IMIL Milestones

Key IMIL Milestones

2004
  • Amy Requa, Health Content Specialist, Region III Head Start TA System, ICF International is selected to conceptualize and lead an obesity prevention pilot project.
  • Dr. Linda Carson, Founder of Choosy Kids and Ware Distinguished Professor Emerita at West Virginia University (WVU), is selected by Region III Head Start to be lead trainer and content expert for IMIL.
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and West Virginia Head Start Association conduct the very first IMIL training event.
2005
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and Region III Head Start TA System, ICF International conduct pilot IMIL training events in WV and VA Head Start Programs.
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and Region III Head Start TA System, ICF International conduct IMIL training events in all six states in Region III (PA, MD, DE, VA, WV, DC). 
2006
  • IMIL is recognized with ACF Partnering for Excellence Award, a national DHHS Honor Award. Dr. Linda Carson of WVU and Amy Requa, Region III Head Start TA System, ICF International represent IMIL at the award ceremony in Washington, DC.
  • Federal Office of Head Start announces that IMIL will be expanded nationally to all 12 federal regions. 
2008
  • Teams of IMIL facilitators, representing each Head Start region and previously trained by Choosy Kids IMIL training team, are selected to participate in an intensive follow up Train-the-Trainer event in an effort to accelerate the introduction of IMIL to every Head Start program creating a potential reach of nearly one million children and their families.
2010
  • Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. releases final report on IMIL Implementation Evaluation of the initial IMIL pilot project in Region III.
  • IMIL is listed as one of three innovative obesity prevention models in the President's Task Force Report on Childhood Obesity.
  • Additional IMIL facilitators are trained to extend the reach of IMIL beyond Head Start and to expand sustainability. 
2012
  • IMIL listed as a resource for training and age-appropriate activities in Preventing Childhood Obesity in Early Care and Educations Programs: Selected Standards from Caring for Our Children, (American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education). 
2014 
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and Head Start National Center on Health conduct IMIL Overview Training with focus on exemplary teaching practice for national meeting of ECE Specialists in Boston, MA
2015
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and Head Start National Center on Health conduct three national IMIL training events with revised and enhanced resource materials (Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Chicago). 
2016
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness conduct two national IMIL training events with revised and enhanced resources materials including Infant and Toddler and Family Engagement (Atlanta, Denver).
  • IMIL is listed as an approved intervention in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed), a federally funded grant program that supports evidence-based nutrition education and obesity prevention interventions and projects for persons eligible for SNAP through complementary direct education.  
2017 
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness conduct two national IMIL training events with revised and enhanced resources materials, including Staff Wellness (Kansas City, Boston). 
2018 
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness conduct two national IMIL training events with revised and enhanced resources materials (Dallas, Kansas City).
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness conduct a one-day IMIL training at Office of Head Start Spring Regional T/TA Professional Development Meeting, (Washington, DC).
  • Choosy Kids introduces Move and Learn with Choosy, an enhancement resource for implementing and sustaining IMIL. 
2019
  • IMIL training and resource materials translated into Spanish.
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness conduct first IMIL training simultaneously translated in English and Spanish, Region II (White Plains).
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness conduct IMIL training including new IMIL implementation resources (Indianapolis).
2020
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness conduct national IMIL training event with revised and enhanced resource materials (Pittsburgh).
  • The National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness implements pilot project to develop IMIL 2.0 focused on planning strategies for implementing and sustaining IMIL using stage-based strategies based on an Implementation Science model.
2021 
  • Due to the COVID 19 public health crisis and school and program closings, IMIL professional development opportunities were re-imagined by Choosy Kids to include live virtual training and streaming resources to continue to support healthy active learners and the engaged adults in their lives.
  • Choosy Kids publishes Be Choosy Be Healthy, a storybook to support the health themes of IMIL and to help children lay a foundation for developing healthy habits.
  • Choosy Kids releases - for classrooms and families with unlimited access to more than 175 Choosy Kids songs, active-learning videos, farm adventures, storybooks, and printable activities to support IMIL goals. 
2022 
  • Choosy Kids Training Team and The National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety conduct national IMIL training (Kansas City).
  • Choosy Kids introduces I Love My Teeth, an innovative curriculum enhancement for oral health that uniquely combines music and lyrics for an engaging exploration of oral health themes to support IMIL.
2023 and beyond
  • Choosy Kids continues to collaborate with The National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety to conduct national IMIL training events.
  • Choosy Kids continues to introduce, reinforce, and expand IMIL with in-person and virtual professional staff development training and new resources for ECE programs, agencies, states, and organizations nationwide.