This week's healthy schools highlights

Rock Ridge Elementary becomes latest Fit 4 Colorado winner

CBS4 Meteorologist Dave Aguilera named Rock Ridge Elementary as the Fit 4 Colorado School Challenge winner for February 2011. Aguilera made the announcement at a school assembly. Students at Rock Ridge Elementary are shaping up with physical activity and healthy eating. They have physical education every day, and on Fridays, one class rides bikes to the park for lunch with the principal. Watch this CBS4 report.

Bedbugs at school: The new lice but worse

Public schools are facing something of a plague, and, for once, I do not mean standardized tests. Rather, bedbugs. Yuck. Read more in Valerie Strauss’s column in the Washington Post.

Free school breakfasts for poor revived in Colo.

School nutritionists were cheering outside the Colorado Senate on Wednesday after lawmakers restored money for free breakfasts for needy children. A Senate committee voted unanimously to change course and restore some $124,000 needed by the Department of Education for the Start Smart Nutrition Program for the final weeks of this school year. Read more in the Denver Post.

Bill could change how medications administered in schools

A bill that could change the policies on how local school districts administer medications to students passed the Colorado Senate Education Committee on Thursday, with a few amendments. Read more in the Coloradoan newspaper.

Colorado considers more physical activity in schools

Colorado lawmakers gave initial approval Monday to requiring 30 minutes a day of physical activity at elementary schools — a move certain to please the Legislature’s youngest constituents.

“I like that. Going to recess is fun,” said 9-year-old Nathanial Guzman, a 4th grader at Knowledge Quest Academy in Milliken, Colo. “Personally, I don’t think our brains would work if we didn’t exercise enough.” Read this CBS report.

After high school, autistic kids lack support

After finishing high school, many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are left hanging without supportive or health services, according to a national survey. Watch ABC News.

Most ADHD kids have multiple conditions, study says

Two-thirds of American children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder struggle with other mental health and developmental conditions, such as learning disabilities and anxiety, a new study suggests. Read more in HealthDay News.

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