United Federation of Teachers

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is a federation of over 200,000 members including teachers, nurses and other professionals working in New York City’s five boroughs. The UFT is committed to strengthening New York City communities, and to advancing the professions of members, and the lives of members and students. The UFT Legacy Project, Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities, promoted physical activity and healthy eating to public school students, teachers and parents at 12 Bronx elementary schools. The UFT coordinated training for:

• 25 Parent Coordinators (and their assistants) to conduct CookShop For Families’ workshops reaching approximately 222 parents with family nutrition education including hands-on food preparation.
• 109 teachers to conduct CookShop Classroom for Elementary School reaching approximately 2,725 students with nutrition education including hands-on food preparation.
• 98 teachers to implement Move to Improve reaching approximately 2450 students with classroom based physical activity.

Principals from the majority of participating schools reported that they would continue to implement Move to Improve and/or CookShop in the coming year. In addition, many schools reported other new school wellness initiatives that were started or planned as result of participation in the project, included school gardens, breakfast in the classroom, Mighty Milers, and an enhanced physical education curriculum.