Cynthia Walters. Photo courtesy Green Umbrella.
A new Local School Wellness Policy Toolkit has been released that provides a roadmap for school districts to develop a customized wellness plan to address the current needs of the school community. It is a free resource that is publicly available for downloading here.
A Local School Wellness Policy (LSWP) exists in every school district nationwide that participates in the USDA National School Lunch and Breakfast programs. This new LSWP Tool Kit is designed to create a collaborative approach to equipping community members, partner organizations, and municipalities with tools to build an equitable wellness network for school staff and students.
The LSWP Tool Kit was developed by Green Umbrella’s Green Schoolyards Action Network, in partnership with Slow Food USA and Whole Kids. Although it is a resource for school districts across the nation, Cincinnati played a big part in the Tool Kit’s content. “The work of the City of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Public Schools is featured in the LSWP Tool Kit, demonstrating how the alignment of city and school district policy drives the expansion of greenspace and nutritious food access,” says Cynthia Walters, Green Schoolyards Manager for Green Umbrella and the driving force behind the Tool Kit’s development.
This first edition of the LSWP Tool Kit is in English, with a Spanish version soon to follow. Training modules, designed to help school stakeholders navigate and implement the Tool Kit more effectively, will be available soon. “It’s a powerful resource for school districts to use as a catalyst for increasing academic performance, improving attendance, and positively impacting graduation rates,” says Walters.
Green Umbrella, the Tri-State’s Regional Climate Collaborative, leads cross-sector collaboration to accelerate climate action across Greater Cincinnati. Facilitated by Green Umbrella, the Green Schoolyards Action Network is a team of school district leadership, city officials, health agencies, and partner organizations working across local public school systems to expand greenspace, environmental education, and farm-to-school opportunities to K-12 students and educators across our region.