Revisiting Integrated School Health

Integrated School Health involves developing conscious behaviors and attitudes that allow us to become both a healthier human being and be a model for other people in our lives. For a lot of people, especially teachers, who must balance the school day with coaching, activities, grading  paper and perhaps even a little time to raise a family, setting aside an hour or more every day can seem forbidding.

I remember a pivotal moment in the fall of 1985 when I was in the middle of my student teaching experience. It was 11 at night. I still had a small stack of papers to grade and I suddenly remembered I had forgotten to eat dinner. My girlfriend had gone to be bed hours before. Our evening social  plans had long been forgotten. I stopped my red pen in mid air for a moment and thought that I really might think about doing something different for a career if I ever wanted to have free time.

Not much has changed for the teachers I've worked with. They arrive early to school and teach all day. Their workday doesn't end at 3 o'clock as many think it does. If they are not coaching, advising a a club or working in the after school program they are seeing students and parents after school. Because they care about the school and their students they attend endless games and concerts. The fun never ends.

Staying fit and stress free can be very challenging. Few have the luxury of setting aside an entire hour or more for exercise. So to paraphrase the commercial: "This Blog's for You!" I am going to use my creative random mind to observe and detect those moments in the school day when you can do a little exercise even if you do it with your whole class. I must admit, on a personal level, that is one motivation for me doing yoga with kids at school. Although I have to instruct, I get to do a little yoga myself.

So we are going to find those times such as the Pledge of Allegiance when you and your students can do a little yoga or other movements. When we think about integrating a little movement into the classroom we might reflect and log on how many minutes we waste doing discipline with squirrelly students. Take at least that amount of time and move. We can expand beyond yoga and do something really energizing such as Zumba 

Children in school face similar pressures. The increased emphasis on state testing has really sucked a lot of fun right out of schools. The emphasis on math and science has brought about a corresponding decrease in the music, art and PE (you know, the stuff kids actually like about school). The pendulum is swinging back but until then we may have to be a little more creative.

The answer for us all is find moments throughout the day when we can sneak in a little exercise, a little breathing and perhaps a moment of calm. Standing in line at the store or for lunch can be a wonderful opportunity to do a few deep forward bends or some yogic breathing. There's no reason you can't stand in tree pose during at least part of the staff meeting! Is there some rule against that?

I started this blog because my job has changed to some degree. I now  incorporate coordinated school health into my regular counseling and intervention job in the school system. This model excites me because it gives me permission to focus on areas in which I had no opinions but no say. I get to butt into the school lunch program and offer ideas that may not have been considered before. I get to challenge once and for all the idea that pop machines belong in schools. Most exciting of all I get to use my creative mind to find ways to help everybody come a little healthier.

Although the health model from the Center for Disease Control incorporates multiple elements I have chosen to focus on initially on nutrition and exercise because I believe that must be the foundation. My beliefs emanate from my experiences with naturopathic doctors 

Nearly 40 years ago my friend Jared Zeff dropped out of conventional medical school when his professors informed him there was no connection between diet,disease and health. I face a similar challenge in schools today where not everybody sees the connection pop machines and student behavior and performance.

Something has to shift. Let  that shift start with us!