BPS Healthy Connections Newsletter
In This Issue
BPS 6th Annual Wellness Summit
BPS Ranked 8th in FRAC's Annual Urban School Breakfast Report
Protecting Yourself Against the Flu
Family Wellness Celebrated at the Blackstone
Heart-Healthy Valentine's Day Celebrations
Boston Globe Magazine Article: Let's Redo Lunch
Stress-less Staff Wellness Series

Upcoming Events & Announcements 


Urban Farming Conference

"Cultivating Lands, Nourishing Communities, Building Businesses"

The annual Massachusetts Urban Farming Conference (UFC) is designed to advance the opportunities and address the barriers involved in cultivating a thriving urban farming sector. The UFC is a forum to share information regarding what is currently happening in Boston and other local urban communities and to map out a vision for urban farming in Massachusetts. 

 

 Saturday, February 9th 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Roxbury Community College  Reggie Lewis Center

 

Click here for more information and to register to attend>> 


 Celebrate Heart Month
This year is the 10th Anniversary of Go Red For Women. Celebrate with the America Goes Red Campaign for
National Wear Red Day on February 1st to kick off American Heart Month!  It is a fun no-cost opportunity to join the movement and show your support by 'going red' for the day, week, or month!  There are many ways that your program/organization can participate. Sign up to receive the free tool kit at this LINK  

 Boston Winter Farmers Markets
Join your neighbors at Boston's indoor winter markets and shop for locally grown vegetable, fruits, meat, fish and cheese. SNAP/EBT welcome at some markets. Fish available at some markets.
 
2012-2013 Boston Winter Markets locations -
 
- Dorchester Winter Farmers Market
 
- Egleston Farmers Market
 
- Northeastern University Farmers Market
 
- Prudential Center Farmers Market
 

Grant Opportunities 

    
All About the Fruits and Veggies" Grant
Sponsored by Jamba Juice, this program provides youth garden initiatives with $500 in gardening supplies, curriculum, soil amendments and plants to help create engaging nutrition and gardening experiences.
 
Deadline:  Feb. 18, 2013
 

NFL Grassroots Program

The goal of the NFL Grassroots Program is to provide non-profit, neighborhood-based organizations with financial and technical assistance to improve the quality, safety, and accessibility of local football fields. The NFL

Grassroots Program provides grants of up to $200,000 for capital improvement projects.

  

Deadline: March 15, 2013

 

Learn more and apply>>


 ING Run For 

Something Better 

A school-based running program designed to fight childhood obesity and improve the self-esteem, school performance, and overall well-being of children in grades K-8. The program uses activity plans created by NASPE and based on the National Standards for Physical Education to help children get off to a healthy start in life.

 

 A minimum of fifty grants of up to $2,500 will be awarded to schools to establish a running program or expand an existing one. 

 

Deadline: May 15, 2013

 

Learn more and apply>>

Social Media Connections

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Issue: 11
January 2013

Save the Date and Apply for an Award!

BPS 6th Annual Wellness Summit
Join members of the Boston Public School community as we come
together on Thursday April 25, 2013 to share knowledge and build connections to create sustainable, healthy, whole-school environments at the 6th Annual BPS Wellness Summit: Building Connections for Healthy Schools.  Multiple components contribute to making our schools healthy and conducive to learning and development. During this year's Wellness Summit, attendees will learn about the importance of building connections and gain successful strategies for collaborating with multiple stakeholders with one shared goal in mind - to actively promote the health and wellness of all BPS students.

 

A special "Excellence in School Wellness" awards ceremony will honor Boston Public schools for building connections and collaborating with multiple stakeholders to create sustainable, healthy, whole-school environments.  Winning schools that have shown innovative, collaborative, and leading approaches to wellness initiatives may receive an award of up to $2,000 for future wellness efforts.  

 

Visit the Health & Wellness website to register to attend and to download the award application.  

BPS Ranked 8th in FRAC's Annual Urban School Breakfast Report

The Food Research and Action Center annual Urban School Breakfast report was released earlier this month, ranking Boston 8th across the country in effectively reaching low income students with breakfast during the 2011-2012 school year. An average of 69.2% of the free/reduced student population throughout BPS participated in breakfast on a daily basis.This reflects a 10.9% increase from the prior year.  
 

As of the 2012-2013 school year all BPS schools offer free breakfast to their students. FNS Director Michael Peck says "With our recent 'Breakfast in the Classroom' grant we anticipate further increases in breakfast participation, and believe that we may have the opportunity to expand the grant next year."   According to the FRAC report, eating breakfast at school reduces hunger, absenteeism, tardiness and nurse visits, and improves nutrition, learning and test scores. Research has shown that offering free breakfast to the whole student population increases all students' likelihood of eating a nutritionally substantive breakfast, regardless of income. Increasing school breakfast participation is an important strategy to a district committed to reducing obesity and improving student health and achievement.

 

Boston Public Schools is working closely with public health agencies, school nurses, and others to provide information to families and staff about simple ways to help students reduce their risk of contracting the flu.

"School nurses have been vigilant in encouraging both staff and students to get flu shots this year. As a result we have not seen a large increase in flu in students. Many schools held their own flu clinics. This is the ideal opportunity to emphasize the importance of proper hand washing for both students and staff.  It was recently released that hand sanitizers do not combat the Norovirus, which is a stomach flu, and only soap and water was effective in combating the most recent strain that causes GI symptoms." says Health Services Assistant Director, Maureen Starck.

 

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that all children 6 months through 18 years of age be vaccinated against the flu every year. 

Vaccinations can be obtained through your family doctor or at a neighborhood health center, among other locations.To find a list of free flu shot clinics, please click here.

 

More information is available at the Mayor's Health Line at (617) 534-5050 or bphc.org and additional documents and links available here on the BPS website provide valuable information about the flu, including helpful strategies for reducing health risks.

Family Wellness Celebrated at the Blackstone

On January 25th, 2013, The Blackstone Elementary School hosted its first ever "Family Wellness Night".  The event was sponsored by the Blackstone Wellness Committee, which is chaired by Anne Greenwald, School Nurse. The goals for the night included increasing nutrition education for families, exposing families to physical activity, building community with Blackstone students and parents, and introducing families to the School Based Health Center.  There was a delicious healthy dinner, games, Zumba, Dance, Yoga, and adaptive bowling, Students planted their own to-go herb gardens and won wonderful raffle prizes (3 bikes, Celtics tickets, 2 signed baseballs, food baskets, and sports packs) which were donated by members of the committee and community partners.  Wally, the Red Sox Mascot, was also there to celebrate wellness, and take pictures with the kids!  With the largest turn out of any family night thus far (over 80 families attended) the night was a huge success!!

Heart-Healthy Valentine's Day

Greetings from the Health and Wellness Department. Congratulations on a wonderful school year thus far. Valentine's Day usually comes with cheerful celebrations. As you plan school festivities, please remember both Boston Public Schools Policy and Massachusetts State Law.  The
District's policy identifies nutrition guidelines for foods sold or provided to students at all school-sponsored events, including fundraisers, classroom parties, and food as reward. All foods sold to students cannot compete with the School Meals Program.

 

Aim for a healthier Valentine's Day celebrations and check out this Valentine's Day Celebration Ideas sheet for some fun and healthy ways to celebrate. For more resources, check out the Smart Choices Toolkit. It lists over 40 fundraisers and 30 alternative celebrations.

 

If you think there might be a policy-related issue at your school, we encourage you to first contact your school leader with your concern. We also have a confidential Smart Choices Observation Report available on the Health & Wellness website.   

 

Thank you for making the healthy choice the easy choice at school. 

 A recent edition of Sunday's Boston Globe Magazine featured an article about a group of folks who are coming together to discuss how to fix the food children eat at school.  This group, known as the Let's Talk About Food, is a diverse group of practitioners from various organizations such as Project BreadCooking Matters, and the Greater Boston Food Bank as well as chefs and pediatritians and folks from school food service, management consulting, marketing, media and business sectors.The article highlights BPS Food and Nutrition Services Director Michael Peck and the success of Boston Public Schools universal-free breakfast program as an example of how school food can greatly impact what kids are eating each day.

 

Together this group has come up with a few ideas about how they might be able to fix school food.

 

Continue reading on Food & Nutrition Services School Lunch Boston blog>>

 

To view the full article check out the Boston Globe website>> 

Stress-less Staff Wellness Series 

Back by popular demand, the Health & Wellness Department is pleased to offer the Zen Connect Stress-less series to BPS staff for a second time. This time the series will take place at 26 Court Street. The classes will be offered mid-day and the series is packed with an array of stress-busting techniques to help you go through your workweek with a little more ease.

Classes:
Mind the Moment: Mindfulness Training, Thursday, Feb. 7, 12-1 p.m.
Chill Out and Stretch: At Your Desk Stretches, Wednesday Feb. 13, 12-1 p.m.
Taking Care of Yourself: Stress Reduction Workshop: Thursday, Feb. 21, 12-1 p.m.
Mindful Flow: Vinyasa Yoga, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 12-1 p.m.

Location: 26 Court Street Winter Chambers, 1st Floor. For class descriptions go to Zen Connect

Click here to register to attend>>