News
Healthy People, Healthy Planet: October is Farm to School Month
October is Farm to School Month and this year's theme
Healthy People, Healthy Planet
aims to
engage and empower children and youth to learn about actions they can take to promote the health of both people and planet. Get involved using resources and tips for incorporating healthy and environmentally sustainable practices into school food activities.
Find out more
.
October 10
th
is World Mental Health Day
Mental well-being or positive mental health impacts how we think, what we feel and the way we act. October 10
th
is World Mental Health Day, which presents a great opportunity to reflect on how mental health influences our lives. The Ministry of Education is pleased to share recent updates to the
Mental Health & Well-Being
page on the
erase
website. They include specific awareness and prevention resources for students, families and educators.
Articles
Kids Boost Immunity
A small, friendly rivalry between Grade 5, 6, 7 students at Senator Reid Elementary in Surrey B.C has had a significant global impact resulting in 3,100 vaccines earned for UNICEF through the Kids Boost Immunity initiative. Read more about their experience
here.
Get your own classroom involved in the competition by visiting
Kids Boost Immunity
.
Providing Support May Prevent Substance Abuse Among Transgender and Non-binary Youth
A
study
led by the Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre at UBC’s school of nursing found that supportive family, friends and schools dramatically reduced rates of substance use among transgender and non-binary youth. SOGI123 offers educator resources to support the facilitation of safe, supportive classroom discussions and activities around gender identity and sexual orientation that are grade-appropriate and align with the BC curriculum.
Find out more
.
Stories
Learning to Prepare a Traditional Nuu-chah-nulth Feast
Students from Ucluelet Secondary School in Ucluelet, B.C. used a Healthy Schools BC Grant to prepare a traditional feast for their Nuu-chah-nulth studies class. They researched foods that local First Nations would have eaten and traditional roles for hosting a feast. On the day of the event, the class travelled to a beach where an elder demonstrated traditional cooking techniques over a fire, and taught students about the importance of cedar to Nuu-chah-nulth culture.
Find out more
.
A Puppet Theatre Program to Build Social and Emotional Skills
Kitwanga Elementary School is located in Kitwanga, a small, Northern BC community. A teacher noticed that students had fewer opportunities to interact with other students because their school was fairly isolated geographically. Using a Northern Connections Grant, she started a cross-grade puppet theatre program as a way of strengthening students’ social and emotional skills and increasing cross-grade relationships. At the end of the puppet program students reported feeling excited to go to school, interested in building their skills, and were committed to getting along with others, and having fun.
Find out more
.
Reso
urces
Teach Resiliency
Teach Resiliency, a program developed by PHE Canada, is an online library of practical, evidence-informed resources to support mental health in classrooms and schools –for students as well as educators. All resources were created and selected by teachers, administrators, mental health professionals and researchers.
Find out more
.
Sip Smart! BC
Sip Smart! BC teaches children in Grades 4-6 about sugary drinks and making healthy drink choices in a fun and effective way. It includes handouts, assessment tools and other teacher resources in each lesson.
Find out more.
Announcements
Healthy Schools BC Regional Grant and First Nation School Grant Application Deadlines
Healthy Schools BC Regional Grant applications are due on October 15
th
, and the First Nation School Grant applications are due on October 31
st
. The Regional Grants are available to school districts and groups of schools (2 or more) and the First Nation School Grants are available to First Nation Schools from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Learn more about Healthy Schools BC grants and download the application packages
here
.
