Leaders from homeowner associations (HOA) across the small community of Greenbelt, Maryland, realized that shared use agreements for the use of playgrounds, between the city and HOAs, could be mutually beneficial to both parties. In order to help increase property values and provide more play space for kids, the HOAs formed a coalition and sought to establish shared (joint) use agreements between the city and the newly formed coalition. According to the KaBoom! story, Greenbelt, Maryland: Joint-Use Agreements with Homeowners Associations, Greenbelt, was originally developed as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935. It was designed to be a complete city with schools, businesses, and places for recreation. By the 1950s, the community was ...
A shared use agreement (joint-use agreement) at Chula Vista High School allows over 1,000 children to use the school's soccer field during after school hours. The partnership between a local soccer league and the school, has brought an affordable means of promoting physical activity, among the community's children. On weekdays children who participate in the soccer league use the field after 4pm, when after-school activities are over. During weekends, the league hosts games on the field, and residents from the community come out to walk along the field. In exchange for being given permission to use the school's field, the soccer league agreed to maintain it. As a result, the agreement has been beneficial to the both parties involved and more importantly, children are given the ...
Since 2008, students enrolled in Texas Public Schools have had their fitness levels assessed using FitnessGram--a tool that provides useful information to parents, teachers, and administrators and helps inform decisions about physical education and physical activity requirements for students. FitnessGram is an annual fitness test that yields a fitness report card, with information about a student's aerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. It can help decision makers decide what type of physical activity programs are needed and where funding for programs should be allocated. Lauren Dimitry of Texans Care for Children speaks on why it is important to keep FitnessGram in Texas ...
In early April 2013 Lakeview Community Schools added salad bars, called fruit and vegetable bars because of their various offerings, at not only their junior and senior high schools, but also at some of their elementary schools. These salad bars help increase the consumption of fruits and vegetable for young students. Without salad bars, students are only given a certain option for fruits and vegetables, resulting in many foods being wasted. Often times young students who do not like a food or cannot eat it due to lost teeth or lack of ability (example: young students often do not know how to peel oranges or other fruits that are prepped at homes by parents) will throw away foods, not getting any of the nutrients they need from those foods. "Fourth-grader Cassie Rathbone had applesauce ...
Through a Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities grant, members of the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program (CCROPP), and Ceres Partnership for Healthy Children worked throughout the Central Valley of California, to create initiatives to improve access to healthy foods and safe places for physical activity. CCROPP also developed an innovative grassroots community leadership program, so that Latinos could feel better equipped for becoming active leaders in their community. This video describes some of the challenges that residents living in the Central Valley face and demonstrates some of the work that CCROPP is doing to transform ordinary parents into leaders of their community. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGpX3LQn_RI Program coordinators at CCROPP talk about the ...
During the 83rd Texas Legislative Session Rep. Diane Patrick (R-Arlington) introduced a bill (H.B. 1018), that would require Texas public schools to create a campus improvement plan with goals to improve physical activity and fitness. Campus improvement plans would be required to include goals to increase physical activity and fitness among students; student fitness assessment data, and would require all school health advisory councils (SHAC) to establish a physical activity and fitness planning subcommittee. Once implemented, the bill would require SHACs to include recommendations made by the physical activity and fitness subcommittee, in a annual written report. The full text to H.B. 1018, which would require a campus improvement plan to improve physical activity and fitness at Texas ...
Fernando Martinez of BikeTexas faced several challenges in bringing the Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) to the children of Amarillo, Texas. The first time that Martinez approached school administrators they did not buy-in to the idea of SRTS. After partnering with members of a local bike club--Martinez was able to bring the concept before school administrators once again--but this time he was able to demonstrate support from the community. Soon afterward, Martinez was invited to speak at a PTA meeting where parents expressed their interest in the SRTS program. As the community became more aware of SRTS, parents and teachers wanted to learn more about how they could enable kids to participate in SRTS. The number of schools and children participating in BikeTexas' SRTS program ...
Although, the state of California has already adopted a statewide Complete Streets policy (AB1358), barriers to adopting and implementing local Complete Streets policies still exist. In order to ensure that maximal benefits are derived from a this type of policy it is necessary to understand how to overcome barriers, and why local Complete Streets policies are necessary. In the San Diego region, up to one-third of residents in low-income neighborhoods lack access to a car. It is residents like these that may stand to benefit the most from Complete Streets policies---which would reduce the economic burden of health costs, by providing safer avenues for walking and biking. The June 2012 report--From Policy to Pavement: Implementing Complete Streets in the San Diego Region--produced through ...
Schools across the country are getting excited about Fuel Up to Play 60 a school based initiative--organized through the National Football League (NFL) and the National Dairy Council (NDC)--that encourages students in grades K-12 to eat healthy foods, participate in at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity, and to lead school wellness initiatives. As of 2012, the group reported that 11 million students in 73,000 schools nationwide were participating in the program which uses social marketing and a six-step approach to improve student health. Fuel up to Play 60's six-steps to improving school health are: Join the League- register on-line and spread the word about Fuel Up to Play 60;
Build Teams and Draft Players- get other students or even the whole school involved;
Kickoff- ...
