National School Backpack Awareness DayCopy and Paste this letter into your word processor for editing and printing. AOTA School Backpack Awareness Day Community Toolkit Dear [Teacher/Leader], On [Event date], your [school/community center] is participating in National School Backpack Awareness Day, sponsored by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). This special event at your school is one of many being held around the country to help educate children, parents, and communities about the proper use of school backpacks and the health risks of improper use. There is an increasing body of medical research suggesting that the amount of weight being carried by children in their backpacks is a growing national health concern. We hope this event will increase awareness and understanding of the issue. To illustrate how heavy children's backpacks are, and to call attention to the correct way to wear backpacks, we will be holding a "weigh-in" of [grade number] graders and their backpacks in the [morning/afternoon] from [__ to __ a.m./p.m.]. Occupational therapists will be supervising the weighing. As you may already know, occupational therapy helps people improve their ability to do everyday tasks. Occupational therapists work with children in every school district of the United States, in pediatric hospitals, and in other healthcare settings. Child participation in the School Backpack Awareness Day event depends on parental permission. This packet contains parental permission letters [written in both English and Spanish (if appropriate)]. Your role is to:
The event organizer will collect the slips from you on the day of the event. Please remind children whose parents did not sign permission slips that they cannot participate in the weigh-in. We will be happy to provide you with more information about the event and about proper backpack use in general. You may contact [name] at [phone number and email address], or if you prefer, visit our national organization's Web site at www.aota.org and click on the backpack icon. Thank you for your help and cooperation. Sincerely, [Name, title, organization]
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