Support Healthy Active Kids in Education (SHAKE)

The Support Healthy Active Kids in Education (SHAKE) program promotes student health and fitness among students of the Petaluma City Schools District. Parent volunteers work with district administrators and educational staff to encourage physical activity and proper nutrition. SHAKE incorporates healthy food choices into school policy and cafeteria menus. An educational garden program provides children with nutrition information and allows students to plant, weed, and harvest vegetables. The program supplies a credentialed physical-education teacher to rotate among the elementary schools working with staff to create enriched physical education and activity programs. The programs focus on skill development, fitness, music, dance, and physically active games.

The goal of the SHAKE program is to use elementary school-based programming to promote childhood health and fitness.

The SHAKE program provides physical education classes to over 2300 students in grades kindergarten through 6. In a teacher survey, 82% replied that they had increased the amount of student activity since the implementation of the program. In 2009, the Petaluma City Elementary School District received a Spotlight Gold Medal Award after being selected as the North Coast School District of the Year by the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. The award recognizes the school district's efforts to positively impact the physical activity, fitness levels, and well being of its elementary school students.