NEIGHBORHOOD GRANT FUNDS WELLNESS PROGRAM

June 2005 -  Thanks to a $2,000 grant from the Neighborhood Fund, St. Elizabeth School will initiate a Wellness Program to encourage physical fitness and healthy attitudes toward eating and nutrition for our students, going beyond the confines of their weekly physical education classes.

Next year, third, fourth and fifth grade students will participate in an after school exercise class, attend workshops on health and nutrition from the school nurse and a nutritionist, learn to cook healthy recipes in our school kitchen, and produce a school cookbook. The school hopes to continue this valuable program for additional grades in the future.

The lessons will be integrated across all curriculum areas including the library and technology. The culminating activity will be a health fair, with displays on fitness, health and nutrition. Students will also take the Presidential Physical Fitness Test and participate in the Jump Rope for Heart, sponsored by the American Heart Association.

The Neighborhood Fund is sponsored by Columbia University Medical Center, New York State Psychiatric Institute, and New York Presbyterian Hospital.