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HSC UPDATESCooking up Change
On June 9th, the Healthy Schools Campaign held our annual benefit, Cooking up Change, at Kendall College’s Riverworks Campus. Nearly 300 people attended the sold-out benefit and enjoyed the savory food prepared by Kendall College’s culinary arts students, the lively cooking demonstration by Rick Bayless and his daughter Lanie, the exciting silent auction, live jazz music, and mingling among new and old friends. We exceeded our financial goals and raised more than $55,000 to support our efforts to promote policies and model programs that allow students and staff to learn and work in a healthy school environment. To see photos from the benefit, please visit healthyschoolscampaign.org/events/cooking_up_change_2005. HSC Staff Continues to GrowOn June 20, HSC hired Tammy Dillard-Steels as our new Environmental Health Director, and on August 1, Akilah Taylor came on as HSC’s new Administrative Assistant. Tammy brings over 15 years of Environmental Health and Safety experience in various industries and not-for-profit organizations. Her experience ranges from being the first Industrial Hygiene Engineer for Metra Rail, a Staff Representative for the National Safety Council, and most recently, the Senior Safety Professional for Chicago’s Commonwealth Edison Transmission and Substation division. Tammy has a Bachelor of Science from Illinois State University and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She can be contacted at tammy@healthyschoolscampaign.org. Akilah joins the Healthy Schools Campaign staff with administrative experience in both the non-profit and for profit sectors. Most recently she served as the Office Manager for Court Appointed Special Advocates of Cook County. Akilah received her B.A. in Business in 2003 from DeVry University. She has strong ties to the community; supporting such organizations like the Arts and Business Council of Chicago, Housing Opportunities & Maintenance for the Elderly and is currently an active volunteer with CASA of Cook County. She can be contacted at akilah@healthyschoolscampaign.org. Please join us in welcoming Tammy and Akilah to the Healthy Schools Campaign! Green Clean Champions for ChangeThe Healthy Schools Campaign is looking for a few good people who are making a difference by using green products and processes to keep schools clean and healthy. We would like to acknowledge hard-working building engineers and janitorial service employees who are leading the way as “Green Clean Champions for Change” by enrolling them in our recognition and support program. If you know someone who deserves a pat on the back for his or her green cleaning efforts, let us know by calling Tammy Dillard-Steels at 312.419.1810 or by emailing tammy@healthyschoolscampaign.org.
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| HSC board member, Joe Zanoni conducting a walk-through with HSC staff member Linda Pietens and Hearst Elementary School staff. | |
The Healthy Schools Campaign recently completed an Indoor Air Quality audit at Hearst Elementary School. Hearst Elementary School is near Chicago’s Midway Airport. Assistant Principal Ms. Ida Cheeks invited the HSC to come out and see if we could offer suggestions on how to make improvements at the school. The IAQ Healthy Schools Campaign team included Mark Bishop, Guillermo Gomez, Linda Pietens and Joe Zanoni.
The team used an environmental checklist to conduct a visual inspection of the school. They identified areas where the school could improve and made recommendations for easy changes for a healthier school environment. If you are interested in conducting an IAQ audit in your school, contact Guillermo Gomez at ggomez@healthyschoolscampain.org.
School districts across Illinois, including Chicago Public Schools (CPS), are working to meet the July 1, 2006 deadline to develop the federally required Local School Wellness Policies. CPS’ Office of Specialized Services has been charged with drafting the district’s wellness policy and has requested the input of participants on the CPS Taskforce to Promote Healthy Eating & Smart Choices. On June 22nd, approximately twenty-five participants convened to learn about CPS’ process for developing its wellness policy and the current status of CPS’ school health policies, as well as to share their input on possible content of the policy.
Background
Congress reauthorized the Child Nutrition Act in June 2004. Included in
this legislation is a provision that requires all schools participating
in the school lunch program to develop a local wellness policy by July
1, 2006. At a minimum, these policies must include:
1. Goals for nutrition education, physical activity and other school-based
activities that are designed to promote student wellness;
2. Nutrition guidelines for all foods available on each school campus;
3. Assurances that guidelines for reimbursable school meals are not less
restrictive than USDA regulations;
4. Plans for measuring implementation of the local wellness policy, including
the designation of one or more persons charged with the operational responsibility
for ensuring schools meet the local wellness policy; and,
5. Plans for involving students, parents, representatives of the school
food authority, the school board, school administrators and the public
in the development of the school wellness policy.
For more information about school wellness policies, contact Camille Reid at camille@healtyschoolscampaign.org.
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Taking a good environmental history is a critical first step for addressing health conditions associated with environmental exposures. However, few health care providers are trained in environmental history taking. Several medical, nursing, and public health organizations have endorsed the Health Professionals and Environmental Health Education Position Statement, which calls for incorporating the ability to elicit an environmental exposure history into health care provider education and practice.
In order to provide the tools needed to incorporate environmental history-taking
into medical and nursing training for clinicians, NEETF created a user-friendly
environmental history form for health care providers treating pediatric
patients. The form draws from the medical literature and current best
practices and is supplemented by an environmental history primer.
For more information visit: http://www.neetf.org/Health/PEHI.htm
Public
Schools Begin to Offer Gym Classes Online
August 2, 2005
Sam Dillon, New York Times
MINNEAPOLIS - The nation's public schools are rushing to reconfigure
scores of traditional courses from basic composition to calculus so students
can take them via the Internet. One of the unlikely new offerings in this
vast experiment is online gym.
New
Jersey first state to ban junk food
July, 2005
Nation's Restaurant News
Last month New Jersey lawmakers passed one of the nation's most sweeping
laws banning the sale of candy, soda and fatty, sugary foods in schools
statewide.
Acute
Illnesses Associated With Pesticide Exposure at Schools
July 27, 2005
This recent study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
(Volume 294, No. 4) finds that the rate of illness linked to pesticides
and similar chemicals is on the rise in U.S. schools. To read a summary
of the findings or to access the full text, visit http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/294/4/455
New
school builds learning around exercise, nutrition
July 13, 2005
Patrice M. Jones, Chicago Tribune
The pint-size children stretch their arms skyward, "like a starfish"
the teacher instructs, as New Age music fills the sun-drenched room.
Schooling’s
Crumbling Infrastructure
June 15, 2005
School construction is a significant policy issue, because without
major renovations, upgrades and new facilities, many schools are in such
bad physical shape that they cannot even begin to offer students a high-quality
education.
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Greening
Schools with Green Flag
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