The Healthy Schools Builder® is an easy online tool that helps schools identify their status as a healthy school and to develop customized action plans to make positive and healthy changes. Any school that enrolls in the Healthy Schools Builder® and completes the Builder inventory can apply for the National Recognition Award.
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After the first meeting of the school wellness council, the group quickly accepted the charge of incorporating additional physical activity during the school day by creating a “Minute of Movement.” The physical activity breaks were shared with the school during the school-wide, student led news broadcast. Different classrooms and groups of staff members take turns creating exercise or dance routines and recording them. They play the same video every day for a week so that everyone has a chance to master it before moving on to the next. Students are even creating their own routines for staff to use during their monthly faculty meetings.
Students and staff are also eating healthier foods these days. The wellness council removed foods such as cupcakes, cookies and candy from the approved list of items for school celebrations and parents were asked to bring healthier foods. The school hosted a smoothie party for the students who sold the most calendars during the annual school fundraiser. The school meals have also received a healthy makeover by removing all fried items and replacing them with lower-fat options. Ice cream has been replaced with frozen fruit bars and white bread products have been replaced with whole wheat.
The school recognized the need for additional and ongoing professional development for their staff on how to incorporate wellness activities within the classroom. The district’s early release days (which offer four hours of professional development) were utilized to provide training and resources for staff on how to incorporate the nutrition and physical activity components of the wellness program in ddition to time spent during faculty meetings and one system-wide workday.
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