Partner News and Events

The following is the latest news, events and opportunities from the Action for Healthy Kids partner network. If you are a partner and have an item to submit, please complete and submit our Partner News Form.

Expanded Coordinated School Health Website from DASH

CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) has launched an expanded website about Coordinated School Health (CSH). The website provides answers to frequently asked questions about CSH, key goals, a model framework for planning, strategies for implementing and evaluating a coordinated approach to school health, fact sheets on the status of school health programs and policies, and more. Visit http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/cshp. DASH welcomes feedback on these new resources.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and First Lady Michelle Obama Launch Recipes for Healthy Kids Competition

In partnership with Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, the USDA launched the Recipes for Healthy Kids competition to challenge teams of school nutrition professionals, chefs, students, parents, and community members to develop creative, nutritious, tasty, and kid-approved recipes that schools can easily incorporate into National School Lunch menus and healthy lifestyles outside the school environment.  Winning recipes will increase student's intake of whole grains, dark green and orange vegetables, and dry beans and peas.  Winners will receive cash prizes, national recognition, and a chance to prepare their recipes alongside White House chefs at a national cook-off.  Teams can form today and the competition is open through December 30, 2010.  Find more information on the website: www.RecipesForKidsChallenge.com.

Host a KaBOOM! Play Day: $10,000 Grant

Host a KaBOOM! Play Day!  A Play Day is your chance to gather at your community’s favorite park for fun games and projects.  Start planning now and get free activity ideas and you could win a $10,000 grant to further improve your play space.  Visit today to gather more information to assist in planning your Play Day!

As District public schools and public charter schools implement Healthy Schools Act, D.C. Hunger Solutions is pleased to announce the launch of a new website: www.DCHealthySchools.org.  The website will serve as a central clearinghouse for information about the Healthy Schools Act and spotlight successful ways schools are implementing the Act.   

President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition

In conjunction with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Initiative, President Obama has broadened the scope of the Council to include a focus on healthy eating as well as active lifestyles.  The President recently named Drew Brees, quarterback for the New Orleans Saint, and Dominique Dawes, three-time Olympian and former U.S. national champion in women’s gymnastics, as the 2010 Council Co-Chairs.  For more information about the Council and its members, visit www.fitness.gov, and to learn more about the President’s Challenge programs, visit www.presidentschallenge.org.

NASPE’s Shape of the Nation Report

NASPE and the American Heart Association recently released the 2010 Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA. It contains profiles of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  Click here to read more details and view the full report. 

NASPE’s PE2020: What should physical education look like in the year 2020 and beyond?

NASPE’s PE 2020 initiative seeks to answer this question by inviting physical education teachers, college/ university faculty, physical education teacher candidates, K-12 students, parents, school administrators, policymakers, community members, and other key supporters to share visionary thoughts about the future of physical education.  PE2020 is a multi-faceted, two-year initiative and this online forum is just the first phase- but it is the foundation for the entire initiative.  The culminating shared vision will be a call-to-action for NASPE and the profession.  Click here to share your vision about the future of physical education now!

Safe Routes to School National Partnership: New Publication

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership has issues Getting Students Active through Safe Routes to School: Policies and Action Steps for Education Policymakers and Professionals.  This new publication includes policies and action steps that can be implemented at the state, school district, and individual school level in several key areas specific to the education sector.  Stories from states and communities across the provide real-life examples of how Safe Routes to School programs and policies can be adopted and implemented.  Click here to view the publication and receive additional information.   

 

Team-Up for Youth's Playing Well Report

Team-Up for Youth announces the release of its second in a series of monographs: Playing Well: Organized Sports and the Health of Children and Youth. Playing Well examines the implications that current research has on how participation in sports-based youth development programs can foster young people’s healthy development. As the nation struggles with extreme budget deficits, organized sports and other vital after-school programs are most often the ones on the chopping block.  Youth of color and those living in low-income communities of color are the hardest hit by these cuts as they already suffer from higher rates of childhood obesity, diabetes and other related illnesses than more affluent communities.  All kids have the right to live out long, healthy and productive lives – it is up to adults to help them figure out how.  This report demonstrates that organized sports are one proven method for carrying out that task.  Click here to view the report.