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Healthy Kids, Healthy Kingston The Kingston City School District is proud to partner with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCEUC) to improve the health and fitness of school children in Ulster County through a “Healthy Kingston for Kids” initiative. The CCEUC was recently awarded a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to improve opportunities for physical activity and access to affordable healthy foods for children and families in Kingston, and will be working with the District to make this a reality. Overall objectives include creating safe routes to schools and parks, promoting the adoption of a “Complete Street” policy in the City (an effort to advocate streets that accommodate pedestrians and bikers), proliferating and supporting school and community gardens, and improving snack options in after-school programs. “This grant will help us to build upon the successes of our community gardens project and wellness initiatives,” says Gerard M. Gretzinger, superintendent of Kingston City Schools. "In addition to helping students lead healthier lives, this grant will serve to strengthen connections between our schools and the community.” Glen Maisch, athletic director for the District, says he is excited about the new opportunities the grant will provide. “This grant will be of great benefit as it facilitates the engagement and participation of the community and shows how essential parent participation is in enabling students to lead healthy and active lives,” says Mr. Maisch, a member of the District Wellness Committee. In particular, Mr. Maisch says he is looking forward to helping create safe routes to school, and enhancing nutritious after-school offerings for student athletes during practice sessions. “People often consider obesity to be a personal, individual health issue, however, this grant will empower our community in Kingston to create an environment where physical activity and healthy eating are natural, effortless choices for our children,” says Kristen Wilson, CCEUC project director. “We are committed to creating a place where our most vulnerable youth can grow up healthy.” Marie Lader, a school nurse-teacher at Anna Devine Elementary School and a Wellness Committee member, will be serving on the RWJF “Healthy Snacks” Committee. Since the grant focuses on making lifestyle changes possible through a joint community effort, ‘”this opens up the opportunity for so many wonderful things to happen,” she states. “For the first time in history, today’s youth are predicted to have a shorter life span than their parents,” notes Ms. Lader, who has spearheaded a wellness effort at Anna Devine, including an annual Health Fair and grade-appropriate nutrition education. “The focus of this grant is really the wave of the future,” she says. “People really care about the milieu of their entire neighborhood and this grant has the potential to move entire communities in a positive direction.” The District will have representation on the Advisory Committee of this grant, and will be involved in planning of the many activities and programs that will happen over the next four years. Partners include the City of Kingston, the Kingston Land Trust, the Community Heart Health Coalition, Gilmour Planning, the Rose Women’s Care Center, and the Ulster County Health and Planning Departments. David Gilmour, of Gilmour Planning, will create a Complete Streets plan under the auspices of the grant by taking a holistic look at the network connections in the City of Kingston. With a focus on a cost/benefit analysis regarding potential for a return on investment in creating a Complete Street plan, Mr. Gilmour says the City and the District are poised for great things. “There is a national thrust for active and healthy living, so clearly a great city like Kingston will be positioning itself for enhancing its community and economic base,” says Mr. Gilmour. Fran Platt, District grant writer, is thrilled about the new connections that will be forged by the grant and forthcoming opportunities for the Kingston City School District community. “The District’s role in the ‘Healthy Kingston for Kids’ initiative meshes perfectly with other projects that were already on our agenda, such as expansion of community gardens on school sites. Being a partner in the community coalition that won this prestigious, highly competitive grant will make my job a bit easier as I can leverage the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s support to help obtain funding from other sources for related projects,” she explains. “A good example is the service learning activities already underway with support from the Learn and Serve America grant program. This year the focus is on the school gardens, where students are learning biology, earth science and geometry while they lay out planting beds and take care of the growing vegetables. At harvest time they will deliver produce to local soup kitchens as a community service. The RWJF grant is a ‘seal of approval’ that will make it more likely that our Learn and Serve America funding gets renewed in coming years. I’ll also be on the lookout for other potential sources of support for projects that encourage our students to make healthy food choices and stay physically active,” notes Ms. Platt.
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