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Salad Bars Provide New Healthy Options to Young Students



Through a grant from the Let's Move! Salad to Schools program, salad bars are being implemented into schools in Cordova, Alaska. These salad bars have a variety of fruits and vegetables, mostly raw, that the students love choosing from. Foods like raw spinach, cut up cauliflower, slide cucumbers, corn, peaches, orange slices, and many other items are featured in the salad bar, depending on what seasonal produce they can purchase. The students are responding well because they prefer being able to make their own choices on which fruits or vegetables to eat, which results in less food waste for the school and more healthy foods are actually eaten by students. The success of salad bars, like this one, are dependent on the foods being cut up, fresh, and easy for kids to see. This all ensures ...

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Salud al Pasito!, A Student led Group in San Antonio, TX



In January of 2013, Salud al Pasito was formed by University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) students wanting to emphasize the low cost, easy-to-do, family friendly, activity of walking to the Latino community. One month later, on February 16, 2013, the group held their first walking event. Every month the group organizes a walking event and invites a guest speaker from the medical community to discuss the many health benefits that can be derived from walking. Check out the Salud al Pasito Facebook page to see when the next event will take ...

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Saludable Green is Go



Saludable Omaha, a Latino Health Movement created by youth activists, began to see the affects that obesity was having within South High School. In the 2011-2012 school year student leaders from the Saludable Omaha Movement decided to address the issue of the lack of nutrition knowledge that affected student’s ability to make healthy choices at lunchtime. In order to educate students about foods being served, Saludable Omaha students began a Green is Go marketing campaign. This campaign highlights the healthy foods, while also drawing attention to foods that have less nutritional value, that can be found in their cafeteria. Saludable Omaha students brought in a nutritionist to assist them in finding accurate facts and information about the food being served in the school cafeteria. ...

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The San Antonio Bike Plan 2011



The San Antonio Bike Plan was adopted as part of the City’s master plan in the fall of 2011. The plan has already influenced and contributed to other initiatives such as the Complete Streets Ordinance (2011), SA 2020, the Downtown Transportation Study, and the 2012-2017 $596 Million Bond Program, passed by voters in May of 2012. The San Antonio Bike Plan has also been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects for the Texas Chapter Merit. Resources Maps of San Antonio's existing bike infrastructure. View the full City of San Antonio Bike Plan and additional resources. The San Antonio Bikes GIS Mapping ...

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Houston City Council Approves Safe Passing Ordinance



In May 2013, the Houston city council approved a Safe Passing Ordinance, which aims to make streets safe for vulnerable road users (pedestrians, runners, physically disabled person, stranded motorist, highway construction workers, maintenance workers, tow truck operator, cyclists, etc.) The ordinance requires ordinary vehicles to remain at least three feet away and commercial trucks to remain six feet away from vulnerable road users. Learn more about the ordinance from this Houston Chronicle news ...

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San Antonio Raises Awareness of Safe Passing Ordinance



In February of 2010, the City of San Antonio, Texas enacted a Safe Passing Ordinance. Because pedestrians and cyclists are considered vulnerable road users this law serves to enhance road safety. It also serves to promote San Antonio's goal for making the city a Bike Friendly Community with more walkable streets and neighborhoods. Although, the ordinance was passed in 2010, cyclists are still concerned that the law is not being properly enforced. In order to better enforce the ordinance, in 2012, members from the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), San Antonio Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), BikeTexas, and the Tri-sition Area bike shop gathered with other concerned individuals to discuss what measures should be taken. The group decided to have undercover police ...

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San Antonio Councilman Proposes Strategies for Safe Access to Schools



Due to concerns over the safety of infrastructure near schools, District 1 Councilman Diego M. Bernal of San Antonio, Texas has proposed a plan for repairing sidewalks and lighting around schools. The new plan to implement new funding strategies, would require collaboration between city officials, CPS Energy, and San Antonio school districts. Read Councilman Bernal's Council Consideration Request for Safe Access to ...

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Safe Routes to School Helps Start A Bike and Walk-to-School Program in Austin, TX



By 2007, a total of 8 elementary & 2 middle schools in Austin had participated in Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs. Participating schools were given a 2.5 year non-infrastructure grant from the Texas Department of Transportation. Later in 2011, Zavala elementary, a predominantly Latino urban & low income school, was one of 25 schools to receive a $1,000 mini-grant. The mini-grant allowed students to receive 4 weeks of bicycle training. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xgOuVvWFtw With the help of SRTS, Zavala elementary school was able to increase the number of children who rode bikes to school from 6 to 90. This slideshow presentation provides information on how Safe Routes to School provided children in at Zavala elementary support for biking and walking school bus ...

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Safe Routes to School, El Paso Texas



El Paso children living in a predominantly Latino neighborhood were given the opportunity to walk to school with improved safety, thanks to a Safe Routes to School Program implemented at Rosa Guerrero Elementary. In 2007, The City of El Paso was awarded a $10,000 SRTS grant to develop a program for Rosa Guerrero Elementary School. Through the grant, the city of El Paso was able able hire a consultant, promote the SRTS program, and add signage to enhance the safety of areas near the school. Safety signage and increased driver awareness allowed the community to feel safer about allowing their children to walk to school and since the program at Rosa Guerrero was implemented test scores and student behavior at the school has improved. Read the full story ...

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