How does the program work?

Register!
Online registration is a snap! Faculty or school coordinators can register a school by choosing the School Coordinator option to the left. Once the school (team) has been registered, students, parents and staff can register for the team by choosing the School Walkers option to the left. If you'd rather, you can call your local American Diabetes Association office at 1-888-DIABETES.

What happens after I register?
A few weeks prior to the event date, the volunteer who is coordinating the event at the school will receive a School Walk for Diabetes Coordinator's Packet. This packet will contain all you need to plan a successful campaign:

Volunteer Coordinator's Guide: A step-by-step guide for leading a School Walk for Diabetes event.

Student Leadership Guide: (middle and high school students only) Provides information on how students can earn valuable service hours by coordinating a School Walk for Diabetes event at their school.

School Walk for Diabetes CD-ROM: Contains additional important fund-raising documents and valuable classroom lessons. The Association worked with a curriculum development company to align these lessons and activities with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) standards, and partnered with Flaghouse Inc. to include CATCH lessons and activities as well. Participation in the program offers a coordinated school health approach to diabetes education and prevention.

Additional Materials: These include colorful posters to track fund-raising progress, promote participant prizes and educate students about healthy lifestyle choices. Contact your local Association office to receive additional materials to help support your school's needs.

When and where is the event held?

• School Walk for Diabetes may be held any time during the school year, as an all school event or as part of regularly scheduled P.E. classroom activities.
• The event may take place indoors or outdoors, depending on the time of the year and may be any distance or length of time that the school determines.
• Adding additional activities like basketball, dancing and other physical activities makes the event even more fun for the whole school.
• It is best to hold the event six weeks before the academic year concludes to allow for thank you gift distribution to students during the academic year.
• There are two special times in each school year that present a perfect backdrop for a School Walk event: American Diabetes Month (November of each year), or the fourth Tuesday in March, which is Diabetes Alert Day. During both of these periods there will be heightened awareness about diabetes because of significant activity in the media around the country.

Can we honor a student or teacher with diabetes?
We encourage individuals with diabetes or those personally impacted by diabetes to serve as School Walk for Diabetes ambassadors. Their personal experience and enthusiasm help to engage the rest of the school community in the event.

If you use a student as an ambassador, be sure you have parental permission.

Did You Know...

• Almost 24 million American children and adults have diabetes
• Each year, about 15,000 youth ages 20 and under are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the U.S.
• Diabetes kills nearly 300,000 people each year in the US, more than AIDS and breast cancer combined
• The death rate for diabetes is on the rise, while death rates for cancer and heart disease are declining
• Diabetes costs the American public more than $174 billion each year