Three schools in the West Babylon School District Tooker Avenue, West Babylon Junior High School and West Babylon Senior High School, were recently selected as pilot schools in the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthy Schools Program. The Healthy Schools Program is a joint project with the American Heart Association, the Clinton Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Approximately 250 schools across the country were chosen to participate in this pilot program, which will give schools the tools they need to address childhood obesity and to assist in shaping the health, education and well-being of the next generation.

West Babylon Schools were chosen to participate in this program because of their strong relationship with the American Heart Association. Through the Association, West Babylon has annually hosted Jump Rope for Heart and Healthy Initiatives. Additionally, the district has actively been adopting wellness policies and emphasizing healthy choices to students for the past seven years. To further promote their belief in health and wellness, the district will also be hosting a Healthy Choices Fun Run at the end of September to promote students and their families to make wise choices about drugs, alcohol, food and exercise.

As part of West Babylon's participation in the program, district representatives attended a forum in Arkansas where they learned skills that will help change the environments in their schools to better promote health and wellness among staff and students. West Babylon School District was the only district in New York State to have schools chosen for participation in the program.