HSC’s Rosa Ramirez Honored at Chicago KIDS Day

June 17, 2013 | Written By: Healthy Schools Campaign

We’re thrilled that HSC’s Rosa Ramirez was honored with the Children’s Empowerment Award at Chicago KIDS Day last month!

We’re thrilled that HSC’s Rosa Ramirez was honored with the Children's Empowerment Award at Chicago KIDS Day last month! Here, we learn more about Chicago KIDS Day, an annual festival with activities and resources around child health and wellness, and the incredible work of the honorees.

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Chicago KIDS Day was founded by Dr. Sarah Weber, a longtime Chicago chiropractor passionate about giving children a healthy future. For the past seven years, Dr. Weber has partnered with groups like the Neighborhood Parent Network (NPN) and the Lakeview YMCA to share the importance of living healthy with the community and celebrate fitness and fun, with activities like free health screenings, a coloring contest and even Zumba.

Each year, Dr. Weber and festival organizers present several Children’s Empowerment Awards to honor individuals “who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and dedication to the children of our community.” The awardees are determined by nomination, and we would like to extend our sincerest thanks to NPN for nominating Rosa Ramirez and HSC this year. In her remarks, Dr. Weber wrote that “Healthy Schools Campaign’s leadership has pushed CPS to make significant improvements to school food and the policies that support a healthy lifestyles for our students.”

Ramirez was nominated for her work with HSC, and in particular her work with CPS on critical areas for student wellness, including improving school food and nutrition. In her remarks, Weber highlighted CPS’ return to scratch cooking and the introduction of chicken raised without antibiotics in the cafeteria; parent engagement and the spearheading of the recess task force and the shaping and implementation of CPS' new common-sense wellness policies.

Weber also highlighted the success of the Go for the Gold campaign, which exceeded its goal of getting 100 schools certified by the HealthierUS School Challenge in three years. Now, three years later, we are thrilled that more than 150 schools are now either certified or in the process of certification. We thank Chicago KIDS Day for acknowledging not only HSC, but the commitment that these schools, parents, teachers, school administrators and students have made in working together for their futures.

In thanking NPN and Chicago KIDS Day for the award, Ramirez expressed her appreciation for the award and the event at large, and invited festival-goers to join HSC, Dr. Weber and other advocates in fostering a healthier future for the next generation. “What a beautiful tradition they have to celebrate children in such a healthful way,” Ramirez said of Chicago KIDS Day. “This day is a perfect example of the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. We all need to do our piece, and schools are so important to creating a healthier future for our children.”

Three cheers for Rosa for all her hard work and dedication! We would also like to congratulate our fellow awardee, Nancy Cowles of Kids In Danger as well as Chicago KIDS Day and the Neighborhood Parent Network for putting on this wonderful annual celebration of child health and wellness. We hope this event inspires even more great people to work together for healthier schools, healthier students and a brighter future.