NOTE: Fill in highlighted areas, remove highlight and instructions, and keep formatting
PRESS RELEASE (on your agency or school’s letterhead)
Date:
For Immediate Release
Contact: (fill in your name, phone number and email address)
Healthy Al, Healthy Me Celebration April 27, 2017
Event focuses on helping kids make healthy choices
XXXX number of child care centers, or name of your Head Start program or school or child care center, in XXXXXX (name the location) will participate in the fifth annual Healthy Al, Healthy Me celebration on April 27, 2017, bringing attention to the importance of healthy eating and physical activity for young children.
On April 27st an estimated XXXX number of children locally (fill in number of children who will participate in the celebration) will join children nationwide and in Canada and Bermuda in fun activities, games, healthy snack parties, and more to recognize how even young children benefit from learning about making healthy choices. The Healthy Al, Healthy Me Celebration brings attention to the importance of starting early to develop healthy habits. Parents and members of the community will be involved XXXXXX (explain how or delete this sentence.)
Healthy Al, Healthy Me Celebration Event
When: April 27, 2017
Where: XXXXXX (insert specific location for media to come to)
Time: XXXX to XXXX (insert start and end hours)
Cost: FREE
What’s visual: Kids learning to make healthy snacks, games involving physical activity, having a healthy party, Al’s healthy party banner and pennants; local officials who will attend
Wingspan, the developer of the nationally recognized program, Al’s Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices, is supporting this celebration by providing materials and suggested activities. Information and ideas for families are available on AcornDreams.com, a service of Wingspan, and on the AcornDreams Healthy Al, Healthy Me Pinterest board.
(Include the next paragraph if your school or agency implements Al’s Pals)
The U. S. Department of Education and other federal agencies have recognized Al’s Pals as a research-based program that works. XXXXX agency (your agency or school name) has secured funding for Al’s Pals from XXXXX (source of your funding for Al’s Pals) for the past XXXXX years and is proud to partner with the child care centers and schools to help ensure that the children in XXXXX area (your geographic area) benefit from the program. Al, the puppet character who serves as the main role model in the program, helps children learn to get along with others, calm down, use self-control, stop and think, solve problems peacefully, and differentiate between things that are safe and healthy for them and things that are unhealthy or harmful. Al models healthy eating and exercise in the Al’s Healthy Choices children’s book.
Research shows that it is more critical than ever to start early to lay the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. More than 25% of American children are overweight by the age of six years old. Excess weight increases children’s risk for health problems like heart disease and diabetes, and is linked to social and emotional challenges including low self-esteem and depression.
Today’s young children eat more salty and sugary snacks, eat fewer fruits and vegetables, and consume more calories overall than children in the past. Most American children get less than half the amount of physical activity recommended by medical experts. Healthy habits not only improve physical well-being, but are also linked to success in school. A nutritious diet and regular physical activity have been shown to help children pay better attention, learn and remember more, behave more appropriately, and develop positive self-esteem.
XXXXX agency or organization (insert name of your agency or school) is working hard to reach out to the community to help children grow up strong, healthy, and ready to learn. These efforts can help children establish habits that can last a lifetime.
# # #
About XXXX Agency or School (insert information here about your agency or school)
About Al’s Pals
Al’s Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices is a resiliency-based early childhood curriculum and teacher training program that develops social-emotional skills and healthy decision-making in children 3 to 8 years old. This nationally recognized evidence-based program, offered by Wingspan, LLC, is used in early elementary classrooms, preschools, Head Start, child care, and after-school programs nationwide and in Canada and Bermuda. The lessons use creative play, brainstorming, puppetry, original music, role play and movement to build children’s social-emotional competence and life skills. Training highlights teaching approaches and strategies that guide children’s prosocial, healthy behavior. For more information please visit www.wingspanworks.com.
About AcornDreams.com
AcornDreams.com is Wingspan’s online service designed to support early childhood educators, parents, guidance counselors, mental health and health professionals in promoting young children’s social skills and healthy development. The website includes free handouts on topics like cooperation and self-control, easy-to-use tips “In a Nutshell” that build brainpower and social skills, regular blog postings about promoting healthy development in early childhood, free downloadable tip sheets, and a store with practical resources and materials, like original books and music, that help promote children’s positive behavior and healthy habits. Visit AcornDreams.com for more information.