St. Martin North Elementary Wellness Plan
Rationale
The link between nutrition, physical activity, and learning is well documented. Healthy eating and activity patterns are essential for students to achieve their full academic potential, full physical and mental growth, and lifelong health and well-being. Healthy eating and physical activity, essential for a healthy weight, are also linked to reduced risk for many chronic diseases, like Type 2 diabetes. St. Martin North has a responsibility to help students learn, establish, and maintain lifelong, healthy eating and activity patterns. Well-planned and effectively implemented school nutrition and fitness programs have been shown to enhance students' overall health, as well as their behavior and academic achievement in school. Staff wellness also is an integral part of a healthy school environment, since school staff can be daily role models for healthy behaviors.
Goal
The students at St. Martin North Elementary School shall possess the tools needed to make nutritious food choices and enjoyable physical activity choices for a lifetime. The St. Martin North staff members are encouraged to model healthful eating and physical activity as a valuable
part of daily life. There will be several scheduled activities done throughout the year to promote this endeavor. Students will be given an active voice in the health and wellness plan aswell as activities they would like to implement during the school year.
St. Martin North Elementary School will:
Provide physical education for students Kindergarten through Grade 3, One hundred fifty (150) minutes per week of physical activity based instruction.
Incorporate numerous school related activities that promotes healthy eating habits and physical activity.
Commitment to Comprehensive Health Education
St. Martin North Elementary School will:
Provide Kindergarten through Grade 3 forty-five (45) minutes per week of health education instruction, as defined by the State Board of Education.
Commitment to Marketing a Healthy School Environment
St. Martin North Elementary School will:
Provide positive, motivating messages, both verbal and non-verbal, about healthy lifestyle practices throughout the school setting. All school personnel will help reinforce these positive messages.
Involve students in planning for a healthy school environment. Students will be asked for input and feedback through the use of student surveys, and attention will be given to their comments.
Promote healthful eating, physical activity, and healthy lifestyles to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the community at school events (e.g., school registration, parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings, open houses, health fairs, teacher in-services, and other events).
Eliminate advertising and other materials on the school campus that promote foods of minimal nutrition value.
Work with local media, like newspaper, TV and radio, to inform the community about the health problems facing Mississippi children, as well as the need for and benefits of healthy school environments.