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School Wellness Weekly

02.14.19


How to Celebrate and Build Safe and Supportive Schools  

This week marks Respect for All Week , when our school communities launch or build on initiatives that meaningfully engage students in activities that promote diversity and inclusion. While there is much to showcase and celebrate, creating safe, supportive school environments that are free from harassment, bullying, and discrimination doesn’t happen over the course of one week. Bias-free schools are the result of every member of a school community understanding how their words and actions impact others every single day.

Here are steps you can take now to help build safe, supportive schools:

  • Make sure your school provides comprehensive health education: Social, Emotional, and Mental Health is a key topic (check out the new New York City K-5 Health Education Scope and Sequence to design a standards-based elementary health education program).
  • Learn how to maximize justice, fairness, and diversity in the classroom: Grades K-12 teachers, register for Diversity: Competency Across Difference training on 3/13 in Brooklyn
  • Grades K-5 teachers, learn how to address bias-based bullying and teach lessons on family and gender diversity: register for the next LGBTQ Affirming Schools professional development workshop on 3/21 in Brooklyn
  • Participate in the OUT for Safe Schools® campaign to identify trusted adults at your school; learn more in this free webinar on 4/15

Increasing our students’ social and emotional intelligence is critical to achieving respect for all. We're thrilled to offer several upcoming trainings by noted health education expert Karen BK Chan, including new "Masculinity" workshops on how gender identity, gender expression and other gender constructs shape boys and men. See listings below and b rowse our Professional Learning Catalog to sign up for a training this spring!

Above: Jenny Ho, JHS 074 Nathaniel Hawthorne; School Wellness Poster Contest 2017
PE and Health Teachers: Share Your Expertise at the June 6 Think-Move-Achieve Conference

We are accepting online applications for presentations at the annual Think-Move-Achieve Conference for Health and Physical Educators on Chancellor’s Day, 6/6. Apply here by Sunday, 3/3 , at 11:59 p.m. to share your innovative ideas, methods, and tools for improving PE, health education, and wellness instruction and programming for your students and school community. Get help preparing with a half-day session, “Designing a Workshop,” on 3/16 and receive four hours of CTLE credit. Questions? Email wellnesspd@schools.nyc.gov .
Wellness Highlights
Opportunity to Earn an Advanced Certificate in Health Education
 
The DOE, in collaboration with Lehman College, is offering K-12 health education teachers who are not certified the opportunity to apply for an 18-credit program leading to an Advanced Certificate in Health Education . Participants will have tuition and fees paid by the DOE. To be eligible, teachers must currently teach health education, but not hold a New York State teaching certificate in health. Coursework begins in June 2019 and concludes in the spring semester of 2020. Participants must attend a mandatory orientation at Lehman College on 5/1. The deadline to apply is 3/4 . For more information about the program and eligibility, email J’Koi Hailstock with the subject line “Health Ed Program.”

GSA Summit Draws 1,500+ to Support LGBTQ Students and Safe School Environments
More than 1,500 educators, students and community-based partners gathered for the DOE's second annual Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) Summit on January 28, 2019. Photo: Vanessa Suero.


NEW: Redefining  Masculinity Professional Development Trainings

How do we teach boys to reject the traditional models of toxic masculinity and embrace healthier ideas about gender? What important conversations about masculinity should you be having in your classroom? You'll gain the skills and the knowledge to promote understanding within and between gender groups in these timely, important workshops led by Karen BK Chan.  

  • February 27: High School Masculinity: Awareness, Affirmation, and Conscious Transformation: Grades 9-12 educators, register for this session in Manhattan 
  • February 28: Elementary Masculinity: Awareness, Affirmation, and Conscious Transformation: Grades K-5 health education teachers including classroom teachers, register for this session in Queens. 
  • March 1: Middle School Masculinity: Awareness, Affirmation, and Conscious Transformation Training: Grades 6-8 educators, register for this session in Manhattan.
Physical Education
Upcoming Professional Learning:
Register for one or more of these upcoming physical education trainings that delve into the new K-5 Physical Education Scope and Sequence, focus on weight room instruction, and combine fitness principles with adventure education. 

  • February - May: PE Coaching: Personalized Instructional Support: Grades K-12 physical education teachers, register for this 4-6 week cycle beginning the week of 2/26.
  • February 26: Secondary PE Basics II: Lesson Planning for Skills Application: Grades 6-12 physical education teachers, register for this session in Queens.(Covers the new PE scope and sequence!)
  • February 26 (Manhattan): Achieving Fitness: An Adventure Activity Guide for Secondary Physical Education: Grades 6-12 physical education teachers, register for this session.
  • February 27 (Queens): Achieving Fitness: An Adventure Activity Guide for Secondary Physical Education: Grades 6-12 physical education teachers, register for this session.
  • March 1: Strong and Fit: Grades 6-12 physical education teachers, register for this session in the Bronx.
  • March 1: Make It Work: Mastering PE in Creative Spaces for Secondary Physical Education: Grades 6-12 physical education teachers, register for this session in Queens.
Health Education
Kids decorate tote bags at Green Beetz Day. Photo: Gina Bruno.
Upcoming Professional Learning:
Register for these upcoming health education sessions to explore emotional intelligence and elementary growth and development.

  • March 12: Grades 9-12 Social and Emotional Intelligence Training with Karen BK Chan: Learn to handle the challenging emotions in a high school classroom; register for this session in Manhattan
  • March 14: Grades 6-8 Social and Emotional Health Education Training with Karen BK Chan: MIddle school teachers, register for this session in the Bronx.
  • March 15: Grades K-3 Growth and Development Training with Karen BK Chan: Learn age-appropriate ways to teach about anatomy, puberty, communication, and consent; register for this session in Brooklyn.

Reproductive Identity Fellowships Available at Teachers College
Public school health educators in grades 6-12: Apply for the Spring 2019 Teachers College Reproductive Identity Formation Fellowship, a fully funded, multi-day teacher-training pilot program with a core sex education component. Training centers on supporting adolescent development of decision-making and perspective-taking skills as it pertains to pregnancy prevention and family planning . Apply by 3/1.

Create Systems Thinkers Through Green Beetz Course
Educators can sign up for an online After School Professional Development (ASPDP) course in systems thinking, which forms the foundation of the Green Beetz curriculum. Green Beetz teaches grades 5 and 6 students to think critically about the modern food system. The course costs $90, begins on 3/15, and provides educators with 12 professional development hours. View the course details.
Building the Wellness Community
Photo:Girls On the Run (from website)
Get Your Grades 3-8 Students Moving with Girls on the Run
Boost confidence and promote physical activity by bringing Girls on the Run NYC to your school this spring season. Girls on the Run offers programs for grades 3-5 and grades 6-8 that meet in small teams for ten weeks, culminating with an end-of-season 5K. Register by 2/20.

 Student Apprenticeship Focuses on Meal Preparation
There’s still time for high school students in grades 9-12 to apply for a paid apprenticeship with the Summer Meals Program run by the DOE's Office of Food and Nutrition Services. Student workers will assist with preparing and serving meals at community-based organizations throughout the city. The deadline to apply is 2/15. 

Staten Island Teens: Join Snug Harbor Teen Ambassadors
Staten Island high school students interested in a career in the arts are invited to apply to the Snug Harbor Teen Ambassadors program at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. Open to students in grades 9-12, teen ambassadors will gain a sense of community, professional skills, and behind-the-scenes access to exhibitions and cultural productions. The deadline to apply is 2/18 .

Staten Island School Gardens: Call for Proposals
The Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness is seeking RFPs from private and non-profit consultants to help plan, install, and maintain up to six school gardens. Applications for the School Garden Assistance Program are due on 2/19 and should be sent via email to Maralie Deprinvil, MPH .

Middle School Students: Win Cash Prizes in Contest Promoting Strong Bones 
Middle school students in the New York City metro area can win cash prizes for their schools in Cabot Creamery's Power Up Your Body Challenge by designing a campaign on why building strong bones is important for teens. One hundred entries will be chosen to showcase their projects at the Liberty Science Center in May. Students must have a teacher or other adult sponsor in order to participate. Entry forms are due 3/8 .
School Wellness Tip
Has Valentine’s Day turned into a second Halloween? Why not replace sugary treats with a festive fruit and veggie bouquet, or get your kids moving with a valentine scavenger hunt? Share these heart-healthy tips from Action for Healthy Kids with your school community.