Children across Pennsylvania and West Virginia will find their schools are healthier places when they return from summer break thanks to the Highmark Foundation. The Foundation is awarding a total of $383,909 in grants to 84 schools across Pennsylvania and West Virginia in an effort to make schools healthier places for students.
The Highmark Foundation’s School Grants and Awards Program helps schools address specific areas of student health. The grants are awarded to schools that serve children in grades K–12, and they support evidence-based programs that address one of four priority areas: bullying prevention (16 grants), child injury prevention (24 grants), healthy eating and physical activity (38 grants), or environmental health (six grants).
“Since children spend most of their day at school, the school environment can be one of the most effective places to instill the lifelong importance of health and wellness,” said Highmark Foundation President Yvonne Cook. “Through these programs, we want to help children adopt healthy behaviors while creating healthier schools and communities where kids can learn and thrive.”
The 84 grants are being awarded to vocational, private, parochial and charter schools as well as public school districts. The funds will help each school cultivate a particular program that will address specific needs in its students’ health. Some of the proposals were as broad as physical education programs, while others were as specific as waste reduction initiatives through recycling stations and school gardens to promote healthy eating.
The grant breakdown across the Foundation’s service area is:
- Western Pennsylvania: 42 grants totaling $222,449
- Central Pennsylvania: 14 grants totaling $76,564
- Northeastern Pennsylvania: 3 grants totaling $21,800
- West Virginia: 25 grants totaling $63,096
See the full list of schools here
Since 2013, the Highmark Foundation has awarded over $2 million through its School Grants and Awards Program to schools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
