Healthy Schools Campaign In the News

More schools cultivate learning in student gardens
11.17.2008 | Chicago Tribune
HSC school wellness director Jean Saunders is quoted in this story about school gardens around the U.S. that provide learning opportunities for students.

Chefs of tomorrow cooking up change today
11.12.2008 | Chicago Defender
On Oct. 23, teams of high school students studying culinary arts in Chicago Public Schools presented to a crowd of 400-plus just how tasty and how healthy school lunch can really be. The fundraiser benefited the Healthy School Campaign, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving child health through greener environment, exercise awareness and nutrition.

America’s Healthiest Schools
September 2008 | Health
HSC’s founding executive director Rochelle Davis is spotlighted in Health magazine as a "healthy-school expert" in the magazine’s feature on America’s Healthiest Schools. The story profiles school wellness programs around the nation.

Second green cleaning guide released by Healthy Schools Campaign
9.15.2008 | Facilities Management News
The Healthy Schools Campaign, a nonprofit advocate for healthy school environments, has released the second edition of its Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools. Improved and expanded, the guide includes new sections on sustainability, green cleaning for food service, integrated pest management, and other new technologies. It follows the distribution of more than 70,000 copies of the original guide.

Sustainability 101: Schools Go Green
September 2008 | 365: Living Green Everyday
This interview with HSC founding executive director Rochelle Davis addresses green cleaning in schools, school sustainability efforts and more.

Second Edition of Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools Released
9.12.2008 | CleanLink News
Healthy Schools Campaign announced the release of the improved and expanded second edition of the Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools. The second edition includes new sections on sustainability, green cleaning for food service, integrated pest management, new technologies and more.

HSC Announces First National Summit
9.9.2008 | ISSA News
The Healthy Schools Campaign announced it will hold a Green Clean Schools National Summit November 12, 2008, in Washington, D.C. The announcement was made in a joint, live press conference held with representatives from HSC and two of its strong supporters, ISSA and The Ashkin Group.

Green Cleaning in Schools
8.5.2008 | ISSAtv
This educational video from ISSAtv features HSC founding executive director Rochelle Davis discussing green cleaning in schools, with an emphasis on the five simple steps to a healthy school environment outlined in HSC’s Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools.

Green Cleaning Awards and Webinars Bring New Opportunities for Schools
7.3.2008 | ICS Cleaning Specialist
This article highlights HSC’s green cleaning webinar series and the national Green Cleaning in Schools award presented by HSC, the Green Cleaning Network and American School & University magazine.

Green cleaners required in Illinois schools
5.15.2008 | AP
This article, which appeared in news sources around the U.S., quotes HSC’s Mark Bishop and features HSC friend Bill Thompson of Lockport Township High School. The article details the impact of the Green Clean Schools Act and the benefits it provides for children’s health.

Going green to clean schools
5.04.2008 | Daily Herald
This article discusses implementation of the Green Clean Schools Act, referencing Healthy Schools Campaign and quoting deputy director Mark Bishop.

Chicago's first LEED-built green school teaches the A, B, Es of eco lessons
4.29.2008 | Medill News Service
More than a dozen eighth-graders served as expert tour guides who dazzled visitors with details about the architecture and benefits of Chicago’s first official green school, the Tarkington School for Excellence. The school actually opened several years ago but students and school officials shared the success story Tuesday on National Healthy Schools Day.

Univision News: Recess
4.7.2008 | Univision-Chicago (Channel 66)
HSC's Guillermo Gomez and parents involved with HSC's Parents United for Healthy Schools were featured in a Univision News segment on recess.

Kids dig healthy eating
3.20.2008 | Pioneer Local
Childhood obesity. Little kids with high blood pressure. Elementary school students with diet-related type II diabetes. These are serious health problems that parents didn't much encounter during the early 1900s, when many schools that served lunch grew their own produce. But a recent movement in the north suburbs is afoot to get more nutritious food on kids' plates, the way it was done long ago -- direct from local gardens.

Nurse leads South Central into new wave of healthy behavior
1.25.2008 | Salem Times-Commoner
This article profiles the accomplishments of School Nurse Michelle Blomberg, including the healthy changes she’s made throughout her school since her involvement in HSC’s School Nurse Leadership Program.

Putting heat on school menus
12.31.2007 | Chicago Tribune
Fighting childhood obesity has become a pet cause for Susan and Robert Rogers and their Hanover Park-based family-owned business, School Health Corp., a supplier to school nurses and athletic trainers. "It drives me crazy when I see chicken fingers and french fries on the lunch menu," said Robert Rogers, executive vice president of the 100-employee firm. That's why Rogers is cutting back on his corporate duties next year to spend more time working pro bono for the Healthy Schools Campaign, a Chicago-based not-for-profit.

Chicago’s Very Own: Healthy School Lunch
12.28.2007 | WGN-Chicago
This segment featured HSC’s work with the Noble Network of Charter Schools to bring healthy, freshly-prepared food to the school cafeteria.

Green Cleaning Award For Schools & Universities [pdf]
12.21.2007 | American School & University
This special issue of American School & University magazine highlights the winners of the Green Cleaning Award program sponsored by Healthy Schools Campaign, the Green Cleaning Network and American School & University. HSC’s Rochelle Davis and Claris Olson are profiled as judges along with Steve Ashkin, author of HSC’s Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools. Criteria for judging the competition were based on the Quick & Easy Guide.

Cleaning Up Our Act
November 2007 | Building Operating Management
HSC's Claris Olson is quoted in this article on the why and how-to of green cleaning in schools.

Student chefs create healthy school fare
10.19.2007 | Chicago Sun-Times
The team of six chefs -- sporting embroidered white jackets and chef hats -- huddled around a plate, as one tried delicately to balance two broccoli spears next to a molded cup of rice. Another stood by with a rag and wiped up every errant fleck of sauce. Despite the attention to detail, these were not chefs at Chicago's culinary hot spots, but rather students at Englewood Academy High School. They came from one of 15 Chicago public schools that competed Thursday night in "Cooking Up Change," a contest sponsored by the Healthy Schools Campaign.

Students compete in healthy school lunch contest
10.19.2007 | Chicago Tribune
Within the splendid clutter of Salvage One, the repository of old architectural artifacts, teams of anxious young cooks scurried by in their white uniforms carrying trays of food. They were preparing for the “Cooking Up Change Healthy Cooking Contest,” a challenge for high school students to develop a healthful school lunch entree, plus appetizer and dessert.

Video: Culinary Students Face Cooking Challenge
10.19.2007 | NBC5 Chicago
This raw video filmed at Cooking up Change, HSC’s annual benefit, shows Chicago Public Schools culinary students preparing for the healthy cooking contest that was the focus of the event.

The 8th Annual Good Eating Awards: Rochelle Davis
10.17.2007 | Chicago Tribune
HSC’s Founding Executive Director Rochelle Davis is profiled in this article as one of the winners of the 2007 Chicago Tribune Good Eating Awards, for her work highlighting “the positive connection between good food, good living and good health.”

Cleaning for Health
9.24.2007 | Housekeeping Solutions
HSC's Claris Olson is quoted in this article about starting and maintaining a green cleaning program.

Run with David: Chicago Marathon
9.17.2007 | Runner's World
Peter Sagal, host of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and honorary team captain of HSC's team running The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, is featured in this Runner's World profile.

Schools Ripe for Green Cleaning
9.6.2007 | Contracting Profits
After years spent hovering just below the radar, green cleaning and cleaning for health movements have exploded — thanks in part to an increasing concern for the environments in which we live.

Many suburban schools plow down conservation path
8.19.2007 | Daily Herald
HSC's Mark Bishop is quoted in this story about environmentally responsible choices that students and teachers are making at school.

Food Affair — The French Approach to Healthy Eating and Enjoyment
August 2007 | Today’s Dietitian
The women may or may not get fat, but one thing seems clear: the French have a love-love relationship with food. Attendees of a recent educational forum got a taste of the country’s culinary culture, especially in its schools -— a taste that may shed light on how to improve the health of American children.

Green Cleaning Awards to Honor School Programs
7.24.07 | GreenBiz
Janitorial product manufacturers, distributors and service providers for educational institutions are invited to enter the first Green Cleaning Award for Schools and Universities. The Green Cleaning Network, Healthy Schools Campaign and American School & University magazine launched the contest to recognize outstanding green cleaning programs.

Getting from Here to Green
July 2007| Cleaning and Maintenance Management
HSC is recommended as a resource in this article offering guidance on how to identify green products.

What's Wrong with School Lunch?
5.25.07 | Chicago Reader
On the first day Greg Christian served lunch at Louisa May Alcott, a public elementary school in Lincoln Park, a student looked at his options and was appalled. “He said, ‘Ew, the peas are green,’” Christian says. “The teacher had to explain that’s the color they’re supposed to be."

Illinois Becomes Second State to Pass Green Cleaning Law
5.21.07 | GreenBiz
Children, teachers, and school staff in Illinois will soon breathe a little easier during the school day. With a 52-5 vote in the Senate today, Illinois became only the second state to enact legislation requiring green cleaning in schools.

Green Clean Schools Act Would Impact Schools Statewide
5.06.07 | The Southern
New state legislation aimed at making cleaning supplies for school districts more environmentally friendly appears to be well on its way to passing both houses of the General Assembly.

Class Caters to Healthy Life
4.27.07 | Chicago Tribune
Jean Saunders, HSC director of school wellness, cooks a healthy meal for students at Pritzker College Prep, a Chicago charter school, and discusses the importance of access to healthy food.

Introducing systems change in the schools: the case of school luncheons and vending machines
4.21.07 | American Journal of Community Psychology
A major public health crisis facing America’s society is the increase in child and youth obesity, which has seen a fourfold increase in the last four decades. Major concerns include what children eat for school lunch and what other foods are available in schools. This paper illustrates efforts towards systems change in the luncheon program and food vending machines in the Chicago Public Schools.

Chicago Schools Helping Students Battle Obesity
3.22.07 | Fox Chicago News at Nine
Guillermo Gomez, HSC Chicago director, is featured in this news segment, along with a family involved with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, one of HSC's community partners.

Improving School Environments Through Green Cleaning
2.5.07 | Education World
As research mounts about the link between indoor air quality and health, and as more children enter school with respiratory problems, schools, districts, and even whole states are switching to more environmentally-friendly cleaning agents. Included: Descriptions of green cleaning programs and how to implement them.

2006

Interview on WPR
12.28.06 | Wisconsin Public Radio
Jean Saunders, HSC director of school wellness, discusses the state of school nutrion and takes questions from callers. Listen to the program online now (one hour). WPR members can download the program for future listening.

All the Buzz
11.30.06 | Campus Facilities Maintenance
This year at the ISSA/Interclean show held in Chicago, Illinois, Green Cleaning was once again all the craze.

Green Cleaning Network Launched (PDF)
11.15.06 | Green Cleaning Network Press Release
HSC Executive Director Rochelle Davis is one of the founding members of a new Green Cleaning Network, which includes schools, healthcare facilities, office buildings and lodging facilities as well as cleaning professionals and policy makers and advocates. Stephen Ashkin, author of HSC's Quick & Easy Guide to Green Clean Schools, is the network's executive director. Covered by GreenBiz.com »

Free Guide Simplifies Green Cleaning in Schools
11.14.06 | PTA: This Week in Washington
Providing a safe and healthy school environment should be a primary concern for school administrators, school staff, and parents.

Eliminating Childhood Obesity: Best Practices for Communities and Schools
9.22.06 | Road to Health Expo, Baltimore, Md.
Guillermo Gomez, HSC Chicago Director and Project Director of the HSC-led Partnership to Reduce Asthma and Obesity in Latino Schools, took part in a national, televised town hall meeting and panel discussion on childhood obesity that was moderated by radio and television journalist Tavis Smiley. C-SPAN covered the event, which also included Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League. Video is available from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Parent's Rally for Healthy Food
Under the banner "Healthy Food + Exercise = Better Students," more than 700 parents and children from across the city came together on Thursday May 25 at the Humboldt Park Boathouse to call for improved school food, nutrition education, more PE, and the restoration of recess in the Chicago Public Schools.

Schools Need to Plan, Not Just Ban, to Have Impact on Childhood Obesity
2.28.06 | The Rock River Times
Guest column by Rochelle Davis, HSC Executive Director
Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s renewed attempt to ban junk food in Illinois elementary and middle schools serves as a reminder of the important role schools can play in addressing the problem of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents.

Healthy Schools Campaign Releases Healthy School Construction Guide
2.7.06 | Press Release
Architects, area school supintendents and school board medias joined HSC in announcing the release of HSC's Healthy, High Performing School Buildings guide. Media coverage round-up follows press release.

2005

Healthy Schools Campaign to Launch "The Student Body Challenge" to Address Childhood Obesity in Schools
10.14.05 | Press Release
A recent survey of parents of school-aged children conducted by the national Action for Healthy Kids consortium found that while the majority of parents want their children to get healthier food and more exercise at school, nearly 85% were unaware that federal law requires their schools to develop comprehensive wellness policies addressing these issues by July 1, 2006.

Bayless Authors to Appear for Charity
6.1.05 | Chicago Tribune
It's another big adventure for Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill and daughter Lanie. The Bayless duo, authors of Rick and Lanie's Exellent Kitchen Adventures: Recipes and Stories, will make a special appearance during the Cooking Up Change Charity event taking place June 9 at the Riverworks Campus of Kendall College.

New Legislation Takes Aim At Childhood Obesity
4.7.05 | Press Release
New proposed legislation and a model policy designed to help schools tackle the serious problem of childhood obesity are being unveiled at a press conference today in the State Capitol.

2004

HSC Announces the Partnership to Reduce Disparities in Asthma and Obesity in Latino Schools
10.12.04 | Press Release
HSC along with the organizations that make up the Partnership to Reduce Disparities in Asthma and Obesity in Latino Schools, held a press conference at the Little Village Community Academy. Media coverage, including television news clips, is available.

Healthy Schools Campaign Releases Back To School Environmental Checklist
9.04 | Press Release
The Healthy Schools Campaign released a Back To School Environmental Checklist to provide parents, students and teachers with a tool to evaluate school conditions and take precautionary actions.

Green Sprawl
6.04 | Sanitary Maintenance Magazine
The goal of the Chicago-based Healthy Schools Campaign is to help Illinois school administrators create healthier environments for children and teachers by making improvements to air quality. This includes using green-cleaning products and equipment.

Press Congress for more clean school bus funds
6.10.04 | Peoria Journal Star
Letter to the Editor by Mark Bishop, HSC Deputy Director
As a member of the appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Bush administration's $65 million request for a national clean school bus grant program ("Cat praised for school bus project," June 4), Congressman Ray LaHood can help the long-term health of both the children and industry of Peoria and Illinois by leading the charge to obtain full funding.

New school gets green thumbs up
5.12.04 | Chicago Tribune
Chicago will break ground Wednesday for the city's first certified "green" elementary school, an eco-friendly structure featuring drought-resistant plants on the roof, solar panels, harvested rainwater and flooring made of recycled glass.

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