April: Let's Talk About Health!

The month of April is all about health!

April 7th is World Health Day, a global initiative seeking to bring attention to a specific health issue that needs to be addressed worldwide. The focus of 2023 - the 75th year - is “building a fairer, healthier world for all”. The theme is fitting as the COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the inequality of access to healthcare globally, showing how much work needs to be done.

iSOSY has some great lessons to use with World Health Day:

The Health Lessons cover multiple topics.
The Handwashing STAT Lesson can help you promote good habits for young people that can help to keep us all healthy!

If you like movies, check out Netflix for a 2017 documentary titled What the Health. It's a surprising, and at times hilarious, investigative documentary that will be an eye-opener for anyone concerned about our nation’s health and how it is influenced by big business.

April 22nd is Earth Day. This year’s theme is “Invest in our Planet”. Visit this helpful website to filter and find different Earth Day events or even register your own event! You can also find organizations near you to help support local areas affected by various environmental issues.

Click here for a list of 52 ways that we all can invest in our planet.

For projects/ideas to share, check out the Restore our Earth Campaigns:

The Canopy Project to donate $1 = 1 tree planted. The Canopy Project improves our shared environment by planting trees across the globe. Since 2010, Earthday.org™ has planted tens of millions of trees with The Canopy Project, working worldwide to strengthen communities.
Food and Environment for regenerative agriculture and sustainable food practices.
The Great Global Cleanup cleaning up public spaces around the globe.
Climate Literacy igniting an education revolution to save the planet.
Global Earth Challenge gives citizen scientists the power to make the world a better place.
The Free Seed Project - Robin Greenfield encourages people to deepen their connection with Earth by providing seeds to community stewards as an alternative to the global, industrial food system. Participants in the project receive a garden growing kit that includes a variety of healing greens, hearty veggies, tasty herbs, and a mix of beautiful and fragrant flowers for our bee, butterfly, and pollinator friends. The site includes resources on how to grow a garden, seed saving, and access to an online community with free seed project growers through the Free Seed Project Facebook Group.

To continue the healthy living theme, note that April is Stress Awareness Month.

Modules 5 & 6 of the iSOSY Personal Wellness Training Package covers Mindfulness and Self-Care. The resources included in these modules are a great place to start if you are looking for activities to do with students to combat the effects of stress.
Some of the activities included are instructions for making stress balls, eye pillows, a mindfulness jar and a self-care bingo card.