8. Woodrow Wilson Elementary #5 School

In 2006, Active Living Resource Center (ALRC) selected Garfield as one of six school districts to participate in the City SRTS project. Under this program, a three-day workshop took place in Garfield, bringing together local stakeholders to identify issues in the community, inventory current assets, match those assets to problems and create commitment among workshop participants. A report was generated to capture both the recommendations of the program participants and the suggestions from ALRC staff. According to the report, Garfield presents a near textbook example of what can be accomplished by a dynamic local champion, who not only has connections to elected officials and city staff, but also is fortunate to work with professionals who believe childhood obesity is a serious problem worthy of preventative action.

In addition to the work conducted by ALRC, Garfield was one of 29 cities within New Jersey to receive $18,000 in 2007 federal SRTS funds through the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). Garfield used the SRTS grant money in conjunction with a $10,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services to support F.U.N. Part of these grants was used to launch “Get Up and Go”, a series of curriculum-based SRTS activities that teachers could use to teach students how to walk and bicycle safely to school. The eight-part series ran as a newspaper insert in The Record and The Herald newspapers in fall 2007.

Content for the series was developed in partnership with the YMCA of Garfield, F.U.N. in Garfield, Bike New York, Partnership for Community Health, Inc., and NJDOT.

The “Get Up and Go” series featured writing and math activities, as well as puzzles, factoids and Web resources designed to teach physical fitness, traffic safety, student security issues and bicycle and pedestrian safety.