WILMINGTON, MA — The Woburn Street School in Wilmington established a wellness team for the 2015-2016 school year. Team members included Assistant Principal Frank Ferriero, Food Services Coordinator Karen Boudreau, Physical Education teacher Laura Stinson, Health teacher Steven Maxson, School Nurse Kasey Stokes, Second Grade teacher Amy Metcalfe and Reading Specialist Linda Cornell.
The goal of the school wellness team is to increase student awareness toward living healthy and active lifestyles.
Under the guidance of The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Woburn Street School Wellness Team analyzed current practices as well as formulate a plan for future growth.
Team members, with the leadership of Stinson, completed the School Health Index, which is an online self-assessment and planning tool that schools can use to improve their health and safety policies and programs.
Using the results of the School Health Index assessment, the team implemented a variety of school-wide initiatives.
Boudreau and her colleagues in the Woburn Street School cafeteria participated in the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement, which provides a set of best practices meant to help students make healthier food choices on a daily basis. With assistance from the Smarter Lunchrooms Scorecard, Boudreau and her staff were able to make many positive improvements to the Woburn Street School cafeteria.
One of those improvements included a contest in which third grade students participated to name the cafeteria salad bar. The winner of the contest was Gianna Rago, who creatively thought of the name Wildcat Greens. Gianna’s third grade class created a fun and colorful banner to hang above the salad bar.
Another initiative included the planning of three special lunches for first, second, and third grade students. Each lunch had a unique theme including a Cupid Café for third grade students, a Leprechaun Luncheon for second grade students, and a Bunny Bistro for first grade students. For each lunch event, the cafeteria was draped in decorative tablecloths and centerpieces and children thoroughly enjoyed being treated to a restaurant like environment.
The committee for the Smarter Lunchrooms made visits to the Woburn Street School in December and May to provided assistance and check in with progress. During the second visit, the committee was impressed with what had been done and awarded the school with a gold medal. Stinson and Boudreau attended the Healthy Kids, Healthy Programs Summit to be recognized for the award and received a banner for their accomplishment.
In an effort to promote the importance of physical activity and its role in developing active learners, the wellness team developed a program called “Movin’ In The Morning.”
This program, facilitated by Ferriero, allowed the students to start the day by participating in a brief period of exercise. Each day began with a healthy tip, read during morning announcements, followed by a themed exercise such as “Marching Monday,” “Twisting Tuesday” and “Shake It Off Thursday.”
In conjunction with the effort to promote physical activity, Stinson and Maxson were awarded a grant to replace regular classroom chairs with stability balls in the health education classroom. Throughout the year, first, second, and third grade students were able to sit on a stability ball during instruction which allowed for small structured movements allowing for increased core strength and attention as well as decreasing any stress and anxiety that might come with learning.
There is an increasing amount of research supporting the importance of overall health and wellness in relation to building effective young learners. As Stinson would say to her students in physical education class, “Happy smart brains make strong healthy bodies.”
All in all, the Woburn Street School Wellness Team was extremely successful in its first year of existence making critical improvements to support the general health and wellbeing of all students. The team members, as well as the school as a whole, look forward to continuing the work toward promoting a love for learning and the will to live a healthy, active lifestyle.
(NOTE: The above is from Woburn Street School Health Teacher Steve Maxson.)
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