Volunteer actors and others to reach an additional 2,000 Coachella Valley Students
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has announced its partnership with Coachella Valley BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) for a new health-based literacy program, “FitKids” to be launched May 5, 2014.
“The Alliance works with more than 80 schools in Coachella Valley, empowering students and staff to create healthy school environments,” said Lenea Pollett, Healthy Schools Program Manager for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. “I cannot thank BookPALS enough for believing in the importance of health education and contributing their talents to our schools.”
For the last seven years Coachella Valley BookPALS volunteers have been reading aloud in classrooms from Indio to Desert Hot Springs to foster the joy of reading. During May 2014 the readers–made up of actors, performers, former teachers and others–will read health and fitness books to help encourage a healthy lifestyle.
Among the books to be read are Tish Rabe’s, “Oh, the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You,” (Random House), Teresa Anne Power’s, “The ABCs of Yoga for Kids” (Stafford House) and Tesha Vann’s, “Kensie Cooks, The Lost Receipe.” Books were donated by each author for this inaugural program.
“The overweight and obesity rate in Coachella Valley schools is between 40-60 percent,” said Tere Romero Britton, Coachella Valley BookPALS Director and board member of Palm Springs Women in Film and Television. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to educate our region’s students about the importance of a healthy lifestyle through our program and new partnership with the Alliance.”
About the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation, works to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity and to empower kids to develop lifelong, healthy habits. The Alliance works with schools, companies, community organizations, healthcare professionals and families to transform their conditions and systems that lead to healthier children. To learn more and join the movement, visit www.HealthierGeneration.org.
About Coachella Valley BookPALS
Coachella Valley BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools is sponsored by Palm Springs Women In Film and Television. Volunteer actors and others help children learn to love books by reading aloud in classrooms and in the process inspiring them to read and write on their own and increase their vocabulary. To learn more and get involved, visit www.PSWIFT.org or call 760-898-4052.
