Additional Resources

Outside Resources and Links

Here are just a few places for you to visit on the Web and elsewhere for more information about healthy schools issues. This list will be updated and expanded on a regular basis.

Research & Reports

School Breakfast Scorecard 2006 (PDF)
12.7.06 | Participation in the School Breakfast Program continued its steady increase, with a record 7.7 million low-income children receiving free and reduced-price breakfasts on an average day during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the Food Research and Action Center.

Raw Deal: School Beverage Contracts Less Lucrative Than They Seem (PDF)
12.6.06 | The Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Public Health Advocacy Institute published a multi-state analysis of school systems’ contracts with beverage companies and concluded that most school beverage deals aren’t very lucrative, raising an average of only $18 per student per year.

Building Minds, Minding Buildings (PDF)
12.4.06 | Poor building conditions are a serious threat to the health and academic performance of students, according to a new report by the American Federation of Teachers.

Calories In, Calories Out: A Report on Food and Exercise in Public Elementary Schools
5.17.06 | The National Center for Education Statistics surveyed elementary schools to see what foods are available outside of school meals, the opportunities students have for physical activity, and whether schools measure health indicators of students.

Increasing Frequency of Lower-Fat Entrees Offered at School Lunch: An Environmental Change Strategy to Increase Healthful Selections
February 2006 | A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that increasing the availability of low- and moderate-fat entrees is not sufficient to increase their rate of selection. However, their rate of selection is increased as the availability of high-fat entree choices is reduced.

General Sites

The Future of Children
Childhood Obesity, The Future of Children, vol. 16, no. 1, Spring 2006
The past 30 years have seen many dramatic changes in the ways Americans work, live, and eat. Researchers are now tracing today's obesity epidemic back to many of those changes. This volume reviews evidence on how each of these changes may have caused obesity to increase and examines how best to address each of the possible causes.

From the NCEF

The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF) has an excellent page of resource links at www.edfacilities.org/rl/healthy_schools.cfm. Below are a few choice pickings:

The State Of Children's Health and Environment 2002:
Common Sense Solutions for Parents and Policymakers
www.checnet.org/report/report.shtml
According to this report on environmental hazards, every child in the United States faces chemical challenges to their health never experienced in human history. Specifically, this report discusses asthma and air quality, developmental disabilities and neurotoxic chemicals, childhood cancer and the environment, principles for legal reform, and provides a guide for parents and others.

Creating Safe Learning Zones:
Invisible Threats, Visible Actions
www.childproofing.org/cslzindex.html
This report is a follow-up to the first publication of the Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign, titled "Poisoned Schools: Invisible Threats, Visible Actions." This document addresses the need for protective laws concerning building new schools. It presents data from five states (California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York) on the number of schools located on or near hazardous chemical waste sites or other contaminated sites. It describes children's special vulnerabilities, the school siting process, and examples of schools built on or near contaminated land. The report also outlines action steps that parents can take to ensure that their children are not placed in harm's way.

Healthier Schools:
A Review of State Policies for Improving Indoor Air Quality
www.elistore.org/reports_detail.asp?ID=56
This report focuses on the role of state policy in ensuring healthier school environments. It looks at policies that emphasize preventing indoor pollution through better maintenance and repair practices in existing schools, as well as better design and construction practices in new and renovated schools. The policies included in the report fall within the following four general categories: 1) traditional regulatory mechanisms; 2) information and training; 3) funding/financial incentives; and 4) public right to know.

Learning Curve:
Charting Progress on Pesticide Use and the Healthy Schools Act
www.calpirg.org/reports/learning_curve_final.pdf
This survey by California Public Interest Research Group Charitable Trust finds that more than a year after implementation of California's Healthy Schools Act of 2000, pesticides linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental effects, endocrine (hormone) disruption, and acute systemic and nervous system damage remain widely used in California schools. This progress report investigates two key questions regarding the Healthy Schools Act and pesticides in the state's schools.  

Curriculum Ideas / Taking Action

Donors Choose
DonorsChoose.org allows teachers and others to post requests for specific project for schools, including a category called Health and Wellness. One of the most popular searched-for projects is gardens. We all know that a little bit of money can go a long way.
www.DonorsChoose.org

The Michigan Team Nutrition Booklist
An annotated list of over 300 Children's books with positive food and physical activity messages. This booklist is a component of Pyramids Between the Pages, a program that links literacy with nutrition and physical activity education. Visit the site at http://www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/news/downloads/Nutrition_Booklist.pdf

Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) Science Education Program
The Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) Science Education Program comprises an EHP Student Edition of news articles published in EHP and environmental health science lessons based on selected articles. Lessons are aligned with National Science Education Standards in biology, chemistry, environmental science, geology, and physical science, and are targeted at students in grades 9-12.
The EHP Student Edition and corresponding lessons (as well as individual news articles) can be downloaded for FREE from this website. All educators are invited to use this resource. Visit the site at www.ehponline.org/science-ed/lessons2006.html

EPA's IAQ Design Tools for Schools
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Web-based resource for Indoor Air Quality Design Tools for Schools contains recommendations and tools to help communities and design professionals integrate good indoor air quality practices into the design, construction, renovation, and operation and maintenance of K-12 school facilities. Visit the site at www.epa.gov/iaq/schooldesign/.

Green Flag Program
The Green Flag Start-Up Kit at the Green Flag site will help you and your school community learn about the Green Flag Program. The kit describes how you form a team to work on environmental issues affecting your school.
It will tell you why these issues are important, and how students' education and school performance can be improved by participating in the program.. Visit the site at www.greenflagschools.org.

School Recycling
This site provides information on how to get a recycling program started in your school and offers curriculum ideas.  The Illinois School Recycling and Waste Reduction Grant Program strongly supports teachers who are looking for recycling curriculum which complies with Illinois Learning Standards.  This site also offers downloads of curriculum publications. Visit the site at www.illinoisbiz.biz/com/recycling/school_recycling.html.

Building Our Children's Future
Center for Resourceful Building Technology, 1996
An intensive, interdisciplinary green building curriculum guide for K-12 schools, but most appropriate for high school students. Focuses on understanding sustainability and the built environment with lessons in language arts, math, science, social studies and visual arts. The curriculum costs $10; Call CRBT at 406-549-7678 or e-mail crbt@ncat.org.

Teacher's Guide to Indoor Air Pollutants
National Safety Council's Environmental Health Center, 1996
Guide contains elementary-level lessons and activities on indoor air issues, and provides teachers with brief fact sheets and checklists on indoor air contaminants. It's an excellent companion tool with the EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit. The guide is free for download at www.nsc.org/ehc/indoor/teachers.htm, or call 800-557-2366 to order a printed copy ($20).

A Child's Place in the Environment (Olga N. Clymire, 1997)
This series provides a comprehensive environmental curriculum for grades 1-6, including several topics that relate to sustainable design principles and the built environment. Units 5 and 6, in particular, emphasize conserving natural resources and achieving sustainability within communities. Each unit costs $65; contact Olga Clymire at the Lake County Office of Education (California), 707-263-7249, or learn more online: www.acpe.lake.k12.ca.us.

Schoolyard Habitats
The National Wildlife Federation provides some basics for implementing a schoolyard habitat program, and incorporating outdoor habitats into cross-curricular learning. Incudes various studies, as well as links to related education programs for K-12 schools. Visit the site at www.nwf.org/schoolyardhabitats/

Website Resources

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