HCAT Arlington

Our March HCAT High Five goes to the Us Bus! The Us Bus is an intergenerational walking school bus program at Oakridge Elementary School. The team behind the Us Bus has a new website (https://friendsofthealliance.org/walking-school-bus/) and is ready to start expanding the program to other interested schools. If you are a parent interested in having your elementary student participate or a senior interested in volunteering, check out the link for more information! Special thanks to Lauren Hassel and Andrea Walker for their efforts to keep this idea moving forward!

Interested in learning more about substance use and abuse in our area? Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative (AARI) is offering free sessions to learn more about this important topic, including how to identify signs of substance use and how to respond to a potential drug overdose.

Spanish language session: Monday, February 27 from 7-8:30 pm: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/educacion-sobre-uso-de-sustancias-en-arlington-virginia-tickets-539561512007

English language session: Tuesday, February 28th from 6-7:30 pm: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/substance-use-education-for-arlington-va-tickets-539524912537

The HCAT High Five for February goes to Wakefield High School staff and teachers. With the substance abuse issues and lock downs that occurred earlier this month, the staff, teachers, have been put under enormous strain to not only do their job to teach students but also to contend with real life and death issues within the schools and help students and themselves process those realities. While many of these issues, especially substance abuse, are present at all the high schools, Wakefield has had to contend with theirs in a more public way. We send our appreciation and support to Wakefield this month. ❤️

To celebrate Valentine's Day, I visited Even Start to talk about healthy hearts! We learned how food, stress, sleep, and physical activity can all impact our heart health. We discussed the impact of too much salt to our diet, found mostly in packaged foods, and how that can impact our blood pressure. I shared information on foods that help keep our heart healthy, including beans, nuts, fruit, leafy greens, fish and whole grains. And dark chocolate! To celebrate Valentine's Day, we made a healthy sweet treat: dark chocolate dipped strawberries topped with heart healthy nuts!

We are thrilled to share that our HCAT partner, READ, will have regular, set hours for shopping. We can't wait to check out READ's new storefront location at Ballston Quarter!

If you haven’t heard the news.. we are staying in our current location! We have an official brick and mortar book shop, READ Book Nook!!

Hope you will drop by, say hi and grab some great READs!

Our January HCAT High Five goes to Read Early And Daily - READ. They do amazing work to help our youngest learners and help close the educational and language gap between low income and higher income children and families. This past year has brought about a lot of changes and challenges for READ and they have embraced new opportunities that were born out of those challenges. We appreciate their commitment to offering books that children can see themselves in and make learning accessible to all of our community members. HCAT has collaborated with READ on two StoryWalks and we look forward to future ways to collaborate to incorporate nutrition and physical activity components into reading and sharing books with our youngest learners and their parents.

I visited APS' Even Start class in January to talk about cooking with your kids in the kitchen. After a discussion on appropriate kitchen tasks for different age groups and tips for safety, every student received a cutting board and kid-safe kitchen knife to take home. Each of the students used their new knives to make one of three recipes: Garden Salad with Balsamic Dressing, Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits, and Guacamole with Cucumbers and Tomatoes for dipping. Everyone got to taste the completed recipes and loved the fresh and delicious snacks.

HCAT High Five is shared by Lily Duran and Amy Biestek for their leadership in co-chairing the HCAT Food Security Subcommittee group. They developed interesting topics and invited informative speakers for the meetings and provided a platform for organizations to share challenges, successes, and ideas. They will be moving on to leadership roles in the new Food Security Coalition and will continue to confidently lead on food security issues in Arlington. Thank you for your time and efforts!

I developed a winter scavenger hunt for the Even Start class and we had a fun session yesterday outside looking for nature all around us! As a bonus, the moms got to take the laminated scavenger hunts and dry erase marker home and can do them with their kids this winter!

Congrats to our November HCAT High Five - Stephanie Hopkins, Arlington's Food Security Coordinator. She has led the Food Security Task Force for the last year and a half and provided strong leadership on food assistance efforts in Arlington. She spearheaded the effort to create Arlington’s new Food Security Strategic Plan and put significant effort into building out the narrative to each of the 28 strategies in greater detail in the report. She created a collaborative atmosphere for the task force and will build and expand on that environment as the new Food Security Coalition is launched in early 2023. Thank you, Stephanie, for all of your hard work to help identify and address the growing food security needs in our community.

Last week, I taught the Even Start class about how to make obstacle course chalk drawings to help increase physical activity levels as a family! After a short discussion on types of exercise, the class divided into 3 groups to create their own obstacle courses on the blacktop outside. The class was instructed to incorporate balance, aerobic and bone strengthening exercises into each course. Once the groups finished their courses, the class took turns trying out all the different obstacle courses. It was a great way to get outside, have fun, and get some exercise in before lunch!

Thank you to Randolph Elementary for hosting HCAT for the ribbon cutting ceremony last week to celebrate the new movement-based blacktop art at the school! They definitely know how to throw an amazing school assembly complete with the Wakefield High marching band and color guard! Below are photos of the final painted murals, which were chosen by school staff and painted by our local artist. It was great seeing how much the kids enjoyed the new murals!

Our newest StoryWalk® is up! Come check it out on the trail near Tyrol Hill Park (5101 7th Rd S, Arlington). This event is a collaboration between Healthy Community Action Team (HCAT Arlington) and Read Early And Daily - READ. Our featured book is the bilingual "Call Me Tree" by Maya Christina Gonzalez and the story pages highlight yoga tips in both English and Spanish. The StoryWalk® promotes children's literacy, physical activity and fun family time and will be up through the month of November.

So excited to see pictures of the kids at Carlin Springs Elementary School enjoying the new blacktop sensory path that was just painted at the school this weekend! HCAT Arlington received grant funds from Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth - VFHY and Arlington Foundation for Families and Youth to implement this project at two Title 1 elementary schools in Arlington. It was a big hit with at all grade levels and it is so great to see how active the kids are at recess! I worked with an amazing local artist to make this plan a reality and he really brought my initial vision to life!

Attended Aspire Afterschool Learning's Achieving Afterschool Celebration last night and each table was themed for the events and activities the kids do at Aspire. I was seated at "The Creek" table and this photo was in front of my spot at the table. It features the kids using the outdoor exploration kits that HCAT provided to Aspire students in November 2020 to encourage outdoor time and engagement in nature! So serendipitous to sit in front of that photo and enjoy the lovely celebration to raise money for bigger and better Aspire programs!

Thanks to those of you who were able to join us in person for our October HCAT meeting this morning! It was a brisk, but beautiful fall morning!

I was honored to present one of Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth's Power Partner Award to Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture at their Urban Agriculture Month Kick Off event on October 1. Well deserved recognition for FOUA's efforts to address food and nutritional security in Arlington!

Our September HCAT High Five goes to BikeArlington! They held a successful Bike to School Bike Fair earlier this month and have been instrumental in encouraging kids bike to school and ensuring they have safe routes to get there. They recently produced an updated bike comfort map of Arlington that provides bike routes for all ages and abilities and make planning a family friendly bike ride easy. Bike Arlington also collaborates with Walk Arlington on many activities, including safe routes to school and bike train information for APS students.

REMINDER: Our On The Same Page Discussion Club kicks off today at 9 am! Come learn and discuss about child nutrition, parenting, income inequality and other topics. Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwufuCrrzgiE9SIInoGJWr4PMbQArCzhJ2U

Congrats to Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture receiving a Powerful Partner Award with Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth!

⭐Powerful Partner Award⭐

Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA) is run by a volunteer board of directors and provides hands-on assistance and support for urban gardening in Arlington. FOUA has been instrumental in increasing the variety and amount of fresh fruits and vegetables that are available at food distribution sites. Food insecurity in Arlington has remained high throughout 2021 and the donated fresh produce has filled a critical nutritional gap for many families who rely on food pantries to meet their food needs.

Earlier this year, VFHY announced the Powerful Partner award to honor organizations and individuals that have contributed significantly to the goals and objectives of VFHY grantees who work to prevent and reduce youth tobacco-use, substance-use, and childhood obesity. All award winners were nominated by their community peers. FOUA is one of eight Powerful Partner Award recipients announced throughout July.

Our July HCAT High Five recognizes the efforts this past school year of the APS Food and Nutrition Staff. They have dealt with so many challenges this year, including staffing during food shortages and supply chain issues, but have done their best to provide nutritious meals to our students. And they pivoted quickly when USDA waivers were released in July to allow for continued free meals to summer school students and package grab and go meals for families. We appreciate how hard they have worked this past year and beyond and thank them for their flexibility in dealing with ongoing staffing and logistical challenges.

Help support Real Food For Kids, one of our HCAT partners, and get a healthy meal TODAY!

Our June HCAT High Five goes to Lauren Hassel, the Safe Routes to School Coordinator at APS. She, along with other partners in the county, developed an intergenerational walking school bus pilot program at Oakridge Elementary School this spring. It was recently highlighted on a segment featured on the CBS Evening News (https://www.cbsnews.com/video/walking-school-bus-grows-in-popularity/).

Lauren developed and launched this program with limited funds and volunteer help and I am excited that HCAT will be helping expand this program to additional schools this fall.

In lieu of a May HCAT High Five, recently received a Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth’s Powerful Partner Award. The Foundation provides the grant to fund our HCAT activities and all the HCAT’s were invited to submit nominations for this award. Friends of Urban Agriculture was selected as one of 8 winners in the state. They were nominated due to their efforts to address local food and nutrition security through the Plot Against Hunger and produce bagging programs, their strong collaboration with HCAT coalition partners, and their assistance provided to school gardens that have connected children with nature.

Our StoryWalk is up and running!! Check it out now through the month of May!

Our April HCAT High Five recipient is Arlington VA Public Library!

Not only are our libraries functioning to provide books, music, games and learning materials to all residents free of charge, but their role has also expanded more recently as an important community resource. Libraries also offer job search services and small business support, story times for our youngest community members, holding art programs and plant sales, walking tours and book clubs and their Maker Space to appeal to a broad audience. They have also taken on distributing Covid tests in the past couple of months. Central Library will also be host to the Friends of the Arlington Public Library book sale this weekend.

Our March HCAT High Five goes to....all of us!

Two years ago this week, our world changed. As the Covid-19 pandemic began taking hold in our county, schools, businesses and all aspects of our daily life ground to a halt. Isolation become the norm to prevent the spread of the virus. When schools shut down for an initial period of 3 weeks, very few imagined this would still be top of mind two years later. But, with an easing restrictions, I wanted to take this moment to recognize the strength and resiliency of our Arlington community. Not all of us in our community have fared as well as others these past two years, with job losses, illnesses, deaths, learning loss, social isolation and mental health struggles to name a few. But our community as a whole, including non-profits, government agencies, medical professionals, front line workers, businesses and individuals stepped up in ways we could have never conceived before. Social service providers found new and unique ways to provide services to those in need, especially as those needs expanded rapidly in the early days of the pandemic. We all deserve a High Five. 🙌

Our February HCAT High Five goes to Clothesline for Arlington Kids. They have made a significant impact on youth in our community by providing new and gently used fashionable and weather-appropriate clothing for low-income school aged kids in Arlington. In 2021, they provided nearly 30,000 articles of clothing to over 900 students. Clothesline provides a full wardrobe of clothing for each season free of charge for qualifying students K-12. They rely extensively on donations from the community to fulfill requests for clothing, a network of dedicated volunteers to sort and prepare clothing for students and they work closely with school social workers to identify students most in need of clothing. Even through the pandemic, they have worked tirelessly to make sure students who need seasonally appropriate clothing can get them. To help Clothesline for Arlington Kids with needed items, visit their Target WishList: https://www.target.com/gift-registry/gift-giver?registryId=9818b0e6-8937-11eb-89b7-d5131c1aa83a&type=CHARITY

Gift Giver Page Find the perfect gift on .

Enjoy fruit many ways to celebrate National Nutrition Month!

Put Your Best Fruit Forward | Alliance for a Healthier Generation Fruit is an important part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. In honor of National Nutrition Month, Healthier Generation and our friends at That's it. want to help you put your best fruit forward. Our colorful quiz, budget-friendly buyer's guide, and easy-to-use resources will help you and your famil...

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Family Dinners for a Healthy Heart Want your family to have healthy hearts? Start with the family dinner table.