CHALK's work with schools hopes to create a health-promoting school environment. Specifically, we focus on nutrition and physical activity by promoting student, staff, and parent wellness. We work to ensure our partner schools have active School Wellness Councils that set health priorities, such as introducing CHALK's Healthy Snack Policy, providing monthly Healthy Habit newsletters to caregivers and staff, and increasing opportunities for physical activity through our Just Move Program. Click here to download the CHALK school toolkit.
CHALK Program Coordinators have worked directly with schools in Washington Heights and Inwood since 2004. Eight schools have graduated from our program and we continue to actively work with 7 schools in the Washington Heights/Inwood community. We provide school wellness consulting and resources for a nationwide network of schools.
Resources
To download information on starting your own community campaign or helping spread our message, please visit our Resources page.
CHALK Just Move
Just Move is an in-class exercise program that utilizes flash cards that are mapped to the Common Core State Standards. It provides short, in-class physical activity breaks that can be added into the school day with no equipment or need for additional space. These physical activity breaks help students achieve the recommended amount of weekly physical activity, while also reinforcing educational concepts.
In 2013, as part of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Active Schools initiative, the Active Schools Acceleration Project awarded 200+ schools nationwide with grants to implement CHALK's Just Move Cards in their classrooms to help make physical activity an integral part of the school day. As part of our CHALK National Schools Network, we continue to work with these schools by providing support and resources to promote healthy school environments. The full Just Move launch kit is available here
Emma Hulse, MS, RD
Program Manager