Happy (and Healthy) New Year from HSC!
Healthy Schools Campaign extends warm wishes for a happy, healthy new year and many thanks for your work throughout 2007 to speak up for our environment, our children and education.
With your help, we successfully advocated for legislation making Illinois the second state in the nation to require green cleaning in schools, and legislation requiring that new Illinois schools are built to green standards. We launched the greencleanschools.org website and released The Quick & Easy Guide to School Wellness to enthusiastic and positive reviews.
We re-designed our magazine, started a blog, fielded our first marathon team and participated in the International Forum on Children, Obesity, Food Choice and the Environment.
The American Institute of Architects – Illinois and the Illinois Association of School Nurses presented HSC with awards and Rochelle Davis, our founding executive director, was honored with the Chicago Tribune Good Eating Award.
Our annual benefit, Cooking up Change, grew to include a healthy cooking contest for culinary students from 15 high schools, and we’ve been able to partner with American School & University magazine to honor schools creating exceptional green cleaning programs. We launched a multi-year plan to combat childhood obesity in Chicago schools, trained school nurses to take action on school wellness and environmental health, and continued to expand our environmental justice work. The list goes on!
These accomplishments for children’s health and our environment would never have been possible without the remarkable generosity of our supporters and tremendous dedication of our volunteers.
Many thanks for making 2007 such an exciting year for healthy schools. We hope you’ll stay involved as we move ahead into an even more exciting 2008!
Plus: Support HSC with a year-end donation »
CVCA Students Celebrate Healthy Cooking Contest Victory
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| CVCA culinary students celebrate their Healthy Cooking Contest win at a special event on Dec. 12. |
Healthy Schools Campaign joined representatives of Chicago Public Schools, Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, Wolfgang Puck Catering and many proud parents in congratulating the culinary students of Chicago Vocational Career Academy (CVCA) for their first place win in the school lunch category of the Cooking up Change Healthy Cooking Contest at a special event on Dec. 12.
In January, the students’ healthy school meal of red beans and rice with smothered cabbage and candied carrots will be served in high schools throughout Chicago.
CVCA culinary students prepared a delicious lunch for the celebration, which also marked the grand re-opening of their own Café Cavalier.
EPA Salutes Seven School Systems for Indoor Air Quality Efforts
Winner of HSC Green Cleaning Award Program is Among EPA Honorees
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has honored seven school districts for their commitment to maintaining good indoor environmental quality.
At the eighth annual Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools National Symposium in Washington, D.C., three districts received National Excellence awards: Baltimore County (Md.), Ridgefield (Conn.), and Mayfield City (Ohio). Five other districts, all past honorees, received awards for maintaining high standards of indoor environmental quality.
HSC extends special congratulations to the Mayfield City district, which is also one of the winners of the national Green Cleaning Awards Program sponsored by American School & University magazine, Healthy Schools Campaign and the Green Cleaning Network. Stay posted for further details about Mayfield and other contest winners!
Public Comment Period Opens for Illinois School Green Cleaning Guidelines
In Aug. 2007, Illinois became the second state in the nation to recognize the health and learning benefits of green cleaning by passing the Green Clean Schools Act, which requires green cleaning in Illinois schools. Now the Draft Guidelines for Green Cleaning in Schools, required by the law, are available for public comment.
Similar to HSC's The Quick and Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools, the draft guidelines include specifications and recommendations for cleaning supply products, equipment, paper and procedures (best management practices). The guidelines will not replace other laws with specific cleaning requirements such as those that address food service areas, child care centers, health facilities (such as those for nursing and physical therapy) and swimming pools. The Act allows individual schools to forego green cleaning if is not “economically feasible” for a specified product category.
Now, the IGCC is seeking input on the proposed standards. You can share a general comment in support of green cleaning or can download the full draft and comment on specific aspects of it. The comment period is from December 8, 2007 to January 8, 2008. Comments can be submitted in writing on the IGCC website or in person at any of the three scheduled public meetings.
Parents United for Healthy Schools Leaders Present at NIEHS Conference
HSC’s Guillermo Gomez and key partners in the Partnership to Reduce Disparities in Asthma and Obesity in Latino Schools connected with environmental justice leaders from around the country at a national meeting of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), which provided funding for the program.
HSC presented a poster on the Partnership and Parents United for Healthy Schools, and HSC ally Idida Perez spoke as part of a panel on trends in community-based participatory research and environmental justice.
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