After the School Day

By Greg Cook, WHF Associate

For far too many students across our state, the end of the school day means the start of problems such as overeating, lack of exercise, excessive media exposure, and use of tobacco products. All these negative behaviors can lead to health problems among our young people—tomorrow’s leaders, work force and defenders. But there are efforts underway in both the private and public sectors to push back against unhealthy trends and ensure Washington communities are places fro healthy kids.

Last month in Tacoma, the Boys and Girls Clubs opened the Donald G. Topping Regional HOPE Center, a place for children to learn and play outside the school day. The HOPE Center, along with a new East Side satellite branch and existing facilities, offer opportunities for youth to get after-school tutoring and enrichment, participate in healthy physical activity, and take advantage of the presence of trained listeners. HOPE was funded in large part by private philanthropies and businesses: “the Ben B. Cheney Foundation, the Gary E. Milgard Family Foundation, and. . .Tacoma businessman Henry T. Schatz (and his General Plastics Manufacturing Co.) and the late Donald G. Topping,” according to The News Tribune.

In the public sphere, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) offers its afterschool.gov site to bring together resources for after school programs. It offers guidance on setting up and running after school programs, activity ideas, resources, and links to related topics and non-governmental organizations. The HHS site includes state by state information as well as reports; the WA page can be found here.

The Healthiest State Campaign together with the state Department of Health is working to promote a statewide private-public partnership that may identify positive after school trends as part of the Healthiest Communities Partnership. The partnership aims to make healthy choices the easy choices across Washington.

For more information on the Healthiest Communities Partnership, click here.