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Municipal and School Leaders Collaborate on Wellness Initiatives
Posted August 3, 2007

The National League of Cities and the American Association of School Administrators have partnered to supply technical assistance to six city-school teams to collaborate on local wellness policies.

At the inaugural meeting held with representatives from the participating cities and school districts on July 16-18 in Washington, D.C., a variety of organizations, including the American Council for Fitness and Nutrition (ACFN), provided resource materials offering information on best practices and model programs.

“Reducing the rates at which childhood obesity continues to escalate requires the kind of collaboration among cities, school districts and advocacy organizations that the National League of Cities and the American Association of School Administrators technical assistance initiative allows,” said Dr. Susan Finn, ACFN CEO. “The six cities selected to participate have taken an important step toward developing and sustaining initiatives that will help students avoid the health-related risks associated with obesity.”

The cities and districts competitively selected to participate in the technical assistance program are Charleston, S.C.; Jackson, Tenn.; La Mesa, Calif.; Oakland, Calif.; San Antonio, Texas; and Savannah, Ga. The technical assistance program is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The meeting brought together wellness teams in order to achieve the mutual goals of supporting healthy children and healthy communities. Attendees at the “City and School Leaders Collaborating on Local Wellness Policies” event reported they were seeking assistance in multiple areas such as developing government affairs committees to address legislative and policy issues, addressing “No Child Left Behind” and the 2007 Farm Bill as they relate to wellness policies and establishing joint-use agreements with municipal parks and recreation departments.

The city-school teams also worked together on establishing programs to offer breakfast in the classroom for young students, identify models for program evaluation, identify components of successful models and increase collaboration between city governments and school districts.

For more information on The National League of Cities, please visit www.nlc.org.

For more information on The American Association of School Administrators, please visit www.aasa.org.