Healthy Schools, Healthy Community

A Pima County Collaboration

March 2021 | Issue 5

(Photo courtesy of Amphitheater Public Schools)

Safely Returning to the Classroom

From ZOOM to the classroom. Like many of you, we are thrilled to take a huge step in the return to normalcy and support Pima County schools as you welcome students back to in-person learning.

Thanks to your dedication, this is possible. By wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping physical distance, we have achieved this milestone. It will continue to be a community effort to keep schools open. On or off campus, the Health Department strongly recommends that you wear a face mask, physically distance, and wash your hands. Also, stay home when you don’t feel well.

Stand with our teachers. Stand with our students. Stand with our schools; because we are healthier, together.

The CDC has updated guidance for opening and operating schools!

ADE: Face coverings are required in all district and charter schools.

AZDHS Emergency Measure 2020-04 is still in effect, requiring masks in all K12 schools. Masking is one of the top mitigation strategies for safe in-person learning as recommended by the CDC.

Masks must be worn on school campuses, on school buses, and during school-associated activities by all students, faculty, staff, contractors, and visitors.

Please visit arizonatogether.org for more resources for navigating COVID-19 for families, individuals, businesses, and more.

Educator Vaccinations

Please visit the Pima County Health Department website for information on current vaccine prioritization and to register (if you have not already done so) and please also check out the Frequently Asked Questions to learn more.

The Pima County School Superintendent's Office (200 N. Stone Ave.) is celebrating educator vaccinations! They have lined their office windows with giant posters of educator vaccine selfies (see below)! Make sure to check it out if you are in the downtown area!

UPDATE: If you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you can start doing some things again, like gathering indoors with other fully vaccinated friends and family without wearing masks. For more on CDC’s updated guidance visit: https://bit.ly/3btJaFU.

Don't Be Fooled!

Don’t Be Fooled is the theme of this year’s Take Down Tobacco National Day of Action. Take Down Tobacco is an effort from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, culminating every spring, that encourages youth to stand and speak out against the tobacco industry.

On this year’s National Day of Action, April 1st, youth, educators, parents, health advocates, and concerned citizens are coming together (virtually) to raise awareness of tobacco use in their communities, encourage youth to remain tobacco-free by seeing through the tobacco industry’s deceptive practices, and urge elected officials to take action to protect youth from tobacco.

According to the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), e-cigarette use among youth remains high at an estimated 3.6 million users, including 1 in 5 high school students. Of particular concern are flavored e-cigarette and tobacco products. The vast majority of youth who use e-cigarettes say that flavors are the main reason why. 83% of current youth e-cigarette users use flavored e-cigarettes. Additionally, 81% of youth who have ever tried tobacco started with a flavored product such as e-cigarettes, cigars, or smokeless tobacco.

Given these statistics, it is clear that Big Tobacco is targeting youth. Parents, youth, educators, and other stakeholders must come together on this year’s National Day of Action to make sure that past progress in reducing youth tobacco use is not lost. Some ways you can take action include:

Joining Take Down Tobacco’s Roast of Big Tobacco by signing up on their page.
Set a positive example by being tobacco-free.
Read the E-cigarettes and youth: What parents need to know fact sheet to educate yourself about e-cigarettes and the risks to youth.
Stay informed on current youth tobacco use through resources like:
CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health
Surgeon General’s Know the Risks: E-cigarettes & Young people website
FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products’ campaigns
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ Protect Kids page
Pima County Health Department’s tobacco prevention and cessation webpage. Contact Lee Itule-Klasen at the Pima County Health Department for free tobacco prevention resources and information.
Talk to school administrators to make sure their child’s school has a tobacco-free policy and teaches an evidence-based tobacco prevention curriculum that is not funded by the tobacco industry and includes information on e-cigarettes.

Healthy Conversations | Women's History Month

National Women’s History Month traces its roots to March 8, 1857, when women from various New York City factories staged a protest over poor working conditions. The first Women's Day celebration in the United States was in 1909, also in New York City. More than seven decades later, Congress in 1981 established National Women's History Week to be commemorated annually the second week of March. In 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month, and every year since has passed a resolution (and the president has issued a proclamation) designating March Women’s History Month.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month 2021, we reflect upon advances women have made over the last decade. Women have increased their earnings and education, fields of occupation, and continued to live longer than men. For statistics from the Census Bureau surveys highlighting how women’s employment has changed over the years, check out: