Category: Government Actions

Shapiro Administration Awards Nearly $7.3 Million to Provide Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Schools (August 13, 2024)

On August 9, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced that 268 schools across the Commonwealth will receive funding to provide fruits and vegetables to students. Nearly $7.3 million in grant funding will be awarded under the federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP). This funding is in addition to the universal free breakfast program that Governor Shapiro championed throughout the budget process and has secured two years in a row.

The list of awardees can be found on PDE’s website.

Under the program, selected schools receive reimbursement for the cost of making free fresh fruits and vegetables available to students during the school day. These fresh fruits and vegetables must be provided separately from the lunch or breakfast meal, in one or more areas of the school during the school day.

The goal of FFVP is to introduce children to fresh fruits and vegetables, to include new and different varieties, and to increase overall acceptance and consumption of fresh, unprocessed produce. Additionally, the program promotes nutrition education, resulting in healthier school environments for learners.

To be eligible, schools must participate in the National School Lunch Program. FFVP prioritizes schools with the highest percentage of children eligible for free and reduced-price meals in order to give children from low-income families more opportunities to consume fresh produce on a regular basis.

BSE Announces 2024-25 Inclusive Programming Opportunities through Mikayla’s Voice (August 12, 2024)

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Bureau of Special Education (BSE) is providing inclusive programming for the 2024-25 school year at No cost to districts – Grant funded. Mikayla’s Voice offers original programming to help build a positive and equitable school culture and ensure the well-being of your staff and students, and includes all of the following:  

Two Inclusion Assemblies:  
Two school-wide inclusion assemblies are held in which the book Our Friend Mikayla is shared. One of the presenters is a student or young adult with a disability who also shares their personal story. Questions are encouraged to direct further discussion about having a friend with a disability. Each presentation concludes with an invitation for all students to serve as Mikayla’s “Voice.” High school students will be encouraged to serve as mentors to read books to the younger students and complete several enrichment lessons too.  

One Inclusive Art Project:  
Participating schools choose one of the two projects in which 24 students of all abilities will work together to create a large-scale artwork to celebrate diversity and promote equity and inclusion in your school. Most important is the time your students spend together, what they learn from and about each other, and their pride when their art is permanently displayed as a beautiful reminder that it is always possible to include everyone!  

Wheels of Friendship®:  
Inspired by Mikayla and her art class, Wheels of Friendship is an original art program that incorporates wheelchair painting and tissue paper decoupage, both mediums that offer success for children of all abilities. Together the group of students choose the theme for their art and decide how best to represent diversity and inclusion. When joined by students with other disabilities, they find creative ways to include their friend’s unique abilities into the artwork. As they incorporate sign language, interesting textures, or braille, the artists are learning, and will ultimately teach others who view their art, about different challenges and supports.  

Kaya’s Kaleidoscope:  
Kaya’s Kaleidoscope is created when students complete their own individual canvases that work together in an interactive, almost puzzle-like design. Symbolic of school communities, every canvas is as essential to the mural as each student to their school. And, in keeping with Mikayla’s Voice message, mission, and style, each canvas features wheelchair tracks, tissue paper decoupage, and a yellow spot. The canvases can be arranged and rotated any way, creating an endless number of options… each as unique and beautiful as the next. The interactive exhibits allow thousands of students to engage with the art and consider its many lessons: we are all individuals, each important to our school and community, connected in many ways, and definitely better together. 

Artwork Unveiling and Installation: 
Once complete, all artists help unveil their collaborative artwork and share its message with the entire school community before it is permanently installed in their school as a reminder to celebrate diversity and promote equity and inclusion. This culminating, year-end school-wide celebration also provides an opportunity to highlight individual and class projects based on the books or lessons and revisit Mikayla’s Voice message and mission with all students.  

Inclusion Books:  
Mikayla’s Voice has published four children’s books written and illustrated by kids for other kids about having a friend with a disability. Mikayla was born with a brain injury, Jeffrey has Down syndrome, Brady is challenged by autism, and Dot has a yellow spot, but these books are not about the main characters or their disabilities. They are about friendship. And kindness. Two of each book are provided for your elementary school library and/or for your middle/high school students to share with younger students in your district.

  • Our Friend Mikayla 
  • High Fives and A Big Heart
  • Super Brady ~ Always on the Move! 
  • The Spot

Mikayla’s Bookshelf Enrichment Website: 
“Mikayla’s Bookshelf” includes electronic versions of all four books making it easier to share them with all classes, students, and families. The books are just the foundation upon which enrichment lessons for teachers and/or older students build to introduce and/or reinforce Mikayla’s Voice message and missions.  

Mikayla’s Voice has partnered with Drs. Dever and Lindstrom as part of an ongoing program assessment for improvement and replication. Participating schools are required to help with pre and post data collection to measure the global quality of the programs and the ability to improve school culture and community. 

Schools interested in participating can contact: 
Rita Cheskiewicz, Executive Director, at 570-690-7113 or [email protected] or
Sharon Jones, Program Director, at 484-854-1355 or [email protected]

Schools are accepted on a first come, first serve basis. 

DHS Highlights New SUN Bucks Summer Food Program (August 9, 2024)

On August 8, 2024, Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh, Department of Education Secretary Dr. Khalid N. Mumin, USDA Food and Nutrition Service Policy Advisor, Alberto Gonzalez, Jr. and partners from the City of Harrisburg, Feeding Pennsylvania, and Central Pennsylvania Food Bank visited a Harrisburg Summer Food Service location to highlight the SUN Bucks program, a new summer benefit for children that can be used to purchase fresh food and groceries at retailers around Pennsylvania.

This federal program provides households with children who already receive free and reduced-price school meals through the National School Lunch Program during the school year with a SNAP-like benefit to purchase food for the summer months when school is not in session. Because this is the first year of the program, benefits will start to be issued beginning in mid-August for Summer 2024. All 2024 SUN Bucks benefits will be issued by the end of October. Most eligible children will receive the benefit automatically and do not need to apply, but households who need to apply must apply by August 31, 2024. Families can use the Sun Bucks Eligibility Navigator to see if they need to complete an application.

Click here for more information and to apply.

PDE Launches New FAFSA Helpline (August 8, 2024)

The PA Department of Education (PDE) is partnering with non-profit financial aid advisors, uAspire, to launch a FREE on-call FAFSA helpline for PA students and families this summer. A flyer is attached for your use to promote the 313- PA FAFSA helpline.

By texting 313-PA-FAFSA, (313-732 -2372) students and/or their families will get connected to a live FAFSA advisor who will help complete all parts of the financial aid application. Students and families can text ANYTIME–as many times as needed– to complete their FAFSA. If texting over a weekend, students and families will hear back from a FAFSA advisor within 24 business hours.

As a reminder, PHEAA’s FAFSA help page offers a variety of resources and instructional videos for FAFSA completion that students and families can access 24/7.

Additional uAspire and FAFSA resources for practitioners can be found at PA FAFSA GO.

Please help to ensure that this information is communicated to your Class of 2024 and is available on your website and/or socials.

Questions may be directed to Karen Rubican, School Counselor Advisor, in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at [email protected].

PDH Sees Spike in Birth Certificate Requests for the New School Year (August 8, 2024)

During the late summer and early spring, the PA Department of Health’s (PDH) vital records office often sees spikes in birth certificate orders due to sports registration and the new school year. Ordering your child’s certificate now can help you to avoid the rush later.  Birth certificates can be ordered through the mail with an Application for a Birth Certificate with a printable/fillable PDF or online through the PA Vital Records’ official storefront. In person requests are not required, certificates can be mailed to you, and most orders are processed within two weeks. 

If your child was born in another state, you will need to request their birth certificate from that state. See the National Center for Health Statistics’ website for contact information.

The PDH Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries is the official custodian of the Commonwealth’s vital records. Third-party vendors may offer vital records services for an extra fee and claim they can get you a copy of your vital record much quicker. However, they generally use the information you provide to submit an order on paper or online back to PDH. To avoid those extra fees and processing steps, it is recommended you apply directly through PDH.

For additional information, including information on how to modify or amend a child’s birth certificate, please visit the Department of Health’s Records webpage. If you would like to share this information with your educational communities, PDH has created a graphic to share on your social media profiles. 

Click here to Vital Records Information.