DCSD Healthy Schools

January 2018

Welcome to 2018!  My sister shared with me an idea for the new year: "Look like you are 20, and feel like you are 18".  Beyond the sheer humor in this statement, there is a hidden lesson.  One way to look at this is that 18 year-olds generally do not allow fear to get in their way, and they attack life's challenges with determination to succeed, as they try to enjoy the ride every step of the way.  This year will be full of its challenges and failures as usual, and a positive mindset will help determine the outcome of these inevitable moments.  Remember you have the ability to do anything you put your mind to, and don't forget there are helping hands all around you. Sometimes the hardest part is to ask for help to reach your goals. Don't give up, don't let fear get in your way, and enjoy the ride!  We wish you the best in all that you do, and we are here to support your healthy schools initiatives in any way needed - just reach out!

Funding Opportunities

Write a 250 word essay to get your school's name in for a $15,000 drawing to build a schoolyard garden.  Yes, that is it, a 250 word essay!  Read more here to find out all the details. Drawing will be held March 22, 2018 so please submit entry no later than March 11th.  Best of luck!!

The Foundation for Douglas County Schools is now accepting proposals for 2018 Opportunity Grants  

This spring more than $22,000 will be awarded to projects that fuel experiential learning and to schools and classrooms that most need the Foundation’s support. Click here for details including the Request for Proposals and for information about other funding opportunities including the Nancy Intagliata Legacy Award which is a private staff scholarship for elementary school employees.

Alliance for Healthier Generation: Opportunities

Kick off your 2018 healthy school efforts!  Attend one of our free webinars below, and you will be eligible to win a $200 Target GiftCardTM   Need one-on-one guidance?  Schedule a call right now!

Take Action Webinar Series:  Attendees will be entered in a monthly drawing to receive a $200 Target GiftCardTM.Ten winners will be chosen each month!*  Login to see the multiple dates and times available.  What do YOU need? Grab-and-go resources:   Jan 15, 17, 24, 25 Join us to learn about tools, resources, and expert guidance offered at no-cost. Can't attend, check out this on-demand video. Wellness Committees that Work: Jan. 17, 23, 29 Learn how to start or reenergize a wellness committee that coordinates communication and decision making. Can't attend, check out this on-demand video. Healthy School Celebrations & Fundraisers: Jan. 18 & 22 Discover alternative celebration and fundraising ideas and develop a plan to take action. Can't attend, check out this on-demand video.  Active Learning & Classroom Energizers Webinar: Jan. 11, 16, 23, 29 Learn how to integrate physical activity in the classroom with no-cost, turnkey resources. Can't attend, check out this on-demand video.

Healthy Schools Gets Techy!

We are on twitter!  Please follow Healthy Schools on twitter and be sure to retweet us.  We want to publicize all the great work that happens in our Healthy Schools.  We will give you an extra entry in this month's blog drawing if you follow us!   @DcsdHealthy

Is your New Year's Resolution to go on a tech diet?  If so, read these 5 steps for tech use reduction shared by Kristen Race, owner of Mindful Life (Great resource for mindfulness in the classroom, in the workplace, and parenting).

• Step 1: Track your screen-time with the Moment app or the Realizd app.
• Step 2: Started checking email intentionally by making it difficult to check email on your phone and by scheduling times to check email.
• Step 3: Finally say "no" to notifications by turning off those pesky red flags for all social media apps on your phone. 
• Step 4: Unsubscribe to the zillions of email newsletters overwhelming your inbox using unroll.me.
• Step 5: Recharge with a digital sunset. Put your phone away: out of sight, out of mind.

Training Opportunities

MindUP Curriculum- Why? How? Plan! 

Session 1807-1 January 22, 2018. 4:30-6:30 at Clear Sky Elementary. 

This two hour class with provide an overview of the neuroscience that supports using mindfulness in

the classroom along with some hands-on activities, the MindUP curriculum, and planning time with 
colleagues. The overall goal of this workshop is to train teachers how to use the MindUp curriculum 
and other mindfulness resources to aid in creating optimistic classroom environments, provide social 
emotional learning skills practice for students, decreasing stress and anxiety while increasing focus, 
self awareness and self management skills.

School Celebrations    

                                   
From David Garrett at Cresthill Middle School: David attended Teaching with the Brian in Mind #1 workshop and had his class create brain neurons using pipe cleaners. A girl in the class took it one step further and created her neuron and then with the extra time created labels using the pipe cleaners. 

Healthy preschool holiday party at Soaring Hawk!

Physical Activity

Paula Bishop from Sage Canyon shared the idea of creating indoor recess bags for staff to check out on those cold or rainy days. All of the activities in the bag will encourage students to be physically active on the days they can't go outside. She shared her list of supplies (equipment request) in case anyone is interested in creating something similar. 

Have You Done the #Jump4More Health & PE Challenge Yet? Join the #Jump4More Challenge and have your students tell Congress why there needs to be more health and PE in schools! For the 2017-18 school year, Congress drastically reduced funding for Title IV, Part A of the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The #Jump4More Challenge will be integrated into our talks during our annual SPEAK Out! Day and showcased to members of Congress in an effort to highlight the importance of health and PE. 3 easy steps to take the #Jump4More Challenge: 1. Take a short two-minute video 2. Share on social media 3. Challenge your colleagues Check out the videos of other school and teachers! Want to get involved too? Have your students jump rope or shoot hoops four times then ask them to share what they love about health/PE! Use the SHAPE America sample video scripts to get started. Help join the fight for more funding! If you need some research behind movement for principals, parents, or colleagues read this article... Research behind the effectiveness of Physical Activity! We love this brain poster...

Resource

Mindfulness

Meditation for Anxiety: Proven Way to Calm Your Mind

From the article, "Meditation has been shown in many studies to work as well as common prescription drugs for anxiety. It can even reverse the damage caused by anxiety and make your brain less anxiety-prone. In this newly updated and expanded article, you’ll learn:

• Four key ways meditation makes your brain less prone to anxiety
• Why mindfulness meditation is particularly good for anxiety relief
• Why guided meditation is a foolproof way to get started
• The best websites and free (or nearly free) apps for meditations for anxiety
• Moving meditations to try if meditation makes you more anxious"

Wonderful resource website...  http://www.changetochill.org/

3 Ideas for bringing gratitude to your classrooms through writing (article)

Nutrition

CINNAMON

You should love it because...

In addition to helping control your blood sugar and fend off diabetes, this big-around-the-holidays spice is good for improving your cholesterol, warding off Alzheimer's, and possibly alleviating symptoms of PCOS in women. (Pro tip: opt for ceylon cinnamon – the milder relative of the more common grocery store variety, cassia cinnamon – for the strongest health benefits.)

Spices for better mental focus!

Water Resources

Youth-led Partnership in Jeffco Creates Healthy Beverage Toolkit for K-12 Students Posted: 22 Nov 2017 10:45 AM PST The Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC) at Jeffco Public Schools partnered with Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) to create a peer-led healthy beverage campaign for K-12 students entitled, “Water: It’s In Your Nature.” The students developed this toolkit of learning activities to parallel the current regional Hidden-Sugar.org campaign from the Healthy Beverage Partnership.  The campaign toolkit contains four activities: Water Conducts the Brain (eight-minute educational video); Water ‘Bout Me (online hydration calculator); Ready, Set…Water! (interactive Kahoot trivia game); and You Can’t Bottle Creativity (student PSA challenge). These activities have now been integrated into the Jeffco Public Schools curriculum for all teachers. The toolkit is useful for anyone working with the K-12 population to promote water consumption.  Download the toolkit here. That's enough for now. Thank you for reading our blog! Please leave a comment to enter your name in our monthly blog drawing.  Have a wonderful January and keep up with all of your health and wellness initiatives! With gratitude, Laurie & Kimmy