Health and wellness are supported in curricula,
school-wide programs and related policies
Explain:
The 14th characteristic of an effective
middle school is that “health and wellness are supported in curricula, school
wide programs and related policies” (This We Believe, pg 38). While middle
schoolers are still early adolescents, they are not too young to start learning
about maintaining healthy minds and bodies. Drinking, Smoking, doing drugs,
eating habits, and sexual activity are all on the minds of middle schoolers or
will be as they grow up and it is important to address these important issues
for them before they face them in situations that they don’t know how to handle
or are already out of control. A well developed
health and wellness program “provide[s] opportunities for developing and
practicing healthful decision making and refusal skills, which are purposely reinforced
throughout the curriculum” (This We Believe, pg 38).
Describe:
Many schools have health and wellness programs
integrated into their everyday curriculums, or into their health, gym, or
activities of daily living classes but there are also many programs which push
into schools and provide this education through programs and challenges. One
example of a program that is implemented in schools across the nation is Game
On! The Ultimate Wellness Challenge which it organized to help students make
better food choices and understand the value of physical exercise. Details of
the challenge can be found at: http://www.a4hk.org/gotuwc/. One
school that effectively implemented the Game On challenge is Wes Del Elementary
and High Schools. At the school staff members met to discuss school wellness
issues and eventually sought resources from the challenge to help meet their
needs. In surveys conducted they found that many of their students had never
even been exposed to many healthy foods but in fact liked them and wanted them
in the school cafeteria. The challenge also helped the school organize more
physical activities for the students and helped the high school business
students practice their finance and management skills managing vending
machines.
The review of
the school’s success in the Game On challenge can be found below:
Analyze:
The program Game On! The Ultimate
Wellness Challenge was able to be so successful because they were actively brought
into Wes Del Elementary and High school to meet a certain deficit in their
current curriculum and school life. Many programs offer health and wellness
resources to schools, teaching lessons, units, or setting up programs but without
the support of school and the desire of individuals to integrate the material into
the current school environment the magnitude of what is taught is significantly
lost. In this case the school was fully supportive of the challenge, including being
willing to alter their cafeteria food service, and maintain new extracurricular
activities. This school appears to be an exemplary case of health and wellness because
the program was integrated into the school’s “overall focus on improving school
wellness” and offered to the students in a huge variety of activities “before, during
and after school” involving “taste tests, physical activities, and other activities
that encourage wellness” (http://www.wes-del.k12.in.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=2699)
Apply:
Making school wide changes that involve before
and after school and that involve the school’s food service require a high
level of administrative initiative and support, however that does not mean that
there are not a lot of excellent steps individual teachers can take to improve
health and wellness in their classroom. Health and wellness topics can be
integrated into all other academic subjects with ease. For example, literacy
can involve stories about eating healthy, exercise, etc. Math word problems or
manipulatives can have students counting with pieces of fruit instead of
cookies. When teachers feel their students are getting restless or tired they can
implement jumping jack breaks.The examples go on and on. Additionally, if teachers
have the time and flexibility with their current curriculum they can teach
their own units about health and wellness and develop nutrition challenges
within their classroom. Health and wellness education needs to go beyond diet
and into sexual health, body changes, and risky behavior choices that impact
the body and mind (drugs, alcohol, etc) but working with students to improve
their diets is something every teacher can do every day as all students eat 1-2
meals at school a day.
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