A Healthy Curriculum
Zelenna Vasquez
PPE 310
G. Gerbic
Running Head: HEALTHY WELLNESS AND YOU 2
OVERVIEW
Defining Health
What does it mean to be healthy? Being healthy, to me means that I am waking up in the morning ready
to use my stored energy to get my day started. Its making health conscious choices when eating
breakfast and snacking at work. It also means that I make health conscious decisions towards the daily
physical activities of my day. Being healthy is a great importance to me and I believe that when we
encourage that model of thinking and promote healthy living in the workplace, then we can change the
culture of our schools, and workplace. I intend to implement a plan that will benefit the classroom and
Promoting Health
At School
More than two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of children and youth are overweight or obese.
These high rates of overweight and obesity and chronic disease have persisted for more than two
decades and come not only with increased health risks, but also at high cost. (Health, 2015-2020) The
following chart was pulled from Health.Gov representing data of the U.S. population ages 2 years and
older that are meeting the dietary guidelines measured by the healthy eating index.
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Clearly, the data shows that just over half of the U.S. population is meeting the dietary guidelines
Educational Components
Adding information and activities to promote wellness and a healthy lifestyle are a great way to
introduce a topic that is important but often misunderstood. Students often finish up their day with a
Introduction to healthy Define what healthy Student will be able to Students with
foods: foods are. identify healthy foods learning disabilities
Fruits and Write vocabulary words versus unhealthy foods. will be assisted in
vegetables Enhance with drawings Student will be able to reading words and
Junk food and coloring pages. explain why healthy definitions.
Sugar foods are better for you
How to make versus unhealthy foods
healthy choices
Physical activity Safely follow directions Learn safety tips on how Students with
Introduction to healthy by teacher to do the to do physical activities disabilities will
stretching with following poses: like stretching. modify poses by
emphasis on breathing. Half-moon Will learn about which staying close to the
Done from poses muscles and body parts ground.
interpretation of yoga Cat-Cow poses benefit from stretching. Half-moon poses can
poses. Shavasana be done sitting rather
than standing.
Instructional
assistants will stand
by to ensure students
are clear from
furniture to prevent
injury.
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Workplace
vending machines, treats in the lounge and food at meetings or events. (CCOHS, 2010)
Engagement
After the initial implementation of a wellness program, I believe that in order to avoid change fatigue,
that we use incentives to keep staff members and administration engaged and active in their new
practice. One way to do this would be to ensure that employees are internally motivated to be healthy,
but we know that they need help adopting and maintaining healthy behaviors. Small incentives like gift
cards, prized or event tickets. (Aldana, 2016) The hope here is that the active engagement in the work
environment will create a rapport that not only is evident among the student body, but reaches out to
the greater community, beginning with our students families. As educators, we stand to be the role
models of our students and creating a healthy work environment translates into teaching healthy
practices and breaking unhealthy habits that can also reach out to homes.
Recognition
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Because I already intend on using an incentive based strategy to keep encouragement and morale
evident among staff, it is no surprise that recognition will a strong component to this plan as well. The
staff is sorted into 4 groups to provide goodies for pay days every other Friday. Based on my work
assessment, the goodies that were brought in were tons of carb based products and sugary treats, and I
believe that the first meal of the day sets the tone for the rest of our food choices. I think, with support
we encourage each group to make a minimum contribution in an area that involves a nutritious food.
Instead of bringing Danishes, why not substitute for whole grain bagels and gluten free options as well.
Recognition of these choices for the team that does it more consistently will be a great addition to
incentive prizes and can help our participants attract other willing participants to do the same.
Committee
Every grade level is comprised of at least three teachers. Admin is in its own category and have groups
on their own. I mentioned that each person is sorted into a group to provide goodies on pay days. I think
a person from each grade level and admin group should create a committee committed to implementing
new activities and incentive activities. Having a committee creates a space where new ideas and
strategies can become a reality and a great place to discuss challenges, triumphs and so forth.
Marketing
redirect employers and employees back to the path on the wellness program. Its more of an
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encouragement, with aesthetic visuals and representations to remove the stress of a healthy lifestyle,
furthering the chance to reduce absenteeism, increase productivity and reduce a staff turnover. (CCOHS,
2010)
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References
Aldana, D. S. (2016, August 17). Wellness Program Incentive Ideas From The Best Corproate Wellness
program-incentive-ideas/
CCOHS. (2010, October 13). Implenting Healthy Eating Programs in the Workplace. Retrieved from
SlideShare: https://www.slideshare.net/CCOHS/implementing-healthy-eating-programs-in-the-
workplace
Health. (2015-2020). Nutrition and Health Are Closely Related. Retrieved from Health.Gov:
https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/introduction/nutrition-and-health-are-
closely-related/