Important News and Opportunities!

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome Back! We hope you had a wonderful holiday break, enjoyed quality time with friends and family and are feeling rested and rejuvenated.  We have a lot of great opportunities coming your way, so be sure to read all the way to the end. 

Sign up NOW for the Healthy Schools Move Challenge!!!

http://ultra.kidsrunningamerica.org/ 

This program is FREE to your students, their families and all staff, so get on board and complete an Ultramarathon (100 miles) of movement! Prizes will be awarded! Kudos to Cresthill Middle School and Cherry Valley Elementary for getting their schools signed up. They will be receiving a Healthy Breakfast for the first 75 participants registered. Your school could be next! Call or email me and I'm to help get you started! 720-810-6314 or andrea.willis@dcsdk12.org.  

COME to the Healthy Schools Leadership Retreat in Vail, Colorado on June 11th and 12th! We can take 25 lucky folks with us and cover your lodging, parking, mileage and per diem! If you are interested in attending this incredible leadership and training retreat, please send me an email with your name. We will be drawing names in the next couple weeks!

Great Body Shop: We have extra materials and resources FREE to a good home. First come, first serve! 

GoNoodle: This is a perfect way to incorporate brain breaks into your classroom! The work is done for you and students LOVE it! Kristina Clark offers free trainings to staff. (See flyer in inter-district mail coming soon.)

JAM World Record Contest 2015

(Feb. 12th at 10am)

SIGN UP NOW!

As a district, we will be participating in this national competition and the state that rallies the most people to sign up and commit to taking a quick fitness break on February 12th wins this year's JAM title. It's easy, it's fun, it costs nothing, and you can do it from wherever you are. And, rally everyone around you to join you on the 12th. Look for more details on which JAM we'll be doing in THINK coming soon!

www.jamworldrecord.org

LET'S GO COLORADO!!!

Healthy School Highlight!

Check out Cherry Valley's flourishing Tower Garden paid for by the Healthy Schools mini grant last spring. Jan Francis and her students incorporate learning into the care of the garden and even sell the fresh produce to families at the school, which supports their Ag Program. Keep up the great work! 

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

We are excited to offer you many different training opportunities this spring. Please take a look and see what might fit the needs of your staff and students. Email or call me with questions and to get more information on signing up or bringing these trainings to your school! 

 FREE Fitness Classes for Students and Staff

What better and easier way to bring health right to your school than having free fitness classes offered to your students and staff. All you need to do is pick a class, day and time and we'll find the instructor for you. Ready to get started? Email Laurie LaComb at Lauren.LaComb@dcsdk12.org. 

Want to get a Fitness Certification? 

We can pay up to $1,000 towards a fitness certification of your choice. Then, all we ask is that you bring these skills back and share your learning with the district by offering 20 hours of classes for staff or students. Contact Laurie LaComb for more information on this incredible opportunity! (Lauren.LaComb@dcsdk12.org)

Teaching with the Brain in Mind

DCSD is offering a 2 hour training for staff and administrators on Brain-Based learning. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how the learning brain functions, experience neuro-considered strategies that can be implemented into their planning, classroom and content to enhance student learning. (andrea.willis@dcsdk12.org)

Healthy Family Habits

Families are increasingly busy with work, homework and activities. Learn some tools to help your family stay healthy while on the go! This 1-2 hour class explores nutrition, healthy cooking, stress relief and exercise to keep the family active and healthy. This is a great one for your staff!

Movement for Improvement Training 

We will be offering two 1/2 day trainings with Master Trainers Gym and Caroline Street this spring in DCSD. They offer a unique Action Based Learning workshop as a team with experience in the gym and the classroom. Using the latest developments in brain research, they will engage the audience with the fascinating science of the brain and then put it to use. Participants will come away with a new passion for teaching and learning and will be equipped with the knowledge of how, when and why to implement movement into your classroom and gym the very next day. (More information on this to come!)

Fizika Active Learning Specialist Training 

Fizika Active Learning is an evidence-based approach that helps educators achieve physical literacy through the learning process, to improve academic and health outcomes. This online graduate level course provides teachers and administrators with the science, methodologies, and leadership tools needed to apply the principles of using the body to help the mind learn effectively. (Graduate Credit Available)

Website: www.fizikagroup.com

Take a Kim Bevill Online Course

To bring meaningful change in education, Kim has insisted on training educators on the applicable neuroscience and the instructional strategies that work for anyone with a brain!  Be ready to think outside the box in a highly interactive training.  Participants consistently report feeling a new passion, purpose, and inspiration to new endeavors. They draw on groundbreaking research and hands-on experience to bring high performance results. These unique training opportunities help people move to the next level of efficiency, learning, health and wellness. (Graduate Credit Available)

Website: http://teacherrecertificationcourses.com/

FREE Kaiser Programs

Laughaceuticals: Laughter is the best medicine. 

Feeling bogged down or stressed? Well this training is for you! Laughaceuticals works with your staff on the benefits of laughter and play and how to encourage using more humor and fun into your daily routine. (This training is about an hour and great for a staff meeting or PLC day.)

Educational Theatre Programs (ETP)
Through music, comedy and drama, our live theatre programs are offered to schools and communities free of charge. They cover important health topics, such as healthy eating, physical activity, diversity, peer pressure, conflict management, bullying prevention, domestic violence, dealing with grief and loss, depression, sexually transmitted diseases, literacy promotion, and drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse. 

Other Community Partner Training Opportunities

January Events:

- Integrating Physical Activity Into the School Day

·         January 22, 2015

·         Pueblo

- Using Technology in PE

·         January 26, 2015

·         Durango

February Events:

- Highly Effective Teaching in K-12 Physical Education: Putting All the Pieces Together

·         February 6, 2015

·         Gunnison

- Teaching With The Brain In Mind- Brain Based Learning  Part 2

·         February 13, 2015

·         Pueblo

- Jim DeLine: THINK OUTSIDE THE BALL – WHAT’S IN YOU

·         February 16, 2015

·         Grand Junction

CLICL HERE TO REGISTER AND FOR MORE INFORMATION

It's hard to believe it's December already and we're almost half way through the school year! We are so grateful to each of you and the great work you do to create healthy and happy learning and working environments! 

This month, we'd like to highlight and celebrate some of this work! In addition, see below for some great professional development opportunities through CDE and RMC Health. 

Kaiser Thriving Schools Grant

* Do you or anyone you work with in DCSD want to become a certified fitness instructor. If so, contact Laurie LaComb for more information on funding to support this! 

lauren.lacomb@dcsdk12.org

As part of this grant, participating schools are creating Student Led Health and Wellness Teams. Amazing things happen when you give students a voice about their health! Kudos to Bear Canyon, Cherry Valley, Cimarron MS, Cougar Run, Fox Creek, Heritage, Pine Lane and Soaring Hawk for piloting this work! 

Students are brainstorming ideas on ways to increase physical activity before, during and after school. Recent projects include things such as walk/wheel on Wednesdays, hacky sack, students teaching Jammin' Minutes to classes, researching painting playgrounds (to incorporate movement and learning). 

In addition, this grant offers FREE Fitness Classes for Students and Staff. So far, there have been 26 sites, 138 classes and 905 participants! 

* Are you interested in bringing FREE fitness classes to your students and staff at your building? Please contact Laurie LaComb for more information. 

lauren.lacomb@dcsdk12.org

Coordinated School Health Teams

How are your SHIPs going? Need help with data collection? Reminder, in order to receive your stipend, you MUST meet with me and implement at least 1 of your SHIPs this year! If you haven't scheduled you meeting with me yet, there's still time. Just email me!

We have lots of schools getting their staff and students signed up for the DCSD Healthy Schools Move Challenge through KRA! January is a great time to help motivate your staff and students to move more! Remember, there's a healthy breakfast reward to the first 5 schools/sites that register at least 75 participants. 

Registration is quick and simple:

Registration Instructions

Click HERE to register!

REMINDER! 

The Healthy School Champions Scorecard Deadline is January 16th! Healthy School Champions recognizes and rewards schools that are healthy. The scorecard identifies those schools that are implementing healthy school strategies, and ensuring the connection between health and learning is present and thriving. There are monetary awards distributed to selected champions!  If you want to do this, you can get an automatic $300 and more by signing up to complete a 74 question Healthy School Survey pilot. This will serve as the Scorecard with the addition of the support letters and success story.  We are happy to help you complete this. Just let us know! 

Healthy School Champions Scorecard

 www.healthyschoolchampions.org/score-card/faqs

DCSD Professional Development Opportunity on Job Alike Day! 

We are so lucky to have the opportunity to offer the following professional development class on January 16, 2015 (Job Alike Day). See below for registration instructions! 

The Road to Mastery: Assessment Strategies in Health Education

Location:
Douglas County Fairgrounds (see attached map)
500 Fairgrounds Dr
Castle Rock, CO 80104
Events Center: Conference Room #2

Friday, January 16, 2015
7:30am- Breakfast
8:00am-3:30pm - Training (Lunch provided)

Registration is required. Please click here.

This interactive training will explore types of assessments that can be used during introduction, reinforcement, and mastery of health skills found in Colorado’s Comprehensive Health Education Standards. Using an assessment process guide and toolkit, participants will develop student assessment strategies to use in their classroom. Participants also examine different types of rubrics and practice using rubrics to assess student performance and growth.

This is the fourth health education standards trainings offered by RMC Health’s Health Education Training Cadre.  

Credit (0.5 hour) from Adams State College is available for a fee.

RMC Health, the Colorado Department of Education, and the Colorado Legacy Foundation have partnered to develop the standards trainings.

Who Should Attend?

• Health Educators (Elementary, Middle & High School)
• Administrators
• Health professionals serving schools
• Counselors
• Special Educators

Objectives:

As a result of this training, participants will be able to:

• Identify different types of assessments used during introduction, reinforcement, and mastery of health skills
• Utilize a process for development of student assessment strategies that measure student growth
• Apply rubrics/criteria to assess student performance and growth

Mark your calendars for the Healthy Schools Leadership Retreat June 11th & 12th in Vail Colorado! 

RMC Health has been gracious enough to allow us to invite 33 co-leaders to the leadership retreat, paid in full! More information will come on this in an email in January. 

If you have read this far, send me a quick email with your name proving it! Prizes will be awarded to the first 5 people to respond! (:

PE Professional Development - Upcoming Events

      January Events

Integrating Physical Activity

• Date: January 22, 2015
• Hours: 8:00am-3:30pm
• Meals: Lunch Provided
• Location: Pueblo Convention Center 320 Central Main St. Pueblo, CO 81003
• Register

Using Technology in PE

• Date: January 26, 2015
• Hours: 8:00am-3:30pm(Registration 7:30am)
• Meals: Lunch Provided
• Location: Escalante Middle school 141 Baker Lane, Durango CO 81303
• Register

 

February Events

Highly Effective Teaching in K-12 Physical Education: Putting All the Pieces Together

• Date: February 6, 2015
• Hours: 8:00am-3:30pm
• Meals: Lunch Provided
• Location: Gunnison Elementary School, 1099 North 11th St. Gunnison, CO 81230
• Register

Teaching With The Brain In Mind

• Date: February 13, 2015

• Hours: 8:00am-3:30pm
• Meals: Lunch Provided
• Location: Pueblo Convention Center 320 Central Main St. Pueblo, CO 81003

• Register

Jim DeLine: THINK OUTSIDE THE BALL – WHAT’S IN YOU

• Date: February 16, 2015
• Hours: 8:00am-4:00pm(Registration 7:30am)
• Meals: Lunch Provided
• Location: Pear Park Elementary, 432 30 1/4 Rd Grand Junction, CO 81504
• Register

- See more at: http://www.cde.state.co.us/healthandwellness/hs_pe#sthash.XipyZTE9.dpuf

August Healthy Schools News

Welcome Back! 

We hope you had a wonderful summer break and took time to relax and rejuvenate with friends and family. We've been busy preparing for a great year ahead and can't wait to get started! 

YAY Healthy Schools Blog! 
We created this blog in order to share information more efficiently as well as make resources and other information readily available to you and your team members. 

Included you will find:

* Calendar (We will post health and wellness related events in the district and community as well as important dates and deadlines. Please let us know of anything that you'd like to share or that we're missing!)
* Submit Your Event: Do you have a school or community event you want to share? Just email me with the outlined details and we will put it on our calendar! Be sure to add the Healthy Schools Calendar to your calendars so the events will show up automatically!
* Roles and Responsibilities of the Coordinated School Health Team (We are still working on this section)
* Partner Updates (Will be included at bottom of blog posts)
* Resources (links to research, sample SHIPs, etc. This is still being developed.)

Being that it's the start of the school year, there's so much to share, so please bear with us on this long(er) post. I promise not to be so long winded on future monthly updates! (:

First off, using the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model, we created a mission and vision for the DCSD Healthy Schools program and a three-year strategic plan to implement our health and wellness efforts. We had the opportunity to present to Cabinet this summer and with Student Wellness is a high priority, we will be able to move forward and continue our work!  This is huge progress for our mission in making the health of DCSD students and staff a priority in this district.

Vision:

Douglas County School District will be recognized as the Healthiest School District in Colorado by 2017

Mission:

DCSD Healthy Schools leads district-wide and school-based wellness efforts, offers professional development opportunities, and coordinates the efforts of health and wellness initiatives that support the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Initiative for all staff and students in Douglas County School District.

Healthy Schools Move

Without the HSSS grant money, we've had to improvise and seek funding from other sources. To do this, we are partnering with Kids Running America (KRA) in a 

DCSD Healthy Schools Move initiative, where staff, students and family members are encouraged to accumulate at least 100 miles of movement throughout the school year. There will be incentives and competitions to reward participants for logging their miles. Don't like to run? No problem! We will have conversion charts for participants to use to convert biking, swimming, tennis, etc. or you can just add those activities to the Movement Tracker to monitor your exercise! that to the movement With the KRA platform, there are opportunities for sponsors and partners to pay for sponsorships. 

I never would have guessed sales would be part of our job description, but we're so passionate about this work and cannot wait to share it! 

We've worked very hard to be able to offer this program at NO COST to participants! The revenue generated from these sponsorships will go directly back to schools to support health and wellness initiatives (a.k.a. your SHIP(s) since we do not have the $500 per school that we have had in past years.  PARTICIPATION IN KEY!!!

We will also be working with the Personalized Learning Leaders (PLL) in the district, in which the work of the Coordinated School Health teams can be integrated directly into their roles and responsibilities and includes a stipend. 

We will send more information on the launch of the DCSD Healthy Schools Move initiative, which we hope to be early September, so look for that in the next week or two. Contact Andrea Willis for more information or questions. 

Thriving Schools Grant
We are so excited to announce that DCSD was awarded the Thriving Schools Grant through Kaiser Permanente! This grant will specifically target 9 schools that will create student led health teams under the direction of a "Health Coach" (a staff member at the school) and includes a stipend. These teams will create and implement unique physical activity initiatives in each school. We are in need of one more High School to participate, so if you are interested, please contact Laurie LaComb. With this grant we will also be offering some exciting opportunities in the area for professional development, so keep your eyes open for healthy classes listed in the district course catalog.

Upcoming Events/Training Opportunities

DCSD Staff Wellness

Interested in forming a kickball team? 

* All participants must be DCSD employees and there is only room for 24 teams.

* The first 24 teams to submit all the required forms will be able to play.

* See below for more information on where, when and how! 

Kickball Information and Rules

Kickball Team Sign ups

Kickball Waiver Sheet

Interested in THE GREAT BODY SHOP Training???

School System: Douglas County School District   
Contact: Andrea Willis

Workshop Title: Basic Teacher Orientation: THE GREAT BODY SHOP

Objective(s): Participants will ...

·      identify the scope and sequence of THE GREAT BODY SHOP

·      locate essential components of THE GREAT BODY SHOP Teacher's Guide

·      explain the program mechanics of the curriculum

·      participate in lessons and activities from THE GREAT BODY SHOP

·      analyze activities used to meet the curriculum's performance objectives

·      identify cross curricular reinforcement activities, the Common Core alignment, and best practice instructional strategies

·      explain process and procedures related to available web tools

Trainer: Pat Stewart

Course Description: The Basic Teacher Orientation is a training experience designed to train teachers how to implement THE GREAT BODY SHOP.  After an overview of the curriculum, participants will experience demonstration lessons, active participation through curricular activities, and explore effective ways to implement the curriculum. The Children's Health Market wants to ensure that participants receive a workshop that meets their needs, is of the highest quality, and is relevant to specific educational challenges.  The training is designed to be interactive, practical and motivational.

For additional information, contact:

Barbara Burditt

Director of Training

The Children’s Health Market

800-782-7077 x1003

(Webinar)

Building a Foundation for Quality Physical Education: It Begins on Day 1 

Attendees will learn:

• Ideas for introducing, teaching, and assessing social skills 
• Strategies for implementing student-centered guidelines, expectations, and routines
• Sample cooperation and trust activities for the first few weeks of school

When: Wednesday, August 20th at 3pm Pacific (4pm Mountain, 5pm Central, 6pm Eastern)
Who: Grades PreK-12 teachers and administrators, PE specialists, after school and early childhood teachers and staff 
Duration: 45 Minutes
Cost: Free

Click Here to register for this webinar.

“Public Health in the Rockies Conference”

September 17-19Fort Collins Marriott, Fort Collins, Colorado

“American School Health Association Conference”
October 9-11
Hilton Portland & Executive Tower, Portland, Oregon

If there's anything else you'd like us to include, please let us know using the "Submit Your Event" tab or contact us directly.