Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

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2016 Wellness Week Toolkit

Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

Table of Contents

Wellness Week Intro 3

Wellness Week Overview 4

Email Template for Staff/Administrators 5

Wellness Week Flier 6

Family Newsletter 7

Daily Messaging for Teachers/Wellness Champions 8-9

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Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

Saint Paul Public Schools is Celebrating Wellness Week- a district-wide initiative to focus on student and staff health and wellness. Healthy students learn better and healthy employees work better! This week we will focus on mental health, nutrition, and physical activity. There will be a different theme each day, see schedule below. Be prepared to de-stress, breathe, eat your fruits and veggies, and move your body. Feel good and live well during Wellness Week and every day!

We have highlighted a key theme for each day throughout the week but we encourage you to come up with some of your own ideas. Here’s how your school can participate in and promote Wellness Week:

Step 1: Spread the word: Make an announcement at your next staff meeting, send an email to your staff, and hang up posters around your building. Spread the word to the community by previewing the week at an upcoming PTA/O meeting, sharing the information with families and post it on your school website. Link back to the wellness website; wellness.spps.org

Step 2: Take action at your site: Be creative and come up with an idea unique to your school. Please contact district.wellness@spps.org by April 29 and tell us what your school is doing to support Wellness Week. Your ideas will be highlighted on the Wellness website.

Step 3: Engage: Visit the Wellness website to learn about what schools across SPPS are doing to support wellness.

Step 4: Participate in Walk n’ Roll Wednesday by biking/walking to school or work, try out the new Dino-Mite Kale Salad, and add some activity to your day.

Step 5: Involve Families: Distribute the family newsletter article included on page five of this booklet in the way that works best for your site.

Join us in supporting Wellness Week at your site – and thank you for supporting wellness at SPPS!

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Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

Monday, May 2

Mindful MondayTake a few minutes to slow down and breathe. Use one of these short YogaCalm videos with your class to promote mindfulness within your class room.We all have many things to be grateful for, but how often do we take the time to acknowledge those things? Use the Gratitude cards with your students and write down what you are grateful for. Click here to request gratitude cards for your site.

Tuesday, May 3

Try it TuesdayDid you know that incorporating a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet ensures that you are getting the vitamins and minerals your body needs? Aim to fill your plate up with a rainbow of colors off of the Choice Bar. Try something new you've never had before!

Wednesday, May 4

Walk n’ Roll WednesdayWear your helmet or sneakers for National Bike/Walk to School Day! It's a fun, environmentally friendly, and healthy way to get to school. Whether on two wheels or two feet, take the active way to school! Register your school to participate and receive “I Walked or Rolled” sticker to proudly show your involvement. Register your school here.

Thursday, May 5

Taste Test Thursday Try the new Dino-Mite Kale Salad! This new salad will be featured on the Choice Bar and includes dinosaur kale, mandarin orange, and bok choy. Be adventurous try something new and let us know what you think!

Friday, May 6

Fit FridayDid you know that being physically active can actually help you do better at school and perform better at your job? Try out some of these great classroom activities with your students.

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Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

Email template to staff & administrators

Subject line: Help celebrate SPPS’s 2nd Annual Wellness Week, May 2-6

Saint Paul Public Schools is celebrating Wellness Week- a district-wide initiative to focus on student and staff health and wellness. Healthy students learn better and healthy employees work better! Focusing on total body wellness, this week we will focus on mental health, nutrition, and physicalactivity. There will be a different theme each day, see schedule below.

Monday, May 2- Mindful MondayTuesday, May 3-Try it TuesdayWednesday, May 4-Walk and Roll WednesdayThursday, May 5-Taste Test ThursdayFriday, May 6Fit Friday

[If you plan on doing any site specific events/activities that coincide with wellness week, insert here]

I have attached a toolkit which includes flyers, family newsletters and talking points about each of the day’s events. Join in on the activities and show your students how much fun health and wellness can be.

Be prepared to de-stress, breathe, eat your fruits and veggies, and move your body--feel good and live well during Wellness Week and every day!

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Fri. May 6Try out some of these great classroom activities with your students.

Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

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Fri. May 6Try out some of these great classroom activities with your students.

Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

Family Newsletter

We are excited to announce that May 2-6 is the 2nd annual SPPS Wellness Week! Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) cares about the health and wellness of our students, families and staff. Schools are invited to participate in a different, fun and active event each day. Included is a brief description of the week’s events and ways that your family can be active at home!

Monday, May 2: Mindful Monday Today the focus is on stopping and slowing down and taking deep breaths. A deep breathing exercise will be taught in the classroom.

Family Wellness: Try taking three deep breathes before dinner tonight, and share one thing that happened during the day that you are grateful for.

Tuesday, May 3: Try It Tuesday Today SPPS students will be encouraged to try to eat a “rainbow” of the Choice Bar! The Choice Bar has a great variety of fruits and vegetables available every day.

Family Wellness: Discuss what new fruit or vegetable your student tried today or cook together as a family for dinner tonight.

Wednesday, May 4: Walk n’ Roll Wednesday SPPS encourages students and staff to bike or walk to school today to celebrate National Bike and Walk to School Day. Participating in walk and bike to school events helps foster academic achievement, improve student health, raise environmental awareness and build connections among families, schools and the larger community.

Family Wellness: Join in and walk or bike with your kids to schools – or take some time today and go for family bike ride or walk to support the cause!

Thursday, May 5: Taste Test Thursday Students will have the opportunity to try out a new recipe off the Choice Bar, the Dino-Mite Kale Salad. This healthy salad will feature dinosaur kale, mandarin oranges, and bok choy. Student are encouraged to try the new recipe and think about all the salad’s different components - the taste, smell, texture, etc.

Family Wellness: Try something new your family has never cooked before tonight.

Friday, May 6: Fit FridayToday SPPS students are encouraged to take a few minutes out of their day to add a few minutes of activity.

Family Wellness: Do you make it point to be active with your family?

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Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

Wellness Week in the classroom

Monday: Mindful MondayDiscuss with your students the importance of slowing down and stopping throughout the day, as well as the value of deep breathing. Studies show that taking deep diaphragmatic breaths (from the lower belly) lowers the heart rate, initiating the relaxation response. With diaphragmatic breaths, students are introduced to breathing. Use one of these short YogaCalm videos with your class to promote mindfulness within your class room:

Breathing and Focusing (2:30) Stretches and Poses (6:30)

We all have many things to be grateful for, but how often do we take the time to acknowledge those things? Use the Gratitude cards with your students and write down what you are grateful for. Hang these cards up in your classroom as a reminder of the great opportunity we are given each and every day. To receive the Gratitude Cards, register here.

Tuesday: Try it TuesdayEncourage your students to eat at least three colors of fruits and vegetables this day! The Choice Bar this day will feature a rainbow of options:

Red- Tomatoes Orange- Carrots Yellow- Corn Green- Spinach/Romaine Blue- Blueberries Purple- Purple Cabbage White- Garbanzo Beans

Discuss the health benefits of eating lots of colors and filling up half of your plate/tray with fruits and vegetables (nutritional variety of vitamins and minerals, fiber, antioxidants, etc.). Ask students to list other fruits & vegetables in the colors of the rainbow.

Fruit and Veggie Color List yumPower Kids

Wednesday: Walk and Roll WednesdayEncourage your students to talk about whether they walked or biked to school today. Provide “I walked or rolled” stickers to those that participated. Discuss with your students the importance of safety when walking/biking to school. Check out this toolkit put together by MNDOT and Safe Routes to School for ideas and talking points in your classroom. Don’t forget to register your site for the Walk/Bike to school day.

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Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

Wellness Week in the classroom (cont.)

Thursday: Taste Test ThursdayThe new Dino-Mite Kale Salad will be featured on the Choice Bar. It features mandarin oranges, dinosaur kale, edamame, and bok choy. Some students may not be familiar with some of the ingredients, but that is what taste tests are all about! We do not have to love everything we try, but it is important to try new things.

Encourage your students to try it following the taste test rules:

1.) Don't yuck someone else's yum.Everyone has different taste preferences and different people like different things. If you don't like something, no big deal, but let other people form their opinions about new foods.

2.) Take a moment to smell the food, taste it, describe the texture, and what it tastes like to you.Is it crunchy or soft? Is it creamy or sandy/gritty? Does it remind you of another food that you've had before? What is the flavor like? Is it sweet? Salty? Bitter? Sour?

3.) Discuss what you like about it.Take turns talking about the food and if you might try it again. You can even do a class count of how many students fall into each of these categories: Love it!; Like it!; Don't like yet. Sometimes you have to try things more than once before you find that you truly like something.

Friday: Fit Friday

Discuss the health benefits of physical activity and how it effects students’ learning. Researchers have found that physical activity has a positive impact on academic achievement and student behavior. Recent studies have demonstrated this connection, along with improvement in: concentration, memory, self-esteem, verbal skills.

Energizers: These simple classroom activities are a great way to break up the day and make your classroom an active classroom!

K-5 Middle School

Jam Resources: Try out some of these simple exercise videos

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Wellness Week Toolkit 2016

GoNoOdle: This great resource has tons of free videos and activities. You do need to register for this site before being able to access the brain breaks.

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