Boston Site Gets We Can!® Into Public Schools

Posted October 2, 2007

Boston Steps, run by the Boston Public Health Commission, is a part of the Steps to a Healthier US Initiative. Boston Steps is collaborating with Boston Public Schools to support hosting We Can! parent classes.

Informational materials about the parent classes and making We Can! activities an option for School Wellness activities were distributed to elementary and middle school principals from Boston Public Schools at the summer back-to-school meeting. Follow-up with principals and parent school coordinators to schedule classes is ongoing for this fall semester. We Can! materials were also distributed at a July meeting called “Building Healthy Communities through School-based Wellness Plans,” where New England superintendents discussed how superintendents could serve as leaders for community-wide wellness policy change.

Boston Steps has also reached out to community health centers, community organizations, and all Boston YMCAs to help build capacity to host We Can! parent classes in English or Spanish. Fall class participants are being recruited now for one health center and two community groups to begin in October. Previous classes include three school sites and three community sites.

To reach their goals for expansion of We Can! parent classes, Boston Steps staff have trained 12 nutritionists to provide the instructions for the sites. All educational materials, refreshments, and incentives for classes will be provided by Boston Steps free of charge to participants.