by CATCH’s work, Duncan’s book presents a novel, sometimes humorous, case for prioritizing whole child health and social-emotional learning in K-12 schools. It shows why health drives academic success, what makes teaching health effective, and how to create a school environment that delivers and sustains healthy behavior. Using graphics, case studies, tips, and recommended actions, Duncan describes proven youth empowerment and skills-based health education techniques to increase kids’ physical activity and healthy food choices, and decrease youth vaping.

“Health requires education, and education requires health.”
– Duncan Van Dusen, MPH

When Are We Going to Teach Health? has sold thousands of copies and inspired readers from the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, India, and Iran. Additionally, it was added to the syllabus of higher education courses at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Montclair State University, and York University in Toronto. The book has been used for professional development of health educators at Brighter Bites, the Alberta Teachers Association Health & Physical Education Council, and the Hawai’i State Department of Education, which provided a copy to every health and physical education teacher throughout the state.

Half of the proceeds from Duncan’s book go directly to CATCH Promise in order to fund health education in low-income schools. To read reviews or purchase a copy, please visit Amazon.

Social, Emotional, and Mental Health: Important Components of CATCH’s School-Based Health Education

CATCH Global Foundation launched CATCH Healthy Smiles for grades Pre-K through 2 in October 2021, an innovative oral health curriculum developed by the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health with support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Generously sponsored by the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, over 1,000 U.S. educators implemented CATCH Healthy Smiles over the past 3 school years.

In December 2023, the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation extended its commitment to supporting children’s mental health education. This new funding will enable CATCH to provide essential mental health education resources and professional development to 115 California middle school educators during the 2024-2025 school year. This initiative is particularly significant as it aligns with California’s Senate Bill 224, mandating the inclusion of mental health education in middle or high school health education courses, and with CATCH’s focus on equipping educators with high-quality, whole child wellness programs. By providing resources and professional development, educators can effectively support the social, emotional, and mental health needs of their students.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation for their continued support and dedication to improving children’s health and well-being. Their partnership continues to drive meaningful change, helping us to create healthier school environments where students can thrive.

“I’ve noticed (my students) using some mental health practices, whether it’s talking to a counselor or confiding with one of their trusted teachers. I feel like that’s taking them away from getting into conflict and using that as a form of resolution versus acting on how they feel at the moment. I would say for me [a big benefit] has been a lot of the mental health practices that Health Ed Journeys has taught them.”

– Educator, 5th & 6th Grades

CATCH Latin America Helps Students in Bogotá through a Mind-Heart-Body Approach

Started in 2021, CATCH Latin America, an international arm of CATCH Global Foundation and a collaborative initiative with the Colombian Ministry of Education and the Bogotá Secretaría de Educación, established a commitment to get students active so they would be happier, healthier, and more successful academically. This led to the implementation of CATCH’s evidence-based program, CATCH PE Journeys, and associated SEL components, in Colombian schools. Over 200 Colombian public schools are now utilizing the curriculum and 800 teachers have completed CATCH professional development.

Four out of five Bogotá children, ages 6 to 12, do not meet recommended guidelines for adequate physical activity, which can lead to serious potential consequences for their physical and mental well-being. Research shows that children who are physically active perform better academically, including having better concentration and high school graduation rates, and are less likely to have symptoms of anxiety or depression. According to the National Institutes of Health, evidence suggests that mathematics and reading are the academic topics that are most influenced by physical activity.

CATCH PE Journeys. provides teachers with the skills, resources, and support to provide fun and effective physical education. for their students. Furthermore, it incorporates social-emotional learning, which research has shown to have a wide-range of benefits for students, including improved perseverance and optimism, a greater sense of connection with peers and teachers, and less stress, anxiety, and depression. Program goals include increasing students’ daily physical activity and promoting social-emotional competencies, such as relationship skills, self-control, social awareness, and responsible decision-making.

Participating schools receive:

One full day of CATCH PE and SEL professional development training, including an introduction to CATCH and its physical activity, nutrition, and SEL components, physical education activity demonstrations, and onboarding to the CATCH.org digital platform and Spanish curriculum materials.
Access to and delivery of the CATCH PE and SEL curriculum, in both digital and print formats.
Physical education equipment and supplies needed to implement CATCH PE Journeys.
Technical support and educator guidance.

A pilot evaluation found that students in participating schools increased their physical activity by 30% and Colombian educators were highly satisfied with the program, including 99% of survey respondents who agreed that the training was effective and helpful for their work.

“I discovered that regular physical activity is key to boosting emotional well-being and provides a great way to stay mentally active in daily life. The strategies I learned are highly effective and easy to implement, making them accessible at any level of proficiency.”

– Primary School Teacher, Municipality of Sopó in Colombia

CATCH Latin America is led by our Bogotá-based staff including Country Director, Gina Andrea Muñoz, and a team of trainers, and is fully supported by CATCH Global Foundation’s U.S.-based staff of program developers, trainers, and operations specialists. The team has a waiting list of schools in Latin America who are ready to participate with partnership opportunities available for individual and corporate donors, and community foundations. Learn more at catch.org/latinoamerica.

Collaboration: Educator Engagement through School Community of Practice

“I always learn something new from my cohorts (peers). These meetings provide time for all of us to discuss and share different strategies being used at the campus, district, and community level regarding the [Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child] model. It does take a village!”

– Houston School Community of Practice Member

Delivered in partnership with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the School Community of Practice is building the capacity of Texas school districts to deliver sustainable coordinated school health programs and age-appropriate cancer risk reduction activities. This is an excellent example of improving community health through a focus on Policies, Systems, and Environments (PSE), at which CATCH has long excelled.

Beginning in the Houston area in 2022 and expanding to the Austin region in 2023 and the Rio Grande Valley in 2024, the School Community of Practice supports educators in addressing student health needs, develops their professional skills and network, allows them to navigate challenges together, and celebrates their successes. Over four meetings each school year, members have an opportunity to connect, learn about useful resources, share success stories, problem-solve issues, and apply for a mini-grant to implement a project or initiative to address a whole child wellness goal in their district.

Looking ahead, the model’s success in Houston and Austin has demonstrated its replicability and scalability. With a proven framework and enthusiastic participation, the School Community of Practice collaborative will expand this year to the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, and potentially more communities around the country in the future.

By empowering educators and leaders with the tools to promote healthy lifestyles, CATCH is laying the foundation for a future where every student thrives. We thank The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for their invaluable partnership which has been instrumental in advancing our shared mission, and Valley Baptist Legacy Foundation for supporting the new Rio Grande Valley group.

Reaching Rural Schools: Partnerships with H-E-B in Texas and Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky in Eastern Kentucky

Rural communities experience significant disparities in health outcomes, due in part to a lack of resources to support the development of health knowledge and skills early in life. In March 2022, CATCH Global Foundation partnered with H-E-B to support physical health and mental well-being in underserved schools in select rural communities across Texas. By August 2023, efforts had reached 73 K-8 schools in 10 school districts, providing much appreciated physical education and social-emotional learning resources and professional development. Thanks to continued support from H-E-B over the next three years, an additional 60 schools will be reached to help children in rural Texas communities acquire the knowledge and skills they need to lead healthy lives.

Similarly focused on rural health, CATCH’s partnership with the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky brought the CATCH Whole Child Guided Journey to 12 schools in Appalachian Kentucky during the 2022-2024 school years. This program equips school wellness leaders with curriculum, professional development, and technical assistance to create school environments that promote both physical and mental well-being for all students.

We thank H-E-B, Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, and all school partners in these projects for working with us to make a tangible difference and ensure that children in rural communities have the opportunity to lead healthier, happier lives.

Trust: Commitment to Aligning Programs with National and State Standards

At the start of the 2022-2023 school year, CATCH proudly launched CATCH Health Ed Journeys, making CATCH a one-stop shop for health and physical education instructional materials for K-8 schools. Schools trust CATCH to keep up with the latest science and standards in education, and in its first two years, Health Ed Journeys was adopted as a primary textbook by over 1,000 schools in districts of all sizes around the country including Houston ISD, Dallas ISD, Boston Public Schools, and many others.

An expansion and upgrade of the CATCH Classic program, Health Ed Journeys offers schools a K-8 curriculum that covers Foundational Health Literacy, Nutrition & Physical Activity, Physical Health & Hygiene, Mental Health, Substance Misuse Prevention, and Injury & Violence Prevention and Safety. Combined with CATCH’s evidence-based physical education curriculum, CATCH PE Journeys, and expanded professional development offerings, health and physical education teachers have the support they need to improve student health while meeting educational requirements.

Health Ed Journeys and PE Journeys are aligned to SHAPE America’s new national standards as well as many states’ learning standards. CATCH programs support many supplemental state requirements and laws including the California and New York Mental Health Education mandates, Texas’ Tucker’s Law, and others. Additionally, CATCH provides detailed documentation of standards alignment on CATCH.org to help communities understand how programs can meet the needs of their students.

CATCH My Breath Expands to New York City Public Schools to Prevent Youth Vaping

Thanks to generous grants from the New York Health Foundation and The New York Community Trust, CATCH is bringing its evidence-based CATCH My Breath youth vaping prevention program to 280 public schools in New York City. CATCH’s work in partnership with the New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) was recognized as one of the top achievements of 2023 in NYCPS, and featured on ABC 7 New York Eyewitness News with Bill Ritter.

Momentum continues to make 2024 a transformative year for the health and well-being of New York City students by addressing the alarming rates of youth vaping as well as the associated effects of anxiety and depression. Evidence-based curriculum and professional development will be provided to middle and high school public educators, which is critical to the fidelity and sustainability of program efforts. The initiative is already on track to exceed its reach and additional fundraising is underway to meet community demand for this program among the 1,800 public schools in New York City.

“Using e-cigarettes negatively affects a teenager’s memory and concentration and may decrease their learning ability.”

– Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

NYCPS identified Staten Island as a priority geographic district since it has the highest rates of youth vaping within the city. With support from the District 31 Superintendent Team, CATCH has already facilitated several implementation trainings reaching 60 educators on Staten Island. CATCH is also collaborating with the Richmond University Medical Center, American Lung Association, Reality Check, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and District 31 Superintendent Team for a community-wide youth empowerment symposium this November to provide an opportunity for Staten Island youth to let their voices be heard about the impact of the vaping industry.

A big part of the strategy behind CATCH My Breath is to empower youth to commit to a vape-free lifestyle, make positive choices, and inspire their peers to do the same.

For more information on the CATCH My Breath New York City initiative, please visit catch.org/nycschools.