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School Wellness Weekly

March 8, 2021
An adult sitting on a yoga mat on the floor of a living room doing a yoga pose. A young child is next to the adult mimicking the same yoga pose. A large window, couch, and book shelves are in the background.
Weekend Wellness: Everyone Benefits from Self-Care
As we approach the one-year mark of a challenging and unforgiving pandemic, the City is starting to see signs of promise: More vaccines, the opening of DOE middle schools—and soon high schools—and warmer temperatures that make it easier for our students to be physically active outdoors. At the same time, we all continue to deal with loss in our own ways, whether loss of loved ones, of jobs, of boundaries between work and home life, and so much more. 

Knowing when we need to pause and focus on our own self-care is hard, yet it’s a skill we all must learn in order to be physically and mentally healthy, present, and able to support others—including our students. The Office of School Wellness Programs is committed to raising awareness around self-care skills and concepts central to PE and Health Education that benefit not only students, but their families and communities. 

Renew your own commitment to self-care by joining us live in a free, Saturday morning event series with Hip Hop Public Health, “Weekend Wellness: Self-Care for Communities and Families.” Last week’s #CommunityImmunity debut event featured Darryl “Run D.M.C.” McDaniels, physicians, and health education experts engaging in conversations about COVID-19 vaccine facts and myths. This live event included music, videos, and of course love, to let communities and families know that we are still in this together. See upcoming topics below; spread the word to families and caregivers—especially in our communities of color—and join us live from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.:

  • March 20: Exploring the connection between mental health and physical activity
  • April 24: Racism and the connection to health and stress


Photo credit: Kamaji Ogino, Pexels.
Wellness Highlights
March is National Nutrition Month: Teach Students How to Make Healthy Food Choices
Use our Health Education instructional toolkits (opens in new window) to access the Nutrition and Physical Activity units, including free DOE resources and lessons on TeachHub to help you teach students the skills they need to make healthy food choices now and throughout their lives. Don’t forget to keep your health and nutrition in mind this month too! WorkWell NYC (opens in new window) has tips for healthy eating, especially for those with busy schedules. Bonus: If you have a competitive streak, join the 5 A Day Your Way Challenge (opens in new window). Registration includes:

  • Email tips to help you eat more fruits and vegetables
  • A tracking tool to help you monitor your progress
  • A digital community for sharing recipes and ideas
Physical Education
New Date Added! March 10: Live PE Basics 1 Webinar on Assessment Strategies 
Join a one-hour live webinar on Wednesday, March 10, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., to learn about fitness assessment strategies for any learning environment. Register for PE Basics 1: Health-Related Fitness for Blended and Remote Learning (opens in new window) (requires DOE login). Participants receive 60 minutes of CTLE.
Brain Awareness Week, Dana Foundation logo with a cartoon illustration of a brain.
Grades 6-8 Teachers: Celebrate Brain Awareness Week with Exercise for Healthy Brain and Body
March 15 to 21 is Brain Awareness Week (opens in new window): Middle school PE and health teachers can use the free Fitness for Life curriculum and resources like this grades 6-8 fact sheet, How Does Exercise Affect Your Brain? (opens in new window), to help students understand the connection between physical activity and a healthy brain. Fitness for Life is a health-related fitness curriculum aligned to national standards, with interactive web-based student and teacher textbooks, lesson plans, and other resources. To access:


Free Upcoming Move-to-Improve Training: Keep Your K-5 Students Active While Learning
All students, even those doing blended and remote learning, can and should stay physically active during the day, and the DOE’s Move-to-Improve program is an easy, effective way to help elementary students do just that. Grades K-5 classroom teachers can register for a free, one-hour upcoming webinar to learn how to use Move-to-Improve to get students up and moving during the day to improve their health and stay focused on learning. 

Visit the Move-to-Improve page (opens in new window) in our Professional Learning catalog for additional details and register below:


Stay Connected with Your PE Peers: Register for PE Online Professional Learning Communities in March
Register to attend a PE Online Professional Learning Community (PE OPLC) in March and network with other PE teachers in your borough to share resources, ask questions, and get new ideas to keep your Physical Education instruction strong and your students engaged. Online communities take place on Microsoft Teams, a free digital collaboration platform available to all DOE employees. 


Visit the PE Online Professional Learning Communities page (opens in new window) in our Professional Learning catalog for registration links for monthly PE OPLCs for the remainder of the year.
Health Education
Grades 6-12 Health Education Teachers: Register for Online Professional Learning Communities in March
Whether you are a veteran Health Education teacher or newly assigned to teach Health Education, participating in Health Education Online Professional Learning Communities (opens in new window) gives you a chance to connect with your peers to share challenges, identify best-practices, and feel supported. Online communities take place on Microsoft Teams, a free digital collaboration platform available to all DOE employees. Register for upcoming sessions: 

Building the Wellness Community
School Staff: Learn How to Help Students Advocate for Healthy School Communities 
Join the School Wellness Council Online Community and connect with other school wellness advocates! This session will focus on student-led health campaigns and will provide strategies for school staff to use while guiding their students. Participants will learn what a student-led health campaign is, why it's important, and how to support students in its development; examples of effective student-led campaigns; and tools to help them get started. 


NYC Youth Climate Summit Keynote Series
Everyone is welcome to join the NYC DOE Office of Sustainability every Tuesday in March (March 9, 16, and 23) for the Youth Climate Summit Keynote Series. Hear from members of the youth climate movement each week during a 30-minute keynote; gain climate knowledge, get inspired to take action, and build peer networks. The March 23 event features a Career Panel with special guests. Register for the NYC Youth Climate Summit (opens in new window) today. Questions? Contact sustainability@schools.nyc.gov (opens in email window).

Parents and Guardians: Tobacco, E-cigarette & Alternative Product Use Webinar
Parents, families, and caregivers can learn how to address the health risks of smoking, vaping, and the use of similar tobacco products (hookah, cannabis) in a free webinar Wednesday, March 17, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., hosted by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on the DOE’s Parent University platform. Get an overview of the types of products that exist and their health risks; discuss the forces that influence youth to use them; and share educational tools and tips on talking to your children. 

To sign up for this event and for more information, go to the Tobacco, E-cigarette & Alternative Product Use course (opens in new window) page on Parent University.

School Food and Nutrition During COVID-19: Resources for Teachers, Staff, and Parents
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now offers updated resources on school food and nutrition topics, including how to safely serve and distribute food and manage school gardens during the pandemic. See the School Nutrition Resources page (opens in new window) for checklists, one-pagers, and other resources.