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Schools

Health Department Seeks Applicants for Healthy Schools Program

Pierce County schools and school districts are invited to apply for grants to promote healthy eating, physical activity and tobacco prevention in schools.

The goal is simple: ensure healthy lifestyles for the children of Pierce County.

Now, for the second year, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will award grants to local schools and districts to support healthier schools. The Healthy Schools program is designed to promote healthy eating, physical activity and tobacco prevention in schools.

The grants will be awarded for up to $5,000 for a school and $10,000 at the district-administration level. Recipients will also receive technical assistance and resources from Health Department staff. Any school or district in Pierce County can apply.

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“It’s a grant program to put into place some form of program or policy that will help schools and school districts improve the health of their students,” said Bridget Vandeventer, communications director for the health department.

Tyee Park Elementary in the Clover Park School District was one of six schools to win a grant last year, for its afterschool physical activity program. Staff identified healthy snack criteria and implemented a walking program for students and staff.

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The program, in partnership with Lakewood’s Healthy Start Task Force and that city’s Park and Recreation Department, served 35 second- and third-graders for two 75-minute sessions every week.

Other 2010-11 winners were Edison Elementary in Tacoma, Daffodil Valley Elementary in Sumner, Wildwood Elementary in Puyallup, Orting Middle and High Schools, and the Bethel and Tacoma School Districts. Programs included improving and implementing district-wide wellness policies, improving the healthfulness of school meals and developing school gardens.

Vandeventer said that policy activities, such as putting wellness policies before the school board or mandating healthier vending options for students and staff, are “really sustainable.”

“They are a great use of this (grant) and can affect not just students this year, but all of the students going through that school for some time.”

Vandeventer said that childhood obesity and youth tobacco use are a major public health concern, and that in Pierce County, 26 percent of youth are overweight or obese.

“That’s a problem,” she said. “We need to do something to address that, and we’re hoping this will help schools be a place to become active and to eat healthy food.”

Additionally, she said, 15 percent of high-school sophomores have reported smoking in the last 30 days, a number that is also “rather high” for the county.

“We know that schools are really the number one place to help kids improve their lifestyles,” Vandeventer said. “This is a very efficient way to improve the lives of students.”

Under the current funding challenges, wellness programs in schools face significant challenges.

“This is a way to help schools be creative and inventive in how they’re going to help their students’ health,” Vandeventer said. “We want to get lots of applicants because we want to put these funds to good use.”

The grant money can be used toward such things as staff salaries for a program, educational materials, healthy snacks or contests and prizes.

Letters of intent are due by Sept. 9, and final applications must be submitted by 3 p.m. on Sept. 28. Applications and additional details are available at www.tpchd.org/healthyschools. Vandeventer said that schools do not have to have specific guidelines set, but must have some plans for how they would use the grant.

“We’re interested to see the ideas schools and school districts come up with,” she said, “and we hope this will have a lasting impact for the kids in Pierce County.”

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