More than 150 students from eight school districts in King County came together on Tuesday, Oct. 18, to learn how to put their passion into action for healthier communities and against tobacco addiction and an industry that continues to market addictive products that appeal to kids.

At the "Your Power, Your Voice: Youth Leadership Summit," students developed and shared their year-long projects that focus on changing policies, practices and attitudes that promote tobacco use by students. The summit also helped them gain critical communications skills needed to move their work forward. 
 

A student from Salmon Bay School proudly displays the testimony she wrote in favor of cleaner -- and smoke-free -- parks during the Youth Summit.

Participating districts included Highline, Kent, Lake Washington, Mercer Island, Seattle, Shoreline, Snoqualmie Valley and Tukwila.  Guest presenters included representatives from Reel Grrls and Puget Sound OFF, King County Councilmember and Board of Health Chair Joe McDermott, Seattle School Board Director Betty Patu and Sea-Tac Parks Director Kit Ledbetter. 

The summit was co-hosted by the Puget Sound Educational Service District, Seattle Public Schools and Public Health - Seattle & King County. Learn more about Puget Sound ESD's CPPW initiatives. 

Students across King County are eating healthier this year, thanks to the work of the Auburn, Highline, Kent, Renton and Seattle school districts to improve school nutrition. 

"We know that good nutrition helps keep kids healthy, but it's also crucial for ensuring that students succeed in schools," said Dr. Alan Spicciati, the interim superintendent at Highline Public Schools and member of the CPPW leadership team. "Many of our local districts are making exciting changes in school nutrition. Our goal is healthy students who are ready to learn."

School districts are working to make school meals healthier by serving more fruits and vegetables, providing nutrition education, increasing whole grains, reducing sodium levels, making free water available during school meals, and providing only low-fat or nonfat milk. Projects to improve school nutrition in King County also include:

• Students in the Kent School District are eating more locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables thanks to a new farm-to-school model program that connects the school district to local farmers.
• The "Serving Healthy Choices" campaign in Highline Public Schools makes it easier for students to choose healthy foods by marking healthy menu items with a new icon in cafeterias for the entire district.
• More than 4,000 students and staff in the Auburn School District have signed on to the "Commit to Fit" campaign, a student-led effort to encourage healthy eating and physical activity.
• New digital menu boards in the Renton School District will note healthy choices with a student-designed icon.
• The "Harvest of the Month" program in the Seattle Public Schools features locally grown produce, whole grains and dairy products once a month in cafeterias in 35 schools across the district, along with educational materials focused on local foods.  

Learn more about the improvements in nutrition by these five school districts in King County.  

Black River Blues Blueberry Farm growers Nik and his wife Rebecca visited East Hill Elementary School in Kent as their blueberries were served at lunch.

The Mapping Our Voices for Equality (MOVE) website went live on Oct. 20! This online map of King County features more than 75 multilingual digital stories produced by community members about healthy eating, active living, and tobacco prevention. The map also demonstrates place-based policy changes instituted by CPPW grantees and includes resources for viewers to take action to promote healthy communities.

Join us as we take MOVE on the road!

MOVE partners will host a series of community forums with local decision-makers this fall. King County residents will present the MOVE map, digital stories and policy priorities to panels of elected officials.

Latinos LGBTQ en Movimiento

Thursday, Nov. 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Miller Community Center

Presented by Entre Hermanos

Latinos on the MOVE

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Burien Library at Burien City Hall

Presented by Sea Mar

For more information, please visit www.mappingvoices.org or contact tasha@creativenarrations.net.

Food Day in King County brought together people from all walks of life to push for healthy, affordable and sustainable foods. Local organizations, schools, leaders and residents mobilized for Food Day to expand access to healthy food and curb access to junk food.

Food Day activities in King County included:

• The King County Board of Health passed a resolution, and the King County Council, the Seattle City Council, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine jointly passed a Food Day resolution.
• Seattle Tilth Farm Works hosted an open house for the public to tour a farm and meet farmers working to create small farming businesses.
• The Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition partnered with the YMCA of Greater Seattle to host a "Soda Free Sundays" event at the Downtown Seattle Y.
• Students in the Real Food Challenge club at the University of Washington distributed samples of local, "real" food from PSFN Members for Food Day. The Real Food Challenge works to connect more locally grown and community based food to university food service.

To learn more about Food Day, visit www.foodday.org or Public Health's Food Day website.

The YMCA of Greater Seattle and Soda Free Sundays Food Day event.

Seattle Tilth Farm Works provides local refugees, immigrants, and low-income families the opportunity to participate in developing a sustainable food system by growing food organically and selling it to local corner stores, farmers markets and other small market buyers in their geographic or ethnic communities. Farmers gain hands-on experience growing food and developing small farm businesses. Access to land, equipment, and utilities is subsidized for program participants, with subsidies decreasing over time as farmers grow their businesses. Farmers also go on educational field trips to tour other farm operations, get support to sell food at local markets and events, and take classes on creating a business plan as well as other farming and business topics. Somali Bantu, Ethiopian, Burundian and other low-income families have participated in the program. 
 

Learn more about Seattle Tilth Farm Works.

Students are on the

move, thanks to

Safe Routes to School

Midway Elementary in the Highline School District kicked off its weekly walks to school when 80 students joined teachers, parents, police officers, school district leadership and Des Moines city planning staff on a walk to school.

CPPW partners

in action 

Change takes time and it won't be easy, but CPPW partners have already taken steps to build a healthier King County.

October 2011

The "Your Power, Your Voice: Youth Leadership Summit" brings together more than 150 students for healthier communities.

The Mapping Our Voices for Equality (MOVE) map, which shows how local CPPW projects are working toward healthier neighborhoods, launches.

Students across King County mark International Walk to School Month by walking and biking to school. 

September 2011

Housing Resources Group implements smoke-free housing policies for all of its buildings.

August 2011

19 refugee and immigrant youth create a video documenting tobacco use in their community.

July 2011
 Four mental health and substance use agencies, representing 17 sites, implemented tobacco-free campus policies.  

June 2011

75,000+ SNAP and WIC recipients living in south King County can use their benefits at 6 south-end farmers markets.

128 registered PrideFest vendors pledge to implement some form of tobacco free policy.

Seattle Public Schools adopt new tobacco-free environment policy.

OneAmerica engages 100 Somali community members in Tukwila to assess barriers to physical activity. They overwhelmingly want to participate in more physical activity (83%) and need better access to parks and recreation facilities in their neighborhoods (43%).

May 2011

Gay City's Tobacco education campaign launches.

Nearly 300 people take the Soda Free Sundays pledge.

Harborview and UW Medical Center implement a campus-wide smoke-free policy on May 31.  

April 2011

The King County Board of Health passes Healthy Vending Guidelines to encourage organizations to provide healthier choices in vending machines.

Workshop on smoke-free housing for people with chronic mental illness gathers 50 participants.  
 

Childcare centers across King County turn off the TV for Screen Free Week.

Total number of affordable housing units planning to go smoke-free by March 2012 is over 9,000.

March 2011 

Seattle Gay News commits to not running tobacco advertising targeting the LGBT community as part of its partnership with Gay City and One Degree Events around Pridefest.

February 2011

A CPPW-funded media campaign increases calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW, a free resource to help people quit tobacco, by 40 percent.

January 2011

The Healthy Foods Here Produce Manual makes it easier for small grocery and convenience stores to sell fresh produce. 

Highline Medical Center goes tobacco-free.

December 2010 

The King County Board

of Health passes comprehensive e-cigarette regulations to protect youth in King County.

October 2010

A new education campaign spreads the word about the health impacts of consuming sugar-loaded beverages.

September 2010

CPPW partners working on comprehensive planning gain a valuable tool when the King County Board of Health adopts new Planning for Healthy Communities Guidelines to inform planning decisions and promote health by creating environments that allow people to be physically active, eat healthy food, and live in safe and healthy places.

 CPPW in the news 

Seattle Tilth receives national award, My Wallingford, Oct. 26

Better health for all gets a digital assist, Crosscut, Oct. 25 

Local leaders celebrate farmers on Food Day, Issaquah Press, Oct. 25

MOVE maps digital stories on diet, smoking in King County, Social Capital Review, Oct. 24  

Renton Students Put Teeth In Healthy Diet, Renton Reporter, Oct. 23

King County's Food Day mission focuses on affordability, sustainability, Issaquah Press, Oct. 21

Community partners promote a healthier King County through maps and stories, Auburn Reporter, Oct. 20

150 students to gather in Renton for anti-tobacco summit, Renton Reporter, Oct. 17 

Improving Students Nutrition Choices At The Kent School District Along With Other Districts, Covington/Maple Valley/Black Diamond Reporter, Oct. 15

Laurelhurst School Cafeteria Featuring Washington Grown Produce, Grains and Dairy Once A Month In Lunches, Laurelhurst Blog, Oct. 14 

Nutrition Improvements At Public Schools In King County, CHS Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, Oct. 13

Nutrition Improvements At Public Schools In King County, The Southlake, Oct. 13

Exciting, Healthy Changes Underway for School Meals, Central District News, Oct. 12

Auburn participates in National School Lunch Week, Auburn Reporter, Oct. 10

Exciting, healthy changes underway for school meals, Highline Times, Oct. 10