For many schools across North Carolina, school started back this week. We’re still in the middle of a pandemic and no one knows what this school year will end up looking like. What we do know is that schools can play a big role in the health of students so we’ve gathered a few resources around our policy priorities related to schools.
Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation:
- Scholastic and the FDA teamed up to develop The Real Cost of Vaping Toolkit for educators that includes lesson plans, videos, games, and other resources for grades 6-12.
- Stanford Medicine has a Tobacco Prevention Toolkit with theory-based and evidence-informed resources created by educators, parents, and researchers aimed at preventing middle and high school students’ use of tobacco and nicotine.
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston’s Catch My Breath is a free nicotine vaping prevention program for grades 5-12.
Active Living:
- Walk to School Day is officially October 6 but events can be planned for any time during the year. Find more information and register events on the Walk & Bike To School website.
- The Safe Routes Partnership has resources for Safe Routes to School and active communities. These resources are helpful for anyone who is interested in making communities more walkable and bikeable and the equity implications of safe routes to parks, healthy food, worksites, and other essential locations within the community.
Access to Healthy Foods:
- Meals Matter: The Community Eligibility Provision and Student Success in North Carolina is a report from NCAH and the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina that looks at how free school meals affect student achievement. Spoiler alert: free school meals are extremely beneficial to students.
- Improving Access to Free School Meals: Addressing Intersections Between Universal Free School Meal Approaches and Educational Funding from Healthy Eating Research will give you even more information on the importance of universal free school meals.
- North Carolina Farm to School website has loads of information and resources for teachers, parents, schools, farms, and the public.