HASTe BC Newsletter Summer 2015


Hello! and welcome to the Summer 2015 Edition of the HASTe newsletter. If you're receiving this, you've either signed up for our newsletter or somebody we think wouldn't mind getting occasional updates about HASTe and the resources it offers. Thanks for taking a look. Rather not? Feel free to unsubscribe below.

HASTe

Car Free Schools

Vancouver high schools explore new territory with first-of-their-kind Car Free Festivals
 
This past spring, HASTe worked with student leaders at 3 high schools in Vancouver to plan, organize and celebrate a Car Free Festival.

Sir Winston Churchill, Eric Hamber and Windermere Secondary each ran their own unique festival by shutting down the street to cars and letting their imaginations take over.

Curious to see what high school students did with an empty street? Just check out some of these photos.

The Results are IN and they're GRRREAT!

This year's Bike to School Week saw record breaking numbers with over 180 schools signed up. That's more than double from last year! Here are the grand prize winners for the top 3 performing schools and the recipients of a new bike from GIANT!
Best Elementary School – Lynn Valley Elementary, North Vancouver
Best Middle School – Hillcrest Middle School, Coquitlam
Best Secondary School – Whistler Waldorf School, Whistler

Click here for the full list of winners and success stories. A big thank you to all our sponsors for helping make Bike to School Week 2015 the best yet!

Welcome New School Travel Planning Municipalities

District of Saanich and District of Squamish are the newest ASRTS communities

HASTe is excited to be working with two brand new communities this upcoming school year on their School Travel Planning initiatives.

The District of Saanich and the District of Squamish have both committed to comprehensive school travel assessments and programming at multiple schools starting in the Fall 2015.

We look forward to growing our relationships in these two communities and helping to implement positive travel changes at their schools.

Poor grades for Canadian kids

Low grades across the board (again) in this year's Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

Children and youth in Canada received a grade of D- for overall physical activity and a D in active transportation, which are the same grades received in last year's report.

However, this year the position statement on active outdoor play is strong and clear: Access to active play in nature and outdoors – with its risks – is essential for healthy child development.

Active travel is part of the solution! Letting your kids walk or bike to school can increase their active outdoor play time.

Click here for the full report.

Active kids learn better

Active Living Research illustrates the benefits of keeping kids moving

"Because children spend so much time at school, schools have a unique opportunity to help children become more healthy and active." – Research Report

Check out the wonderful infographics that were produced from this research.

At HASTe we know that small steps often lead to bigger lifestyle changes. Daily, active trips to and from school add up over time and keep kids moving their bodies everyday.

In fact, I got the urge to get moving right now. I'm going outside!

Thanks for reading and have a great and active summer.