Oregon

The Oregon Healthy Schools initiative, a campaign designed to reach school superintendents, principals, and community leaders, shined a spotlight on healthy school environments and motivated districts to improve wellness policies and programs for students and staff.

IMPACT

Oregon has made tremendous progress in starting school wellness committees and updating policies and programs. With CDC funding for school health, a dedicated staff position was created at the state level to coordinate district wellness efforts and focus on 15 school districts that reach 47,212 students. A wellness advisory committee was formed with reps from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) Child Nutrition Programs; Oregon Health Authority/Public Health Division (OHA-PHD); Oregon School Board Association (OSBA); Oregon Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (OASCD); and OEA-Choice Trust, a trust dedicated to providing expertise and resources to help Oregon public school employees create comprehensive and flexible wellness programs.