DEA H PT LTHHE. AMDOI V NE GS . M I N D S .
Your Students, Your School: POWered by Kindness See it, plan it, achieve it … with tools from By Stephanie Jumps
I
t’s back to school time and your gym or classroom is ready. You are looking forward to a new year and new beginnings with your students, knowing that this school year your students will need you to guide them and teach them the skills they need to improve their physical, mental, and social-emotional health. The health. moves. minds. program gives you the standards-based lessons and activities you’ll need to do that while also helping your students develop positive character traits and feel a sense of pride in helping others. But how do you use the health. moves. minds. program?
SEE IT It starts with your vision for the year ahead. Do you want to improve your students’ health by getting them to move more? Do you want to empower your students to give back to their school or community? Do you want to teach your students how to manage anxiety and other emotions?
Do you want to inspire your students to help their family make healthy lifestyle changes? The health. moves. minds. program can help you do all of this and more. This year, your students can be POWered by kindness!
PLAN IT You have the vision, now it’s time to decide if you want to register for the health. moves. minds. program as a Team Champion or an SEL Educator. Since this is a new feature of the program, let me walk you through the two choices: 1. As a Team Champion, you’ll use the SEL-focused health. moves. minds. curriculum (including our new mini-lessons) to teach students how to manage their emotions, be kind, feel empathy, and move their bodies more. You can share the resources with your entire school and even encourage family wellness with the at-home activity ideas.
Principal Larenda Denien of Idlewild Elementary School in Charlotte, NC, shares how the health. moves. minds. program made a positive impact in her school.
14
Momentum • Fall 2021
Plus, you’ll take advantage of the program’s simple fundraising options to raise funds toward new health and PE equipment for your school. Your students will be empowered and filled with pride to be part of a team that is helping their school and — if you choose — “paying it forward” by sharing a portion of the funds raised with a charity of your choice. 2. As an SEL Educator, you’ll use the health. moves. minds. curriculum (with new mini-lessons) in your classes and throughout the school to maximize the positive benefits for students all year long. Once you’ve registered for the program, it’s time to create your timeline. Of course, you may need to adjust the timeline due to unexpected circumstances (such as snow days or quarantine), but you can still make it to the finish line and achieve your goal. If you’re an SEL Educator, that means getting your health. moves. minds. lessons and activities onto the calendar. Random Acts of Kindness week in February is the perfect time to put into action what you have implemented in your classes. If you’ve signed up to be a Team Champion, you’ll have a little more planning to do. Your job is bigger, but so is the reward. Here is what your timeline will look like: Save the Date The first step is to send a save the date announcement to parents and everyone involved about a month before your
kick-off day. All the resources you need are on your health. moves. minds. team website. Then set a team goal so your students (who are called Team Member Champions) will know what they are empowered to do, what they will achieve, and how they will celebrate. Feeling pride in their efforts is one of the many things they will learn through health. moves. minds. Kick-Off Day Next is kick-off day. Send out the kickoff announcement to parents, sharing the theme and vision of what the next couple of weeks will look like. Share things your students will be learning through health. moves. minds., such as how to manage emotions, the importance of physical activity, being kind, and helping others. Share your school goal and display the goal thermometer. Let students know as they raise donations, they are helping to reach the goal. Teach them how to share their “why” and ask for a donation to help get new PE equipment for their school (and a charity if you choose that option). Teach them the importance of saying thank you as well as sharing a health. moves. minds. lesson. Then, share your special incentives for meeting fundraising goals: Will your principal shave his head? Will a student get to be PE teacher or principal for the day? Have fun with your motivation so students are excited to participate. Through the fundraising process, they will improve their speaking skills, their confidence, and their manners — all benefits that can last a lifetime.
Half-Time It’s halfway between kick-off day and the last day you are accepting donations. Have you used the health. moves. minds. lessons? You still have time. Are you halfway to your goal? Ask students if they have any offline donations to hand in, fill in the thermometer, and recognize achievement. Send the half-time announcement to all parents. Inspire them to engage in the educational activities and support their child’s desire to raise funds for their school (and a charity, if chosen).
ACHIEVE IT The last day of your health. moves. minds. program is here — it’s time to celebrate! Look on your team website for ideas on how to make it a great occasion. And no matter how your school chooses to celebrate, don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back! Because of your efforts implementing the health. moves. minds. program and event at your school, your students have gained skills that can help them thrive physically and emotionally — and they are now POWered by kindness. Way to go! Stephanie Jumps is the senior manager of community initiatives and social impact at SHAPE America. She is responsible for overall program management of the health. moves. minds. program and can be reached at healthmovesminds@shapeamerica.org.
New Mini-Lessons Now Available! Head back to school with these all-new resources from health. moves. minds.: n
6 mini-lessons for grades K-2 6 mini-lessons for grades 3-5 n 5 mini-lessons for grades 6-8 n Mini-lessons for grades 9-12 (coming soon) n Skills mini-posters n
Mini-lessons are shorter activities which give teachers more flexibility when incorporating health. moves. minds. content into existing lessons or curriculum. The minilessons vary in length and can be completed in 5-20 minutes. Some of the activities can be incorporated into classroom routines more regularly. Use the content as a guide — and be sure to adjust the mini-lessons as needed to accommodate the unique attributes of your classes and students. Register today for access to all health. moves. minds. educational resources.
Sign up for the health. moves. minds. program today! Fall 2021 • Momentum
15