School Wellness Weekly

05.11.18


Thank You to All of Our Teachers!

Even though Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7-11) is winding down, take a moment to thank your favorite PE, Health Ed, and Wellness teachers for advocating for and promoting healthy, active school environments (teachers should thank their colleagues too!). Some ideas:
 
  • Use and share the “Thank You Tool.” Send a customized appreciation email to any DOE teacher with this handy online form. There is no limit to how many teachers you can thank using the tool.
  • Spread the love on social media: Document celebrations and download, print out, decorate, and pose with one of the Teacher Appreciation Week speech bubbles. Post your photos using #ThankATeacherNYC.

Save the date: We also want you to mark your calendars for our biggest professional learning and networking event of the year on Chancellor’s Day, Thursday, 6/7 : The 2018 Think-Move-Achieve Conference at the Prospect Heights Education Campus in Brooklyn. Don't miss the chance to hear from Chancellor Richard Carranza, scheduled to speak during the opening ceremony, as well as LGBTQ rights activist and former NFL player Wade Davis, delivering the keynote address. Dozens of workshops and presentations from PE, Health Education, and wellness educators and partners take place throughout the day.
 
Registration links and details will appear in School Wellness Weekly soon, so watch your inbox closely!
School Wellness Special Announcements
Last Chance! Submit Nominations for the School Wellness Awards Program
All school staff: Has one of your colleagues and/or students been exceptionally successful and committed to creating and promoting a healthy, active school environment this year? Nominate them for School Wellness Champion of the Year and School Wellness Student of the Year awards by Tuesday, May 15, 2018, 11:59 p.m . Winners will be notified in May and recognized at the Think-Move-Achieve Conference on June 7, 2018. Read awards details and email wellness@schools.nyc.gov with questions.
Physical Education
PE Works: P.S. 100 Glenn Morris Fosters Our Next-Generation Yogi Masters
On 4/24, PE teacher and PE PLC Facilitator Jen Harjus of P.S. 100 in Queens (27Q100) capped off her third-grade classes’ Yoga unit (part of the school's PE curriculum) with "Yoga-land," a culminating activity developed by Jen and is loosely based on the rules of Candyland. In groups of 4, students rolled dice and moved along a Yoga-land “game board.” Yoga cards showed which pose the students would practice for 10-30 seconds. Proving how a strong School Wellness Council (SWC) can invigorate a PE program, Jen was able to buy yoga mats with funds from the SWC grant her school received! Said one student: " I like that you use your body and can create a butterfly and pretend to fly ."
 
Want to know how to develop units like this for your school? Come to our May PE PLC meetings to learn and share ideas with other motivated PE teachers like Jen. Date and locations in this issue.  
Grades 3-8 Students: Join Girls on the Run's 5K Celebration
Looking for an end-of-year event that inspires girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident? School staff and grades 3-8 students of all genders are invited to participate in Girls on the Run's end-of-year celebration on 6/3 at Firefighters Field on Roosevelt Island, including a 5k run/walk and pre-course activities starting at 8 a.m., rain or shine. Register today – space is limited and available first-come, first-served. Questions? Email wellnesspartnerships@schools.nyc.gov .

It's Easy as...Riding a Bike! But You Need the Basics First
The Office of School Wellness Programs is partnering with Bike New York to provide free bike education field trips for middle and high school students. Students learn how to ride a bike for the first time; those who know how to ride get basic bike handling and safety skills. Request a field trip today. Questions? Email wellnesspartnerships@schools.nyc.gov or Rich Conroy, RConroy@bike.nyc .
 
Make Your PE Spaces More Inclusive for Students of All Abilities
Learn how to include students with disabilities in your general PE class: Register for a free professional learning session with Michelle Grenier , an international expert in the field of inclusion and adapted PE:

  • Grades K-5 PE teachers, register for the session on 5/15 in the Bronx.
  • Grades 6-12 PE teachers, register for the session on 5/17 in Queens.

Make it Work: Mastering PE in Creative Spaces for Elementary and Secondary Physical Education:

  • Grades K-5 PE teachers, register for the session on 5/17 in the Bronx.
  • Grades 6-12 PE teachers, register for the session on 5/18 in the Bronx.

Grades 6-12 PE Teachers: Free Netball Skills Demonstration and Gear
Introduce something new and exciting to your students with Netball, played by 20 million people in over 70 countries. Introduced in the late 1800s to women basketball players, this truly inclusive team sport uses no backboard and no dribbling, and requires the ball to be passed between players to move it down the court. Email Info@NetballAmerica.com to request a free skills demonstration session from Netball America today. All participating schools will receive 6 free netballs. Learn more about Netball in the April 2018 edition of JOPERD .
Health Education
A Brain-Based Approach to Middle School Sexuality Education
The Office of School Wellness Programs is partnering with Children's Aid to offer a free full-day training on 5/25 in Queens for grades 6-8 health educators to learn creative facilitation strategies and student-centered, developmentally appropriate lessons for early adolescents. Topics include healthy relationships, communications skills, social and emotional changes of adolescence, and the brilliance and resilience of the teen brain.

Teaching Better Basics: Register for these professional learning workshops to build subject-area mastery, expertise in delivering instruction, and collaboration among colleagues:

  • May 17: Middle and High School Health Education Basics III: HIV/AIDS. Grades 6-12 staff that teach the mandated DOE HIV/AIDS lessons, register for the session in Manhattan.
  • June 18: High School Health Education Basics I: Comprehensive Skills-Based Health Education. Grades 9-12 health education teachers, register for the session in Manhattan.

Queens and Staten Island: Condom Availability Program (CAP) Training
We’re offering only two more CAP trainings this school year! High school and community-based organization staff, including health teachers and educators, guidance counselors, social workers, school aides, and SAPIS counselors, register for a session on 5/18 in Queens or 5/24 in Staten Island. 
Teachers and Leaders
Monday, 5/14: Physical Education Professional Learning Communities (PE PLCs).
Meetings take place in every borough during Monday professional learning time (3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.). All PE teachers: registration is closed but walk-ins are welcome (see Eventbrite for locations). April PE PLCs attracted more than 350 PE teachers Citywide! 
Building the Wellness Community
Food Justice, Nutrition Lessons, and Healthier Food Environments: School Wellness Council Training
School Wellness Council members, join the Office of School Wellness Programs and several amazing partner organizations this month to learn strategies for improving food environments at your school while promoting family and community engagement:

  • May 16: Seed-to-Table Training with Edible Schoolyard. Register for the session in Brooklyn.
  • May 17: Food Justice Training with Teens for Food Justice. Register for the session in the Bronx.
  • May 22: A Multi-Pronged Approach to a Healthy School Environment Training with Food Bank. Register for the session in Manhattan.
  • May 24: Creating Healthy Food Environments Training with Coalition for Healthy School Food. Register for the session in Brooklyn.
  • May 30: Food Marketing and Family and Community Engagement Training with Wellness in the Schools (WITS). Register for the session in Manhattan.
  • May 31: Elementary School Nutrition Lessons and Cooking Classes in the Classroom with Wellness in the Schools (WITS). Register for the session in the Bronx.
#GetYourSafeOn at the 26 th Annual Youth Conference and Theater Festival
The Brooklyn Association of Teen Educators is hosting this free event to promote safe sex and HIV prevention on Saturday, 5/19 , at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. Celebrate with workshops, entertainment, food, and free HIV/STD testing. Register today. Questions? Contact Marian Searchwell, marian.searchwell@downstate.edu .