Tracy Elementary’s THINK Together program designated as a Healthy Behaviors Initiative model

THINK Together Site Coordinators Adora Rodriguez and Cynthia Gutierrez and Tisha Aquino, Quality Assurance Coach for the Los Angeles Region.

THINK Together’s program at Tracy Elementary School in Baldwin Park recently received recognition for its hard work in promoting child wellness as it was named a demonstration site for the Healthy Behaviors Initiative.

The THINK Together staff from Tracy Elementary received the recognition at the “Changing Lives, Saving Lives” event on Tuesday at the California Endowment in Los Angeles.

The Healthy Behaviors Initiative is a partnership with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the 
After School Technical Assistance Unit, Region 11 and the Center for Collaborative Solutions.

The THINK team with Michael Funk, Director After School Division, California Department of Education and Dr. Andi Fletcher Center for Collaborative Solutions.

The designation of Tracy Elementary is the result of two years of work to eliminate junk foods from campus, stop selling unhealthy snacks like ice cream at fundraisers and promoting water as the drink of choice.

The members of the Tracy Elementary staff also attended afterschool conferences to learn about healthy behavior practices and incorporate those best practices at the school.

Honored at the event was Adora Rodriguez, Site Coordinator at Tracy Elementary and Tisha Aquino, Quality Assurance Coach for the Los Angeles Region. Also recognized was Cynthia Gutierrez, the former site coordinator at Tracy who initiated much of the work to comply with the Healthy Behaviors Initiative. She is now working at THINK Together’s Heninger Elementary site in Santa Ana, where she hopes to achieve similar success.

“We are honored to be recognized as a model for the Healthy Behaviors Initiative,” said Anne Turner, Executive Director of THINK Together in Los Angeles County. “We hope to incorporate those same healthy practices in our other schools.”

Indeed the goal of “Changing Lives, Saving Lives” is to have every after school program in Los Angeles be a model for Healthy Behaviors.

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