EDITION IV - OCTOBER 2021 | |
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Dear Friend of Wellness:
We are excited to be sending out this 'Special Edition' newsletter since the District's Wellness Promotion Task Force's first meeting for this school year has been cancelled. We hope this edition will provide all of you great insight on the progress that our District has been making around embracing and promoting the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child culture everyday.
We lament not being able to meet in person, as your physical presence, attention, warmth, and inquiry at our meetings have been special in creating genuine and real connections. The new normal of VIRTUAL meetings do provide benefit, but it never replaces an individual's personal touch and seeing ourselves eye to eye.
Overall, this VIRTUAL world can detach us from the practice of COMPASSION...which starts with ourselves and is then passed on to others...as we are on this roller coaster together. Restoring ourselves and each other with fun and healthy practices encourages us all to build a positive community - by creating dynamic forces, breaking down separation, and alleviating burnout - all of which makes a huge difference.
Per Bradley Miller, "Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar." Let us put compassion in action!
Let's keep pressing on and...
Never Give UP!
Continue being a beacon of LIGHT for all the children and each other...
let's grow STRONGER together!
~ Be healthy and safe ~
Paula & Dr. Bernstein
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Purpose: To create an educational forum that allows students, staff, parents, community partners, and members of the public to successfully collaborate in the promotion of healthier lives. With the District's ultimate goal of improving student performance, the direction of the Wellness Promotion Task Force is to encourage a proactive approach to holistically address the health, wellness, and safety of all school children and staff. | |
The Wellness Promotion Task Force (WPTF) main values:
- Connect with Community Partners
- Advocate for Change
- Promote Initiatives
- Share Successes
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DISTRICT'S WSCC UPDATES:
Whole School,
Whole Community,
Whole Child
Wellness Promotion Policy (2.035)
Ten (10) WSCC Components
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Physical Education & Physical Activity | |
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International Walk your Child to School Day is scheduled for Wednesday, October 6, 2021. As of today, there are thirty-five District elementary schools that have signed up with Safe Kids Palm Beach County to take part in this national event. Prior to the pandemic, they had over fifty schools participate in this annual event.
In partnership with Safe Kids Palm Beach County, Children's Service Council Palm Beach County, and Palm Tran, Equestrian Trails Elementary has been selected as the featured media school this year.
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When: Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Where: Equestrian Trails Elementary
9720 Stribling Way, Wellington, Florida 33414
Time: Arrive by 7:00 a.m. and ends by 8:00 a.m.
Parking: Park in the west side parking lot off of Stribling Way and Donahue Road
Details: Walk with students and parents from Olympia neighborhood to school.
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Nutrition Environment & Services | |
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Setting the Stage for Wellness
As you know, wellness is peppered throughout the District with many different departments contributing to some component, facet or element relating to well-being. Because our District is so large, navigating these waters is vast, and it can be time-consuming to locate the appropriate people and resources when questions arise.
Beginning in 2020, a collaborative effort was organized between members from various District departments contributing to wellness, and led by Jeannine Rizzo who oversees the Healthy School Team (HST) initiative on behalf of the School Food Service department. The intention of the collaboration was to align efforts between departments to better serve and support our administrators, faculty, staff, and students. As a result, the HST initiative was reconfigured to be a cross-functional team consisting of members holding specific roles…some who specifically contribute to wellness and others who bring a level of expertise to ensure that wellness initiatives are inclusive, expand across campus, and are accessible to all students.
As a group, the “District Level Healthy School Team” thought it would be prudent to create one corridor to access HST information and resources. The HST on 'The District HUB' page (which is only accessible to District employees) has been reconfigured to serve as our “Gateway to Wellness.” This page simplifies the access to HST resources, program initiatives and provides the names of appropriate people to connect with across the District should additional information and guidance be necessary.
In addition to this new “Gateway to Wellness,” a formal onboarding training process was launched and delivered to Principals, Assistant Principals and HST members (based upon functional role) on September 21, 2021.
Overall, we are excited to align our efforts at the District and school levels to ensure we continue to keep Kids First while introducing them to opportunities and practices that support their overall health and wellness.
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Counseling, Psychological & Social Services | |
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The School Counseling Team has been training school-based mental and behavioral health teams in Principles of the Wraparound Process.
These principles are designed to achieve better outcomes for students who are experiencing complex behavioral and mental health challenges.
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In addition, they will be training a sub-set of District staff to deliver training to teams at school sites. They will also be offering joint professional development for school counselors at the elementary and middle school levels on increasing student success across the transition from elementary to middle school. | |
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The School Counseling Team is hosting their VIRTUAL
College Fair again this year in cooperation
with Broward and Osceola Counties.
Find out more by clicking on the student flyers below.
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Student access to school-based mental health support is expanded through the Co-located Mental Health Professional Initiative.
Contracted Mental health professionals are in place at 100 sites to provide individual counseling to students, with parental consent, at no cost to families.
Co-located mental health services do not require a diagnosis and are provided on campus during the regular school day.
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School Psychological Services is housed within the Department of Behavioral and Mental Health and is comprised of a team of approximately 130 certified and/or licensed school psychologists who support all 170 District schools as well as Charter schools.
School psychologists provide a broad range of comprehensive and integrated services and apply expertise in mental health, learning, and behavior, to help children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally.
School psychologists continue to provide mental health crisis support for students, families, and school communities following crisis events involving loss, grief, and psychological trauma.
During the 2020-2021 school year, school psychologists worked with school Mental Health Teams to provide direct mental health crisis intervention and support for over 25 school crisis events. Ongoing crisis response and intervention training opportunities are available for school-based mental health professionals and other crisis intervention team members utilizing the PREPaRE crisis response model.
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Each of the 170 District schools employs a School Behavioral Health Professional (SBHP).
As members of the school Mental Health Team, SBHPs plan and conduct behavioral and mental health interventions that facilitate personal, social, emotional, and academic growth of students.
The Education, Prevention, Intervention, and Collaboration (EPIC) Team in the Department of Behavioral and Mental Health provides professional development, coaching, clinical and nonclinical technical assistance to the SBHPs.
The majority of the SBHP work focuses on providing school wide wellness and prevention services for all students. They also focus on building relationships with students so that they can identify students who may be experiencing a behavioral and mental health challenge and provide early interventions and resources, before the challenges worsen.
During the 2020-2021 school year, the SBHPs served more than 21,000 unique students District-wide.
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Social & Emotional Climate | |
The District Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) Team has remained steadfast in providing the latest and greatest resources and best practices for both student and adult SEL. Now more than ever, take time throughout the day to teach the students important Social and Emotional Learning skills that they can use both in the classroom and out in the community. In order to teach students these SEL skills, the District SEL team has multiple resources available. | |
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This month you can find these NEW resources available on the SEL Resource Center webpage:
- Academic Integration Ideas for October SEL Themes
- 2nd Quarter SEL Check-Ins/Welcoming Rituals for Secondary
- Engaging Practices Slide Deck
- SEL Book of the Quarter Resources
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Family and Caregiver Unit 1: Being My Best Self Letter
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Click on the logo above to access the
SEL Resource Center.
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In addition, the SEL Themes for October that you will see incorporated throughout the Morning Meeting lessons and Daily Check-In Questions include:
- Having a Growth Mindset (Self-Awareness)
- Setting Personal and Collective Goals (Self-Management)
- Being Focused and Staying Motivated (Self-Management)
The SEL Team is hosting an Adult SEL Series: Being My Best Self throughout the Fall. These 30-minute webinars are from 2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. and then again from 4:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. There is also a recorded version available on the SEL Resource Site. Click on the SDPBS Spotlight banner below to sign up.
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In the Know with
Supt. Burke 9/24/21
| Superintendent Michael J. Burke puts a spotlight on mental health and shares how he supports his own social and emotional wellness. | | | |  |
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Palm Beach County is currently rolling out Sandy Hook Promise’s Say Something Virtual/Live Training in all middle schools.
Say Something is an evidence-based program that trains students to look for warning signs and threats -- especially on social media -- of someone at risk of hurting themselves or others and to “say something” to a trusted adult before a tragedy can occur. The training also highlights CASEL’s Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Framework, emphasizing empathy and the need for a more socially inclusive learning environment.
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LGBT History Month celebrates the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender icons. Each day in October, a new LGBT icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources. | |
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October is...
National Bullying Prevention Month
There is no typical student who suffers from bullying, harassment, or assault.
It can happen to anyone.
Step Up for Students is offering
scholarships to children in
various types of situations, including
Victims of Bullying.
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October is also...
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
One moment can change everything.
Join the fight and
save lives.
Wear PINK on October 15th!
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Additional Month of October National Recognitions: | |
The School District is privileged to continue its collaboration with our health partners, such as the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, Florida Health Palm Beach County, and others. | |
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October is dedicated to fruits and veggies!
We have a full month planned with fun and engaging activities, as well as a competition between various schools and departments for the most servings of fruits and veggies eaten throughout the month.
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Own Your Health explores the benefits of telemedicine and how it has become a lifeline for many during the pandemic. Carlye Fabrikant, Wellness Coordinator from Risk & Benefits Management Department was interviewed by PBS in regard to the benefits of telemedicine. | | | |
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Click Here to watch the full video featuring other interviews with patients
and medical experts, including the U.S. Surgeon General.
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South University to provide virtual workshops to District staff. | |
Arthritis Foundation to make a website of resources available to all District employees that are living with this condition. | |
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The School District of Palm Beach County achieved a GOLD ranking level in this year's
Florida Green School Awards
Program..
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The School District of Palm Beach County values the collaboration between parents and/or guardians and school staff as instrumental in the promotion of a positive environment for learning and developmental growth for their students. Following the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model, it is our goal to encourage families to participate in the wellness initiative in our District to support students' physical, social, behavioral, and emotional well-being. | |
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The Welcome Center assisted thousands of families during FY21 by helping them with the registration process, arranging vaccinations for over 90 students through the immunization van, and providing guidance to families affected by the pandemic via emails, phone calls, or virtual meetings. | | |
During the pandemic, families participated in the Multicultural Department Virtual Family Engagement Night events offered in various languages. Virtual Family Engagement Nights were held throughout the school year in the following languages: English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Q'anjobal and Mam. This experience was new to many families in the community. Families were able to learn and face challenges with a new technology experience connecting with schools and District personnel. | |
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Hispanic Heritage Month
is celebrated annually from
September 15 - October 15
Throughout the month, the School District of Palm Beach County honors the unique diversity and contributions of Hispanic and Latino culture.
Forest Hill Community High School students from Latinos in Action are sharing how they are honoring and celebrating their Hispanic Heritage Month below.
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In the Know with Supt. Burke (10/1/21) | In this week's In the Know, Superintendent Mike Burke visits the International Spanish Academy at Okeeheelee Middle School for Hispanic Heritage Month, updates you on decision-making about facial coverings, shares details about the free municipal Wi-Fi project, and more... | | | | |
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GREAT NEWS:
2021 Summer P-EBT Plan is Approved!
Thanks to the hard work of hunger advocates across the state, the children and families in our communities win. Over 2 million children will benefit from this assistance to help put food on the table.
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CORONAVIRUS
~ Information & Resources ~
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Paula Triana, RDN, LDN
Manager ~ Wellness Promotion
District's Wellness Promotion Task Force
School Food Service Department
3661 North Interstate Park Road, Suite #100
Riviera Beach, Florida 33404
Office: (561) 383-2026
Cell Phone: (561) 253-5583
Email: paula.triana@palmbeachschoools.org
Frances F. Rosier
Analyst ~ Wellness Promotion
District's Wellness Promotion Task Force
School Food Service Department
3661 North Interstate Park Road, Suite #100
Riviera Beach, Florida 33404
Office: (561) 882-1931
Email: frances.rosier@palmbeachschools.org
Hilary Greever, RDN, LDN
Nutrition Specialist ~ Nutrition Services
School Food Service Department
3661 North Interstate Park Road, Suite #100
Riviera Beach, Florida 33404
Office: (561) 383-2041
Email: hilary.greever@palmbeachschools.org
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Disclaimer: Information, viewpoints, opinions and comments expressed in this 'Wellness Promotion: District & Community Updates' newsletter are those of the individual organization(s) and/or presenter(s), are for informational purposes only, and may not indicate ratification or sponsorship by The School District of Palm Beach County. We are sending out this newsletter to provide information that may be helpful to our students and their families, staff, and the community-at-large. | | | | | |
