Monday, March 23, 2020




March 2020
Curiosity


We are now in the home stretch of the 2020-2021 school year but the game has changed in so many ways. This is a time to look into these uncertain times and find creative solutions. As difficult as these times are, there are also some positive side effects by being asked to stay home and slow life down. More time in pajamas, less time driving.  More stress about the quantity of toilet paper in the house, less pressure for state testing.  More time to be with loved ones, less busyness.  We can only hope that through these changes that our DCSD Healthy Schools family and their families are healthy, adjusting to this new normal, and finding some peace with it all.

Important Dates


Please check your email on March 24th for the "2020 Wellness Spring Celebration - RSVP". We are not sure whether our April 29th end-of-year celebration will take place in-person or virtually. However, we ARE sure that we are ordering some sweet sweatshirts for all of our leaders! You must complete the RSVP in order to receive a sweatshirt!

April 15th Please send us any health efforts you are trying with your students online! We have a tone bar and Hoberman ball to give away! Email all efforts to Laurie LaComb at lllacomb@dcsdk12.org

September 15th- Healthy Schools Workshop at the Highlands Ranch Mansion (crossing fingers all will be back to normal by then!)

Supports for Online Learning

Image result for movement and online learning

HEALTHY SCHOOLS DEPARTMENT
We are here to support you in any way we can. If you are looking for a lesson on any of the WSCC components, such as physical activity, nutrition, mindfulness, Health Ed ideas, please reach out to Laurie at lllacomb@dcsdk12.org. Our team will work hard to find ideas and get them to you pronto!

MINDFUL SCHOOLS
For the next few weeks, Mindful Schools will be offering free mindfulness classes for kids! Join us online – for mindful activities, mindful movement, read-alouds – and let’s have fun exploring mindfulness together.

Free Online: Mindfulness Class for Kids!

Classes will be held on: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
10am PDT / 1pm EDT
Sign up for participation instructions
😎😎😎😎😎

BOKS Physical Activity Breaks

Spider Bursts
Individual, in place
10 minutes, grades K - 8

Do each activity on the spot for 30 – 60 seconds
  1. Begin in a straight arm plank position.
  2. Right leg bends and is placed outside of right arm.
  3. Left leg kicks through right arm and right leg.
  4. Lift right arm and balance for 5 seconds.
  5. Return to the original position and complete exercise on left side.
  6. Repeat 5 times


Sports Galore
Individual, in place
10 minutes, grades K - 8

Do each activity in place for 60 seconds:



  1. Act like a Baseball player swinging the bat
  2. Act like a Basketball player shooting the ball
  3. Act like a Hockey player skating as fast as possible
  4. Act like a Football player and practice fast feet
  5. Act like a Professional Skier and practice going over jumps
  6. Act like a Tennis Player and practice your serve
  7. Repeat




Tabata Jacks
Individual, in place
10 minutes, grades K - 8



  • 20 seconds of fast Jumping Jacks
  • 10 seconds of rest
  • 20 seconds of scissor Jumping Jacks (legs alternate front and back like scissors, arms swinging with legs)
  • 10 seconds of rest
  • 20 seconds of diagonal scissor jacks, where legs move forward on a 45-degree angle and back in, arms swinging with legs
  • 10 seconds of rest
  • Repeat this 10 times



*A tabata is a form of exercise that alternates intense activity with resting.



Squat Clap Challenge
Partner, requires space
5 minutes, grades 4-8

Stand facing a partner
Perform squat jumps at the same time as your partner and high five him/her each time for 30 seconds
Hold squat position while facing partner and clap hands (like quick high fives) with them as many times as possible for 30 seconds
Repeat 5 x
Switch partner and repeat steps 1-5

Square Breathing Burst
Individual, in place
3-5 minutes, grades K-8

This square breathing exercise is a fast, fun, easy way to teach children about deep breathing and introduce the deep breath. Directions:

Begin in an easy seated position on the floor or in a chair.
Breathe in to a count of 4.
Hold breath for a count of 4.
Breathe out for a count of 4.
Pause for a count of 4.
Repeat.

Variation: As you show this technique to the kids for the first time, draw a square in the air with your finger to model the Square Breathing Burst technique. Once you’ve modeled it for the kids, invite them to join you by drawing their own squares in the air.

For more Brain Break ideas:
Another brain break idea is to have your kids go outside and make as much noise as they can for 5 minutes. My friend back in Illinois did it with her students, they loved it!!

Thursday, January 30, 2020

January 2020


There's a lot to share this month, so here it goes!!






We are so excited to share with all of our Healthy Schools that we have recorded 8 "Ten Meaningful Minutes" podcasts to date. We have been working with Aaron Ragon on this concept since this last year hoping to get information out to parents, caregivers, and teachers on ways to help our students safe, healthy, engaged, supported and challenged. We need your HELP to get the word out!! If possible, can you please find ways to post this podcast on your classroom or school websites? Share it with your staff at your next meeting? If you are able, please let us know via email so we can put your name in our drawing by the end of February. Thank you in advance for any help!!

Professional Development



February 14th
Classified training in InspirEd! Kimmy is teaching two classes: 
        ~ Mindfulness 101 for Support Staf, 8:30-11, CVHS
        ~ SEL Through the Mindfulness Lens, 1-3:00, CVHS





Skills-Based Health Education Training Series Join RMC Health for a free training series on skills-based health education. The training series features four interactive and hands-on trainings that prepare health educators to implement best practices in skills-based health education. Sign up for all four or the trainings that are most relevant to your expertise and experience. For objectives for each training, please reach out to amandan@rmc.org.

We have SUB PAY available!! RMC Trainings
  • February 13, 9-4:30- Introduction to Skills-Based Health Education: Daily Lesson Planning, Mastery, and Assessment register
  • March 20, 9-4:30- Building a Safe and Inclusive Community for Health Education register
  • April 24, 9-4:30- Practice, Practice, Practice: The Road to Students Mastering Health Skills register
  • May 15, 9-4:30- The Joy of Assessment: Empowering Students and Teachers through Mastery

Free online Nutrition Class for Teachers With Whole Foods!


DCSD BENEFITS


Free Financial Webinars from MetLife

Join Elena C. Lynch, Financial Planner, for a series of 45 minute webinars focusing on strategies to help relieve financial anxiety; part of the financial educational awareness program of the DCSD 403b/457 Retirement Plan Services.


WEBINAR #5 ESTATE PLANNING BASICS 
Understanding the foundations of financial concepts is critical to long-term financial well-being. This presentation provides an overview of what estate planning is; its benefits and primary tools used. More in-depth information about each tool (Wills, trusts, gifting, and life insurance) are provided. You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Feb 6, 2020, 5:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this webinar https://financialguide.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SLLhe8SZQke2n-pEgmkpow After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.


WEBINAR #6 INVESTMENT BASICS
Understanding the foundations of financial concepts is critical to long-term financial well-being. This presentation provides a general outline of various investment vehicles including stocks, bonds and mutual funds. A discussion of why investing may make sense and an overview of asset allocation based on personal risk profiles are offered.

When: Feb 13, 2020, 5:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this webinar: https://financialguide.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Fm-CpNVrQoWQORLdNVDWOw After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.


WEBINAR #7 RETIREMENT READINESS
 
The choices you make prior to retirement may have a big impact on your retirement. Preparing from 3 different perspectives: Financial, Organizational and Emotional.

When: Feb 20, 2020, 05:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this webinar: https://financialguide.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1xIFlZEbRAC1ZaxsUkPRpg After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.


WEBINAR #8 WOMEN and FINANCES 
Understanding the foundations of financial concepts is critical to long-term financial well-being. This presentation uses statistics from recent MassMutual research to highlight three top financial concerns of women: Savings, Investing and Retiring.

When: Feb 27, 2020, 05:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this webinar: https://financialguide.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_F3IQERpgT1G4INj1c1wZfw After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar

Mindfulness


                               7 insightful steps to creating your own mindfulness practice
                          https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/mindfulness-guide


Mindful Schools Fundamental Course
   
The central objective of this professional development course is to introduce you to mindfulness meditation and help you explore and cultivate a personal mindfulness practice. You’ll learn science, strategies, and mindful practices that support positive states of mind like gratitude, kindness, joy, and compassion.
Two upcoming sessions: Feb 7th - March 19th and March 6 - April 16th
Registration

Random Acts of Kindness Week: February 16th - 23rd




New Book to Read

I am a huge Dr. Dan Siegel fan, and this is his new book, The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains get Wired!! 



School Celebrations

Pioneer Elementary invited the Kindness Ninja into their school for a morning of motivation!




Junior Recess Coaches in DCSD
Want to learn how to bring this program to your school, reach out to Kimmy Romine!





Physical Activity



TRAINOC is giving away 5 recess day programs to 5 lucky elementary schools this spring. Our voting competition opens on January 27th, 2020 and will close on February 10th, 2020. All winners will be announced and notified on February 12th, 2020.

Train OC

How to WIN a FREE Obstacle Course event for your school!

1) Go to this Link on January 27th, 2020 and cast your vote for your school.
2) Use the social sharing buttons to win 2 extra votes
3) Share this link with your school, family and friends to increase your chances of winning.

Questions?  Reach out to James Short, Phone: 303-828-7381



Image result for running



The other day, Cristina Berrett-Braun and I were chatting about our 2020 intentions and she shared with me her amazing goal to run 1 mile every day! There is actually an entire group of people who have run a mile or more a day- one gentleman has run every day for over 50 years!! I thought this is both attainable and fun, maybe it is something you'd like to start personally or do with your students. If you want to see the streak of runners, here it is...

Streak Runners International

Global School Playday

Turn off the computers and pull out Monopoly! If your school participates, please share photos and stories with us!! February 5th, 2020

Grant Opportunities

 Groove Auto in Denver CO Drive for Education


Groove Auto Grant App is open until March 31st. 


Nutrition

Peanut butter/Banana Ice Cream


Ingredients:
2 medium bananas, peeled, halved and frozen
1/4 cup peanut butter


Optional toppings: whipped cream (oh ya!), chocolate chips, shredded coconut, peanuts


Directions:
Place bananas and peanut butter in a food processor. Pulse and process until mostly smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Garnish with coconut, if desired. Serve immediately


http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/258090/2-ingredient-peanut-butter-banana-ice-cream/

Happy, happy days to all. Thank you for continuing to bring health and wellness to your schools. Please post a blog comment during the month of February and get your name in the drawing.


Inspire with Kindness, Laurie & Kimmy

Friday, December 6, 2019

December 2019




Thank you for being the messenger of how important the role health and wellness play in overall happiness, well-being, and productivity. We can't thank you enough for a fabulous 1st semester and we are already looking forward to a Healthier and Happier 2020!

Upcoming Trainings


SafeTalk: This free course can really help guide you through some difficult conversations. Suicide is a public health issue and is preventable! Learn how to talk about it and help create a suicide safer community! safeTalk is a training that prepares anyone over the age of 21 to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide resources. Lots of choices on when and where to take the training. Go to InspirED to register, bring a colleague!
  • Wednesday, January 15, 2020, 5 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. DCSD West Support Center, Mt. Evans B 
  • Thursday, February 6, 2020, 5 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. | Sagewood Middle School Library 
  • Tuesday, February 11, 5 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. | Highlands Ranch High School Library Conference Room 
  • Wednesday, March 4, 2020, 4:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. | Rocky Heights Middle School Library 
  • Monday, April 6, 2020, 4:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. | Castle Rock Middle School Library 
  • Tuesday, May 5th, 2020, 4:45 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. | Mountain Ridge Middle School Library
Kim Bevill's Gray Matters

Kim Bevill online classes




FREE PD: Free for all! John McKinney, a retired DCSD teacher, and brain wizard, recently published his own website about teaching and the brain.  It has some insightful information that may be helpful in planning PD days, topics for PLC, and overall professional discussions. 

Mindfulness

Empowering Education

It may seem weird that a blog is recommending a blog, but Empowering Education has some fabulous articles.



                                    
Stop, Breathe, Think is looking for classrooms to participate in a free pilot of their "Classroom Product". The pilot would include web access for both educators and students at the individual account level (by utilizing their school email address).  The Stop, Breathe & Think team wants to make sure we are building a product for the future to help students with coping skills to last them for a lifetime. Their aim is to confirm all final pilot partnerships by December 18th, 2019. Please reach out to me sooner than later if interested!



5 Productivity Killing Habits (and How to Fix Them)

I loved this article! It gave a few great ideas on strategies that I can actually use, especially the one about email!



This podcast, #75, is really worth listening to. It's a bit on the long side, but if you want to learn more about creating an easy to implement morning routine, listen to the beginning of the podcast. Dr. Chatterjee brings mindfulness, movement, and mindset into his morning routines in as little of 5 minutes. These 5 minutes reduce the stress he encounters in the morning and lengthens his threshold for the day. He also gets into macro and micro stress, the power of human touch, and  looking at triggers 



Lending Library Highlighted Book of the Month!
Let us know if you'd like to borrow it or purchase it through SHIP funding. 

School Celebrations
World Kindness Day was November 13th this year.  We hope to make it a bigger and more acknowledged day here in DCSD in years to come. Here is a fun photo from Cresthill Middle School- thank you Megan Tran!! Please send us any of your celebrations (photos, stories, activities) to us this month for our January blog.


Physical Activity

Yoga poses help to build strength and concentration. Here are a few poses you can bring to your students the upcoming weeks as focus may be deteriorating. 


Hint: When teaching these poses, include breathing with it and have fun!! These cards are Yoga Pretzels.


Nutrition





Fooducate is a free app that has a health tracker, recipes, diet tips and more. My favorite part is the power to look up a product and get all the nutritional information one would need! You can use it yourself or incorporate its use into a classroom with students. 




I had this over Thanksgiving and it was delicious!

Prep Time 5 minutesTotal Time 5 minutes
Serves 2     ADJUST SERVINGS
A healthy, no-cook chocolate pudding, naturally sweetened with honey.

INGREDIENTS

  • ripe banana
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup oats (I use old-fashioned oats)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Put all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor (I used my hand blender, since it’s a small batch) and blend very well, scraping down the sides if necessary.
    2. Pour into a bowl and cover and chill. I'm not patient either but it's even better cold. The pudding thickens and sets up in 25-30 minutes.
    3. To make this recipe vegan, substitute maple syrup for the honey. Just as delicious!

    RECIPE NOTES

    You can easily double or triple this recipe to make more.
    You can sub almond butter or another nut butter for the peanut butter if you prefer.

That's all we have for this blog post. Enjoy!
With Gratitude, Laurie & Kimmy