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School Wellness Weekly

October 5, 2021
Mural celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month. Photo credit: Detail of Hispanic Heritage, David Valdez.
Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month 
Celebrating our collective diversity is key to creating healthy and inclusive school communities where every student, school staff member, family, and caregiver thrives. Providing our students with high-quality Health and Physical Education rooted in culturally responsive-sustaining education ensures that their unique identities are embraced during instruction and that they feel empowered to be healthy and active for life.

Every year, from September 15 to October 15, we celebrate and reflect on the impacts, contributions, and histories of Latinx people in the United States during Hispanic Heritage Month. Here in New York City, 41% of students enrolled in district public schools are Hispanic, while 17% of their teachers identify as Hispanic, according to NYC OpenData for the 2019-2020 school year. Health and Physical Education instruction in our DOE schools emphasize diversity, community building, and respecting different identities—teachers can reference our Health Education (opens in new window) and Physical Education (opens in new window) Scope and Sequence documents to learn more.

Celebrate by learning more about how the Latinx community has made their mark on history and share the following resources with your school communities, including students—our current generation of people working for a better future: 




Learn about the various careers held by City employees in the Hispanic community and the City's commitment to an inclusive and safe workforce by joining the Hispanic American Heritage Month CityTalk Panel discussion webinar via Zoom this Friday, October 8. Register (opens in new window) today. 

Photo credit: Detail of Hispanic Heritage, David Valdez
Wellness Highlights
Special Edition of School Wellness Weekly: Teacher-Leader Issue
To make sure educators and school leaders get timely information about upcoming workshops and events targeted to them, we are launching a special edition of School Wellness Weekly: Teacher-Leader issue. In this feature issue, we will share updates on our: 

  • professional learning opportunities (including conferences) 
  • Online Professional Learning Communities 
  • Professional Learning Catalog 

All School Wellness Weekly subscribers whose self-reported profile information indicates they are educators and school leaders will receive this issue. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this email, click “Update Profile,” and follow the quick and easy directions so that we have your most-up-to-date details.  

Save the Date: Election Day Online Professional Learning, Tuesday, November 2 Our Think-Move-Achieve Conference for Physical and Health Educators will take place live online and on-demand this school year. Registration information and links coming soon! 
Health Education
Updated HIV Curriculum Pilot: Per Session Opportunity for Grades K-12 Teachers 
The Office of School Wellness Programs is developing a brand-new HIV curriculum for New York City for all grades, K-12. We are actively recruiting NYC teachers to pilot lessons to at least one grade or more in their current classroom this year and share feedback with us by agreed upon deadlines. Participants must be licensed and an appointed K-12 NYC DOE teacher who has experience teaching the NYC Department of Education HIV/AIDS Curriculum (opens in new window) to at least one grade level. Review the per session posting (opens in new window) for more details; apply by Monday, October 25. 
Physical Education
2021-2022 CHAMPS Program: Update on Eligibility and Application  
The Office of School Wellness Programs is committed to helping schools provide students with safe, engaging physical activity options that meet the unique needs of the school community. This year the CHAMPS application will be available to a selected group of high-need schools that agree to partner with us, and schools that have participated in the CHAMPS program at least once in the last three years (2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021). All eligible schools will receive an email from the Office of School Wellness Programs in mid-October with application instructions.