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School Wellness Weekly

04.14.20


This is an image of the Office of School Wellness Programs logo that says, Think, Move, Achieve.
This is an image of a drawing that shows students holding signs that spell out, Together Everyone Achieves More. There students of all abilities included in the drawing and an apple with a smile in front of a bowl of cereal. This was created by a student.
Wellness Wednesday: Focus on Healthy Students and Families
We hear from many of you that during this challenging time for our City and school system, our students and families need guidance on how to take care of their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. While there are many things we cannot control during this pandemic, what we can do is take steps to care for ourselves every day and strive to achieve modest goals to stay healthy, focused, and ready to learn, now and when we return to our schools. 

That’s why we are launching the DOE’s first-ever Wellness Wednesday tomorrow, April 15, as part of the DOE’s theme-based enrichment plan for this week.  

Wellness Wednesday puts a creative spin on Spring Recess by providing students and families with fun, interactive activities that promote physical activity and good health, and help them communicate with fairness and respect, understand other viewpoints, and build stronger relationships – all crucial components of wellness. Wellness Wednesday activities are posted on TeachHub and designed for students, parents, caregivers, and household members to do together no matter where learning takes place.  

How does it work? 
Teachers and school administrators, follow these steps to download the activities in TeachHub and share them with families:  

  1. Go to the DOE’s TeachHub (DOE login required). 
  2. You will be taken to the "My apps" portal page.
  3. Click on the “Remote Learning Resources April 9-17” tile.
  4. In the DOE Google Drive, activities are organized by grade-level folders. 
  5. Within each grade-level folder, find the “Health and Wellness” folder. You can select activities from four main areas: 
  • Physical and Mental Wellness 
  • Safety and Restorative Approaches to Behavior 
  • Collaborative and Trusting Relationships 
  • Equity and Student Voice 

Teachers and school staff, let us know how your school is participating in Wellness Wednesday, and share a photo or video* of yourself completing one of the activities with @DOEChancellor and @LRobinsonNYC! Use these hashtags:

#NYCSchoolWellness
#DOEConnected
#WellnessWednesday
#DSCW
#MovetoImproveNYC

*Remember that to ensure safety online, students should not post images or videos of themselves on social media without approval from a trusted adult .
Sample Wellness Wednesday Highlights
Physical Activity 
Students in grades K-12 and their families create a physical activity plan to help ensure that they are physically active for at least 60 minutes every day. Throughout the year, students and families can stay moving and grooving with free access to the Move-to-Improve World Beats NYC album, produced by Hip Hop Public Health and available on the DOE’s WeTeachNYC website and the Hip Hop Public Health website .  

Mental Wellness 
To help students in grades 3K-5 stay emotionally connected to their families and household members, and to help them manage their emotions, they’ll engage in online activities like the “ Emotions Memory Game ” or create mood meters at home with basic art supplies. Middle and high school students will collaborate with household members to create a Family Wellness Campaign that speaks to the health and wellness issues that are important to them and their community.  
More Resources for Parents, Families, and Caregivers
DOE “Learn at Home” Page 
The Learn at Home page on the DOE website contains links to materials, external websites, and activities that families can use to help students practice physical education, physical activity, and health education skills at home any time. Look under “Activities for Students.” 

Stay Active at Home with Rising New York Road Runners 
Rising New York Road Runners’  Active at Home  is a new online resource that provides physical literacy-based activities and games for students, families, and teachers to implement at home. The activities in this free site are safe to practice under space constraints and social distancing guidelines. No equipment is necessary, and each activity includes detailed instructions and photos for adults to help kids with proper form. 

Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes (PAVe) Webinar 
Join the national organization PAVe for the Not Just Vapor webinar this Thursday, April 16. There will be two webinars for parents and teens to participate in to learn about the dangers of e-cigarettes. The teen presentation was created by NYU Langone and will be presented by physician partners from Columbia University. Both webinars include a Q&A session:
  • For Parents Only: 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. 
  • For Teens Only: 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. 
Resources for Your School Community
This is an image of the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center logo.
Share With Your School Community: Neighborhood Food Resource Guides
Help connect community members in need with food resources during this challenging time by sharing the 59 Coronavirus NYC Food Resource Guides created for each New York City neighborhood by the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center. Each guide includes information on where to get free meals, delivery services for people of all abilities, and resources for immigrants. 
This is an image of a drawing created by a student. It shows a young person listening to headphones. Next to the young person is the phrase: Be Healthy! Build a sound body and sound mind.
Thrive NYC’s New Guide to Mental Health Services
This online guide produced by the Mayor’s office has a wealth of information on mental health resources, as well as services tailored to the needs of aging New Yorkers, veterans, students and young people, and people harmed by violence, crime or abuse. All services are free to New Yorkers, regardless of insurance coverage or immigration status. 
Resources for Teachers
Remote Learning: Health and Physical Education Curricular Materials
Continue to access Health and Physical Education lesson plans, daily lessons, and student-facing activities on the DOE’s TeachHub (requires DOE log in). These online instructional materials are updated every week so that you can meet your virtual classroom needs.

See the Teach from Home page on the DOE’s InfoHub (requires DOE log in) for more information, helpful tips, and current announcements regarding Remote Learning. 
K-5 Teachers: Move-to-Improve Activity Tip
What do verbs and physical activity have in common? It’s the Freeze and Groove activity video , a curricular tool to incorporate into a virtual English language learner classroom. After getting familiar with the activity by watching the video, download the Move-to-Improve World Beats NYC album and use the Island Hopping music track to get students moving and grooving. 
Free Skills-Based Health Education Webinar Series
Cairn Guidance is offering free skills-based Health Education sessions via webinars, April 20 – April 23. View the webinars in order, as they build on each other to develop progressive knowledge and skills. Can’t join? All webinar recordings will be posted to the Cairn Guidance YouTube Channel . 

  • Foundations of Skills-Based Health Education: Monday, April 20, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Register
  • Intro to the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool; Building a Health Ed Unit: Tuesday. April 21, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Register
  • Assessing Students in Health Education: Rubrics and Performance Checklist: Wednesday, April 22, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Register
  • No-Cost Tools to Support Skills-Based Health Education: Thursday, April 23, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Register

Free Webinar: How Schools Can Partner With Families During COVID-19
Action for Healthy Kids and Kaiser Permanente have partnered to present a live, interactive webinar on Wednesday, April 15 at 2:00 p.m. about concrete ways that educators can promote family engagement during distance learning to support student health and academic success. See this link for more details and to register: Caring for the Education Community During COVID-19: How Schools Can Partner With Families During Distance Learning .

Status of Office of School Wellness Programs Professional Learning Opportunities 
As a continued effort to keep educators, staff, and partners safe and healthy, all in-person professional learning opportunities scheduled through April 29 are postponed. We will update our Professional Learning Catalog as we receive further guidance from the DOE. We are exploring how to make some of our sessions available online, and we will share updates in School Wellness Weekly and our catalog as soon as we have more details. Questions? Email wellnesspd@schools.nyc.gov .