Keep Kids Moving, Keep Kids Learning!

During these cold winter days of cabin fever in the classroom, we want to support educators with resources to keep kids moving and engaged. Evidence suggests a positive impact of physical activity on academic achievement and in reducing behavioral challenges. Active recess time, physical education classes, and utilizing action-based learning strategies in the classroom can all be part of the regular school day.

We share the following as a resource.

Programs to explore

Healthy Kids Healthy Futures: Staff can learn about the benefits and best practices of physical activity in child care and early education (including pre-school) settings. Physical activity habits learned in early childhood can last a lifetime.

Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program: This guide is for schools and school districts to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive physical activity programs. School-age youth should participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day, and schools have a significant role to play in helping students achieve this recommendation. This guide will help schools identify how to establish more active school environments.

Let’s Go: Let’s Go! is a childhood obesity prevention program found across Maine and in Mt. Washington Valley, New Hampshire. These programs use evidence-based strategies to increase healthy eating and physical activity among children from birth to 18. The foundation for change is the 5-2-1-0 healthy habits message, developed in Maine and recognized nationally.

Explore Physical Activity: School staff can learn about the five components of a comprehensive school physical activity program and how this new national model can support a culture of physical activity at your school.

I Can Do It (ICDI): The “I Can Do It” program is a strategic physical activity program for students with disabilities in the K-12 school setting designed to provide access, equity, and facilitate and encourage opportunities for students with disabilities to be physically active for 60 minutes a day.

Specific Class Motor Break Ideas

Classroom Exercise Breaks for Elementary Students: Classroom exercise break suggestions for elementary school classrooms.

Reading: Literacy and movement suggestions to engage middle school students in acquiring knowledge. The suggestions require minimal materials and teacher preparation.

Scholastic Teachers: Suggestions for combining both exercise and movement in early childhood classrooms across the content areas.

Math: quick physical activity games: Movement suggestions to engage students while improving number sense.

Physical Activity Math Games: A list of possibilities for supporting kinesthetic learners during mathematics instruction.

Classrooms in Motion : A review resource hub for teachers committed to infusing movement into their instructional plans.

For more information or to share ideas, contact Jean Zimmerman, Health and Physical Ed. Consultant, at Jean.zimmerman@maine.gov or 207-624-6687.

Reminder: Register for Maine School Winter Wellness Summit on Jan 31

Life is Good, Wellness Makes It Better! The goal of the Winter Wellness Summit is to prepare and empower participants to create healthy, positive and safe schools for all school personnel and students by promoting policies and environmental practices that support healthier schools, improve personal health and well-being, and enhance academic achievement.

When: Thursday, January 30 and Friday, January 31
Where: The Samoset Resort, Rockport, ME
Audience: Any Individual and/or Wellness Team interested in tools and resources for supporting the health and well-being of Staff, Students and the School
Communities
Cost: Early registration until Dec 27 – $125/person*
Regular registrations after Dec 28 – $145/person *

~~ Contact Hours Awarded ~~

*Morning refreshments and lunch both days and dinner Thursday evening included in all registrations.

Sessions will address Physical-Emotional-Mental-Social-Spiritual & Occupational
dimensions of health with a special emphasis this year on Mental Wellness for all!

Engaging Workshops on Personal Wellness Practices
Programs & Leadership Skills
Action Planning
Positive School Environments
Wellness Exhibit Expo
Worksite Wellness Program Planning

Check out info on the two outstanding keynotes, Murray Banks and George Manning along with up-to-date details and a draft agenda for the 2020 Maine School Winter Wellness Summit on the Maine DOE Website’s Employee and Student Wellness web page.

Time is built into the schedule to practice taking care of YOU and to network with colleagues and professionals from across the state who value schoolsite health promotion and wellness.

DON’T MISS THIS AWESOME PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY!
Join us for the first Winter Wellness Summit, a component of the Maine Schoolsite Health Promotion Program, a program of the Maine Department of Education!

Register here for the Winter Wellness Summit

Accommodations:

Accommodations are on your own, but we have secured a block of rooms at an excellent rate at The Samoset Resort for the State per diem rate of $122 prior to taxes for Single/Double Occupancy. Please note that in order to be tax exempt you must bring documentation.

To book a room at The Samoset Resort:
1 – Click on this link: The Samoset Resort (Do not call for reservations)
2 – Enter the date(s) of your reservation, have a credit card ready
3 – Ignore the next two dropdown buttons
4 – Click on the SEARCH button
5 – Proceed with instructions
The last day to book from the block of reserved rooms is Friday, December 27, 2019.
After December 27, the rate will be honored if rooms are still available.

For more information and questions contact Susan Berry, Maine Department of Education Health Education and Health Promotion Coordinator at 207-624-6695 or susan.berry@maine.gov.

Mid-winter Boost: 2020 Maine School Winter Wellness Summit, Life is Good, Wellness Makes It Better!

Taking care of the health and well-being of staff and students has become more and more critical given the many stresses of the world in which we all live. Register today for the Maine School Winter Wellness Summit, Life is Good, Wellness Makes It Better! being held January 30 & 31, 2020 at The Samoset Resort, Rockport, to bolster your school wellness program. Attendees will learn strategies and be exposed to tools and resources available from state and national sources that address the six dimensions of wellness: mental, emotional, physical, social, spiritual and occupational health. However, this year there will be a special emphasis on Mental Wellness for all! The Summit will include inspiring, interactive keynote presentations each day, engaging workshops on personal wellness practices, creating positive school environments, healthy school culture and climate for staff and students, leadership skills, emerging health issues and action planning for wellness!

January 30^th OPENING KEYNOTE:

grey haired man, laughing Murray Banks is a motivational speaker and world champion athlete with roots in teaching school. He lives life with a passion for health and well-being every day. This year he will focus his message on the importance of positivity on one’s overall health using hilarious images, imaginative videos, and poignant classroom and personal stories that will inspire all of us.

Salt and pepper haired man with moustache and glasses, smiling January 31^st OPENING KEYNOTE: George Manning returns to the Wellness Summit with more tools, resources and insights focused on life, work and the pursuit of balance. He will engage the audience with his enchanting personality and stories that come from more than 40 years of experience teaching psychology at the collegiate level and traveling the country helping organizations and businesses develop healthy and productive work environments.

The goal of the Summit is to prepare and empower participants to create healthy, positive and safe schools for all school personnel and students by promoting policies and environmental practices that support healthier schools, improve personal health and well-being, and enhance academic achievement. Click here for up-to-date details, draft agenda and session information on the 2020 Maine School Winter Wellness Summit and follow The Samoset Resort link to reserve rooms at the special group rate.

Individuals and teams interested in Schoolsite Health Promotion and wellness are encourage to attend. One low cost for two-days, meals included. Early registration is open through December 27 for $125/person and regular registration after December 28 is $145/person.

Join us for the first fully engaging and educational Winter Wellness Summit, a component of the Maine Department of Education’s Schoolsite Health Promotion Program.

PRIORITY NOTICE: Seeking Public Comment on Health Education and Physical Education, Visual and Performing Arts, and World Languages Standards

As part of the scheduled periodic review of the Maine Learning Results, the Maine Department of Education is seeking public comments regarding the current health education and physical education, visual and performing arts, and world languages standards. Find links to each of the current standards below along with details for submitting comments.

Current Standards:

The standards review process opens with a public comment period and a public hearing, prior to the convening of steering committees who are charged with reviewing all submitted comments and with developing blueprints for the revision of the state standards in their assigned content area. Once the blueprints are created, writing teams, consisting of pk-12 teachers who represent Maine’s cultural and geographical diversity, will assemble to draft the standards revisions.

Anyone may speak at the public hearings, which will be live-streamed. People wishing to speak will be asked to sign in, and it will be helpful, but not mandatory, to provide a written copy of comments.

Public hearings will occur on October 23^rd in room 103 at the Cross Building, 111 Sewell Street, Augusta, from 1-4pm. A link to the live-streamed hearings will be available prior to the public hearing.

Anyone unable to attend the public hearing may send written comments by 5 pm on November 8^th, 2019. Written comments may be sent to Standards Review at sis.doe@maine.gov, or mailed to Beth Lambert, 23 SHS Station, Augusta, ME 04333.

Dedham School Receives Riding for Focus Mountain Biking Grant

Submitted by Tim Pearson, Physical Education/Health Teacher at Dedham School, part of AOS #47.

Dedham School is excited to announce it is a grant recipient for the 2019-2020 Specialized Foundation Riding for Focus school program.

Riding for Focus is a school-based program designed to provide schools with everything they need to get middle school students riding bikes, including a turnkey physical education curriculum, comprehensive teacher training, and a fleet of bike and safety equipment.

Riding for Focus provides a combination of cycling, fitness, and academic performance, all while instilling a lifelong passion for cycling for students who participate in the program.

Additionally, the program explores and tracks how cycling can positively affect student learning, health, and wellbeing with a focus for those with learning differences such as ADHD. Starting this fall, mountain biking will be a regular part of all middle school students curriculum.

For more information contact Tim Pearson at tpearson@dedhamschool.net or 207-843-6498 or check out this YouTube Video about Riding for Focus School Cycling Program.

Seeking Additional Maine Schools for Social Emotional Learning Pilot Program

The Tobacco and Substance Use Prevention and Control Program with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (MECDC), in partnership with the Maine Department of Education (Maine DOE), is seeking additional schools that would like to implement the social emotional learning (SEL) program, Second Step, funded by a grant through MECDC.

The MECDC received a portion of the State Opioid Response grant to provide community-based substance use prevention as part of the grant’s larger goal to reduce the prevalence of non-medical use of opioids. The Second Step Curriculum is research-based and available for PreK through 8th grades. Many of the skills within the Maine Learning Results for health education in elementary school align with goals of Second Step, such as nurturing skill building and preventing problematic developmental behaviors that are part of the trajectory towards substance use.

If you are interested in adding Second Step to your school’s curriculum and you are not already part of the MECDC pilot or have not already been contacted by the Maine CDC regarding your application from the last round, please complete this brief 5 minute application survey which will be open for submissions until Friday, October 11, 2019.

Please note: If you applied in the last round and have not heard from the Maine DOE or CDC, please feel free to apply again. We may not have had enough information from you in the last application to proceed.

For more information, contact Megan.Scott@maine.gov at Maine CDC or Emily.Poland@maine.gov at the Department of Education.

CDC Releases New Resources: Talking to Youth About the Risks of E-Cigarettes

The Office on Smoking and Health, CDC released a new feature for a new school year, aimed at helping people who work with youth to open a discussion about the risks of e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes are now the most common type of tobacco product used by youth in the United States. More and more youth report trying and regularly using e-cigarettes. The rising numbers threaten decades of progress in controlling youth tobacco product use.

Nicotine in e-cigarettes can harm developing brains, and may make it more likely that young people will start using regular cigarettes. This feature gives important facts about the risks of e-cigarettes, plus tips for talking to young people and resources for both adults and youth.

Everyone—teachers, coaches, health care providers, and parents—has a part to play in educating youth about the risks of e-cigarettes.

Be sure to follow CDC Tobacco Free on Facebook and Twitter for social media posts to share with partners, friends, and family.

For more information and resources in Maine go to Prevention for ME.

Conference: Collaborating to Address the Complex Mental and Behavioral Health Needs of Maine Youth

The Maine American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Maine Department of Education (DOE) and Maine Association of School Nurses (MASN) are collaborating to bring you best practices and current research on a variety of critical mental and physical health related topics facing adolescents. Recognizing that we are all supporting the needs of Maine children in different locations and ways we are bringing experts together to receive collaborative professional learning.

Hosted by: The Maine AAP, Department of Education and Maine Association of School Nurses

Intended audience: Those interested in the mental health of students (school nurses, medical providers, school counselors, social workers, and administrators)

Some topics covered:

Identification and treatment of anxiety and depression in children and adults: How can we do better?
Addressing the Complex Mental and Behavioral Health Needs of Maine Youth: The Key Role of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma Informed Care
Creating an Inclusive Environment for LGBTQ Youth
Tools for Screening and Safety for Youth at Risk of Suicide
Substance Use Disorder: Impact on Youth and Families

Date: August 16, 2019

Time: 8:00 AM – 3:15 PM

Location: The program is being held in the Talbot Hall/Bonney Auditorium at the University of Southern Maine, located at 92 Bedford Street in Portland.

Cost: $50.00

Register here.

For questions or additional information, please contact Emily Poland at emily.poland@maine.gov.

NOTICE: Maine School Wellness Summit POSTPONED, New Dates TBD

Regretfully, due to low registration, the 2019 Maine School Wellness Summit planned for June 25 & 26 has been postponed. The Maine Schoolsite Health Promotion Program (MSHPP) Planning Committee is committed to hosting the planned two-day agenda in the 2019-20 school year. We are thankful to the scheduled presenters, who have indicated that they are very willing to work with us to deliver their presentations at a future date.

Registrants should have received an email from the planning committee via Cristina.stade@maine.gov. If you have additional questions, please email either Cristina or susan.berry@maine.gov.

Please know that the decision to postpone was made with great thought and consideration of presenter cost, time and efforts, as well as the desire for participants to have a robust and collaborative experience.

The MSHPP Planning Committee wishes everyone a restful, rejuvenating, and well-deserved summer break.

Maine School Wellness Summit

Refill your wellness toolbox with tools (strategies, resources, and programs) to build an action plan for healthier staff, students and school environments starting with two outstanding educators each day:
June 25th: Murray Banks is a motivational speaker and world champion athlete with roots in teaching school. He lives life with a passion for health and well-being every day. This year he will focus his message on the importance of positivity on one’s overall health using hilarious images, imaginative videos, and poignant classroom and personal stories that will inspire all of us.
June 26th: George Manning returns to the Wellness Summit with more tools, resources and insights focused on life, work and the pursuit of balance. He will engage the audience with his enchanting personality and stories that come from more than 40 years of experience teaching psychology at the collegiate level and traveling the country helping organizations and businesses develop healthy and productive work environments.

Maine School Wellness Summit