May 4, 2023 Live Well Allegheny Launches “Rethink Your Drink” Campaign to Promote Healthy Water Drinking Habits Live Well Allegheny has launched a campaign to promote healthier beverage choices called “Rethink Your Drink.” The campaign provides education on the effects of consuming sugar-sweetened beverages, like sodas and most juices, and encourages water as the best drink option to build healthy habits in children and teens. How To Participate in the Campaign Allegheny County residents, schools, municipalities, afterschool programs, child care centers or providers, and community partners are encouraged by Live Well Allegheny to get involved in the campaign through a variety of methods. Visit the Rethink Your Drink campaign webpage to find more resources and information, including a campaign toolkit. The toolkit includes: Activity ideas for things to do at home, a community event, school fair, or summer camp; social media messages; and resources about the impact of sugar-sweetened beverages for children and families. Those interested in participating can access free campaign materials, including water bottles, through the Rethink Your Drink Campaign Request Form. About Live Well Allegheny Live Well Allegheny, an initiative of the Allegheny County Health Department, is a county-wide campaign to improve the overall health and wellness of Allegheny County residents. Visit the Live Well Allegheny website to learn more about the program and the Rethink Your Drink campaign.
April 12, 2023 Applications Open for PA Farm-to-School Grant Program The application period for the Pennsylvania Farm-to-School Grant Program is now open. Through the program, any school, program, or center with a pre-kindergarten through 8th-grade classroom can apply for up to $15,000 in funding for healthy foods. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 19. About the Farm-to-School Grant Program The Pennsylvania Farm to School Grant Program aims to bridge the gap between children and the food system by connecting them to the fresh, healthy food available from Pennsylvania agricultural producers in their community and the surrounding areas. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (DOA), it can change food purchasing and education practices at schools and early childhood education sites, and help children become more aware and engaged with their local food system. Farm-to-School Grant Program Details Eligibility All public school districts, charter schools, or private schools with pre-kindergarten classes, kindergarten classes, or elementary school classes through the eighth grade, and all center-based pre-schools located and operating within Pennsylvania may apply. However, school districts wishing to submit multiple applications must have individual schools apply. This means that the applicant information must reflect the individual building, not the district or an individual person. Grant Limitations $500,000 is available for the Pennsylvania Farm-to-School Grant Program. Grants will be awarded on a funds-available basis. Projects must be completed no later than June 30, 2025. Grants will be funded as reimbursement grants. A single grant shall be limited to 75% of the cost of the project. Grant recipients must fund at least 25% of the project with a minimum 25% match cash or in-kind. Each school may receive no more than $15,000 annually. Recipients may use the value of in-kind support to match the amount granted. Grant Uses Grants can be used for: training for teachers and staff procuring local foods for school cafeterias food supplies educational opportunities: classroom curricula experiential learning family and community involvement field trips to local farms or other agricultural operations school gardens for the purpose of education or to supply the cafeteria Apply for a Farm-to-School Program Grant Interested applicants must submit an application through the Single Application for Assistance online application between system before 5 p.m. on May 19. The DOA will not consider or review applications received after that time. Applications Requirements Interested applicants must: read the Application Instructions thoroughly, and follow them meticulously complete the Application Template prior to accessing the Single Application for Assistance complete the budget on the Budget Template upload both the completed Application Template and Budget Template as addenda in the Single Application for Assistance Learn More To learn more, visit the Farm-to-School Program Grant webpage, the Pennsylvania Bulletin website, or contact Patrick Andrews at RA-AGFARMTOSCHOOL@pa.gov or 717-772-1429.
November 13, 2020 Fifth Annual Healthy Schools Summit Are you interested in translating research into action to create green and healthy schools? Join Women for a Healthy Environment (WHE) on Thursday, December 3 for the Fifth Annual Healthy Schools Summit. About During this virtual conference, national, state, and local experts will tackle the following questions: How are school stakeholders coming together to realize their shared goal for green, safe, and healthy schools for students and staff to return to? How are school leaders translating public health research into action to prevent the spread of COVID-19? What resources are available for educators, nurses, parents, and students to respond to existing and emerging school health needs? For information on the Summit sessions, please see the list below or view the full Summit Agenda. Morning Sessions “From Research to Action and Knowledge to Practice”: Keynote Address by Tracy Enger, Program Manager, U.S Environmental Protection Agency “Public Health Decision Making for School Leaders: A Panel Discussion” with panelists Dr. Farhad Ahmed (PA Dept of Health), Aimee Eckmann (Perkins + Will), Dr. Megan Freeman (Children’s Hospital), and Dr. Robert Scherrer (Allegheny Intermediate Unit “Clearing the Air: Indoor Air Quality in the Time of COVID-19”: Expert Panel with panelists Nina Hwang (Green Seal), Al Pater (Riverview School District), Lynn Rose (Environmental Health Consultant), and Raj Setty (Setty & Associates) Afternoon Sessions “The Future of Green and Healthy Schools” Afternoon Address by Anisa Heming, Director, Center for Green Schools, US Green Building Council Celebrating Five Years of Success through Our Healthy Schools Recognition Program: Virtual Awards Ceremony Option A – Learning Through Pandemics Past: Bringing Public Health and Civics into the Classroom Option B – “It’s Just a Cold” Navigating Student Health During COVID-19: Panel Discussion Option C – Civic Engagement Through Climate Literacy Registration To register for the Summit, visit the Eventbrite page. For questions, please email Kara Rubio, Healthy Schools Manager at kara@womenforahealthyenvironment.org.
October 17, 2019 CitiParks Annual Track & Treat Join Citiparks on October 26 for its annual “Track and Treat” event at the Bud Harris Cycling Track on Washington Boulevard. About Citiparks Track and Treat is a free, fun, and active seasonal event for children and families with a Halloween theme. Children and families are welcome to wear their Halloween costumes, bring their own bikes, or borrow one! Cycle around the Bud Harris Cycling Track–stopping along the way to learn bike etiquette, safety, and maintenance from the Pittsburgh Police Bicycle Unit and have fun decorating their bikes. Children can play a host of Halloween and seasonal games and win prizes, enjoy Pittsburgh Puppet Works Halloween shows and the Dr. Sparks Science Show, and enjoy giant bubble making, balloons, and face painting. Generous donations include Eat n’ Park Monster Mash Cookies and Bike PGH information and resources. Children and families can enjoy life-size hand-painted seasonal decor including a haunted house facade, a barn and barnyard characters, minion city, pumpkin people, and more. Games and Activities Games and activities include: Halloween Costume Contest (2 p.m.), Pumpkin Decorating, Inflatable Games, Pumpkin Cone Toss, Spider Corn Hole Toss, Pumpkin Bowling, Guess How Many (Candy Corn), Break a Balloon, and more! More Information To learn more, visit the CitiParks website.
September 17, 2019 Healthy School Summit 2019 Join Healthy Schools Pennsylvania on Friday, October 25 for their 4th Annual Healthy Schools Summit to learn, collaborate, and commit to creating healthier, greener, and more sustainable learning environments for all children in our region! Morning Sessions Foundations for Student Success: How School Buildings Influence Student Health, Thinking, & Performance Keynote Speaker – Erika Eitland, MPH Program Manager, Schools for Health, Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health What Does it Take to Create a Healthy School? Panel Discussion – Cassandra Brown, RN, Pittsburgh Public Schools; Jake Douglas, Food Services Director, Deer Lakes School District; Christine Schott, Parent and Sustainability Coordinator, Steel Valley School District; Vicki Ammar, Teacher, Pittsburgh Public Schools Celebrating Success through Our Healthy Schools Recognition Program Awards Ceremony and Luncheon Working Lunch: What Makes a Successful School Grant Proposal? Featuring Tracey Reed Armant from the Grable Foundation Afternoon Sessions Teaching Resiliency and Environmental Justice in the Classroom Educator Workshop – Katie Modic, Director of Education Initiatives at Communitopia Creating a Game-Plan for Whole-School Sustainability School Administrator Workshop – Donnan Stoicovy, Head of School, State College Friends School Engaging Parents and Community Partners for Healthy Schools Parent and Partner Workshop – Monté Robinson, Community Schools Coordinator, Pittsburgh Public Schools and LaKeisha Wolf, Executive Director, Ujamaa Collective Registration To register, visit the Eventbrite page. Learn More For questions, email Healthy Schools Coordinator, Kara Rubio, at 412.404.2872 or kara@womenforahealthyenvironment.org.
August 16, 2019 Pittsburgh Farm to ECE Provider Survey Through an online survey, Ready Set Grow! is seeking responses from Pittsburgh early care and education providers to learn more about current practices and needed supports in the field. Ready Set Grow! In partnership with the Pennsylvania Head Start Association, the Food Trust launched Ready Set Grow!, a Farm to ECE program new to Pittsburgh, with the intention to increase Farm to Early Learning activities on a statewide level in the early care and education field. To learn more, visit their website. Farm to ECE Farm to ECE is a part of the National Farm to School Network, providing activities and strategies that offer increased access to: healthy, local foods; gardening opportunities; and food-based learning activities to enhance the quality of the educational experience. Farm to ECE works well in all types of early care and education settings, with activities supporting healthy eating habits, creating connections to local foods and agricultural communities, and teaching children how food grows. Take the Survey To submit your input, visit the Ready Set Grow! google form today. More Information For more information, contact Ready Set Grow via their online form.
July 18, 2019 Eye Contact with Babies Increases Information Coupling A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes that shared eye contact increases information coupling between infant and adult brains. About Communication is a fundamental part of life, especially when considering the early learning and development of a newborn child. In conversation, we use different types of social signals, both verbal and non-verbal, to share meaning with others. These signals can include things such as mimicking facial expressions, vocal tone, and eye contact. However, a recent study concluded that eye contact in specific can be a powerful tool to increase information coupling between infants and adults. Information Coupling In the study, researchers state that “previous research indicates that when communication is successful, close temporal dependencies arise between adult speakers’ and listeners’ neural activity.” Through these dependencies, an individual that’s communicating with another person can have varying levels of influence on the other person’s neural activity. In short, this coupling acts as a form of “social connectedness,” where the actions, reactions, and expressions of a person impacts how another person’s brain responds. For adults interacting with young children, using social signals such as direct eye contact can bring the child and adult’s “brains into temporal alignment, creating a joint-networked state that is structured to facilitate information sharing during early communication and learning.” Temporal alignment between adults and infants is important, as it “plays a vital role in supporting early learning across multiple domains of language, cognition, and socioemotional development.” Infants spend a lot of time looking at the faces of others, interpreting the way their facial features move, where their eyes shift to, and how their voices sound. And as they rely on these social cues to interpret meaning in their daily life, direct gaze is thought to be one of the most important cues for individuals and infants to infer communicative intent. Babies prefer to look at the face people who are looking right at them, with direct gaze even reinforcing the social responses that babies produce and their ability to recognize face-related information. Conclusion In conclusion, adults working or living with infants should consider using direct eye contact frequently with their child. Whether an adult is playing with, reading with, bathing, or even singing a nursery rhyme to a child, shared eye contact can act to build strong communication and information sharing between the two. To learn more about the importance of speaker gaze, read the full report. Article Citation Leong, Victoria, et al. “Speaker Gaze Increases Information Coupling between Infant and Adult Brains.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 12 Dec. 2017, www.pnas.org/content/114/50/13290.
July 2, 2019 Babywearing 101 Join MAYA Organization and Healthy Start Pittsburgh for Babywearing 101 to learn alternative ways to carry your baby! About Parents and caregivers are invited to find out how babywearing can benefit moms, dads, caregivers, and babies! Try out different carries and learn how to use them properly alongside a MAYA educator and doula, Jaime Horst, for this fun and interactive class. Registration To register or ask questions, call 412.945.7670, ext. 103; email christy@mayaorganization.org; or visit their Facebook event page. Share this flyer with your network.
June 14, 2019 OpenStreetsPGH Join Bike Pittsburgh in Uptown, Southside, and Downtown on July 28 for an opportunity to walk, run, and bike down main roads and explore businesses, watch live performances, and participate in countless fun activities for the whole family. About Take a classic Pittsburgh experience – traveling from a bridge into a tunnel – and try it on foot or by bike! Explore Downtown, Uptown, and Southside including the Birmingham Bridge, the 10th St Bridge, and the Armstrong Tunnel! Hop off your bike or slow your stroll to stop at hubs around the route! Hubs feature free fitness classes with the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, kids activities, and local vendors! Activities As you walk, run, or bike down the route you will find: live performances, giant board games, local food and shops, fitness classes, kids activities, and more! Learn More To learn more, visit the Bike Pittsburgh website. Questions For questions, contact Bike Pittsburgh at 412.325.4334 or openstreetspgh@bikepgh.org.
