Nutley Department of Health Receives $10,000 Grant for Yantacaw Walks, a Pilot Program to Promote Walking to School

Partners for Health and ShapingNJ award grant

Posted

Walking is one of the easiest ways to be active. In Nutley’s neighborhood school model, students live within walking distance of school, so have the opportunity to walk as part of their daily routines. Despite the proximity and established routes, only 23% of Nutley students walk to school. While this is better than the 13% national average, it is still dramatically less than the 66% of children who walked to school in 1970.

“Adults and children alike are spending too much time in cars, including for the vast majority of trips under a mile,” says leading public health expert, pediatrician, and Yantacaw Walks Executive Advisor Dr. Richard Jackson. “When we engineer physical activity out of children’s lives, we steal from them health and years of life. The health consequences of physical inactivity are a national health threat, with a growing number of children developing diseases once seen only in adults, such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and fatty livers,” warns Dr. Jackson.

The main goal of Yantacaw Walks is to encourage as many Yantacaw students as possible to walk to school and also prepare graduating Yantacaw 6th graders for walking to middle school.

“When more students walk to school, we establish healthy habits, reduce traffic congestion and air pollution around the school, and increase students’ confidence and independence. We’ve found that students who walk to school arrive refreshed and ready to learn,” says Yantacaw Principal Annemarie Carollo.

Yantacaw Walks is a ShapingNJ project funded in part by a grant from the Partners for Health Foundation. ShapingNJ is a public-private partnership of more than 200 organizations across New Jersey working to “make the healthy choice, the easy choice” for all residents. Partners for Health is an independent, self-governing public charity serving the Montclair area that develops partnerships to encourage area residents to live healthier lifestyles and to enhance their ability to do so.

The $10,000 grant was awarded to the Nutley Department of Health to fund program components such as walk-to-school pledges; route improvements and signage; kick-off and weekly walk-to-school events; classroom and school-wide challenges; educational materials; and education and promotion through traditional and social media channels.

“We are thrilled to receive this generous grant from the Partners for Health Foundation, which partners to strengthen health and wellness in our area,” says Commissioner of Public Affairs Steven Rogers. “Not only will the pilot support Yantacaw students in walking to school, it will create a reusable plan and set of materials that can be adapted by each of the other Nutley schools to suit their needs and local culture,” continues Commissioner Rogers.

“Yantacaw Walks was directly inspired by a November 2013 talk that Dr. Jackson gave in Nutley in which he conveyed the urgency of the public health crisis caused by a lack of exercise among children. Not only is it our responsibility to educate our students, we must support them in developing healthy lifestyles for the long haul,” says Superintendent of Nutley Public Schools Russell Lazovick. “Walking to school is a simple part of the solution. As Dr. Jackson puts it, ‘Health happens in neighborhoods, not doctors’ offices.’”

Yantacaw Walks kicks off the first Walk-to-School Wednesday on April 23rd, 2014 with a walking parade, special guests, and giveaways. Yantacaw students will pledge to walk to school with a minimum commitment of once a week and grades will compete to tally the most walks. Yantacaw students will also work together to meet a school-wide goal of miles logged.

Drivers are asked to be aware of children walking to and from school by slowing down, especially approaching crosswalks. Drivers should exercise caution, obey all traffic laws, look both ways before turning, eliminate distracted driving (such as by texting), and expect the unexpected.

For more information, visit Yantacaw Walks on Facebook (www.facebook.com/YantacawWalks), email YantacawWalks@nutleynj.org, or call (973) 284-4900, xt. 2424.