History & Background
Since 2016, the UNC Active Schools Institute (ASI) in the School of Sport and Exercise Science has been conducting interdisciplinary research and community-engaged scholarship in the area of school physical activity promotion. ASI was established in Fall 2016, formalized in Fall 2017, and renamed to UNC Active Schools Institute in Fall 2018. The UNC ASI is currently housed in Gunter Hall 1760 & 1770.
Our Why
We know active kids do better … in school and in life, every day. For K-12 students
to benefit from physical activity, active
learning communities must be cultivated and sustained.
Our How
The way we cultivate and sustain active learning communities is by preparing physical activity leaders, ensuring school/district personnel and school health organizations are supported/resourced, and capitalizing on data and evidence-based practices to champion physically active learning initiatives; interdisciplinary research and collaboration is central to what we do.
What do we do?
All aspects of our work can be categorized into one of the four services below:
Masters of Arts in Teaching Physical Education & Physical Activity Leadership (MAT-PEPAL)
National professional development programs have been launched to tackle the public
health concerns of youth physical inactivity by training school leaders to coordinate
the implementation of comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAP). This
MAT-PEPAL program was designed to provide interested school professionals with the
implementation knowledge, skills, and support to direct sustainable CSPAP. Learn more about the program here.
