After receiving the Healthy Places grant in July, Urban Initiatives embarked on a project to enhance health and wellness resources in our partner schools beyond what we already offer with our Work to Play soccer teams. Because Urban Initiatives is committed to supporting our partner schools in every possible way, we were excited about being able to help teachers and staff in the schools come up with ways to make their school a healthier place for everyone in the community!
One of the driving goals behind the Healthy Places project was to help schools get ready to do the Healthier US Schools Challenge application. This is part of Michelle Obama’s nationwide Let’s Move! campaign to fight childhood obesity, which is an epidemic all over the country.
Six months into the year, Urban Initiatives is proud to say that we’ve made some great progress! So far this year, four of our partner schools have completed the application, which will celebrate the healthy school environments that they already have and motivate them to keep up the good work with national recognition and a monetary prize. Jahn, Morton and Daley schools qualified for the “Go for the Gold” award and Libby school qualified for the Silver! The above photo is from the Healthy Schools Campaign annual Principal’s Breakfast, and features Urban Initiatives’ assistant coach Maria Salazar from Daley Academy receiving an award with Principal Rhonda Hoskins.
We are so excited to have worked with these schools to make this happen, and even more excited to take what we’ve learned and support even more UI partner schools!