Healthy Schools program

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Healthy Schools program

Health Curriculum - The Great Body Shop

Simple Tips to Stay Healthy

Fair Housing Legal Advice Line (new)

Bankruptcy basics (new)

Idaho Home Outreach Program for Empowerment (ID-HOPE)

101 Things to Do Outside in Winter

Head Lice Treatment

Flu Prevention Plan

Healthy Schools Program

We have received a federal grant to use towards training to develop healthy school programs.  This is taking an exciting direction at the school that we hope you will encourage!  So far the following are some improvements:

1. “Good Morning Starts” is a short exercises time where staff and students take turns leading five minutes of “movement” before leaving the playground for class.  We’re all having fun with this, and brain research shows that this is very important to improved learning for all ages!

2. PE – The Boys & Girls Club has partnered with our energetic kindergarten teacher, to create our new physical education sessions!  We have contracted with them to bus our students each week for a one hour visit to their facility (fields, gym, playground) with a well-trained staff member helping Elizabeth teach students skills to learn fun sports and activities.  These two adults truly understand our students and school philosophy and have such fun, upbeat attitudes that everyone’s enjoying PE now!  If you have time to help with your child’s class and are willing to actually “participate” with the activities, please let your child’s teacher know.  They would love to have some volunteers!

3. Recess/Lunch – We have increased the recess and lunch time this year as many parents requested more time for their children to play and more time for them to eat.  We feel these were healthy suggestions and see what a difference it has made for the children.  Thanks for your suggestion!

4. Friday Sack Lunches – as part of our nutrition for Healthy Schools, we are asking for you to teach your children how to pack a nutritional lunch for themselves.  We encourage you to have them learn to pack their own.

5. Snack & Stretch Time – Every day, each class takes time for a healthy snack and movement/exercise.  Please be sure to send your children healthy snacks for this break by avoiding items with sugar or caffeine.

6. Brain + Movement – Following current brain research, we are doing as many things as possible to increase brain activity to improve learning for all ages.  Teachers are being trained in specific exercises to share with students which stimulate particular areas of the brain to increase learning.  Research “Brain Gym” and “Super Brain Yoga” or the National Brain & Learning Institute if you’d like to learn more about our findings.

7. Staff Health – and last, but not least, our entire staff is determined to be good role models for the students.  They are eating healthier, exercising more and learning other health-related ideas.  The theme this year for staff is “Balance!”

Our Healthy Schools Coordinator, Elizabeth Sackman, recently was asked to present a display about our Healthy Schools Program in the Idaho Capitol's rotunda for legislators to view. She was able to visit with a variety of guests to share our creative ideas to address exercise and nutrition.

Miss Elizabeth's kindergarten class prepares their mobile gardens as part of their science/math/environment project with plans to feed students this spring and fall!

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Health Curriculum - The Great Body Shop 

The Great Body Shop is our comprehensive health, substance abuse and violence prevention program that we use in every grade level. This program helps your child learn more about his/her own body and how to take care of it. Topics include nutrition, illness prevention, drug and alcohol prevention, and safety. 

The Great Body Shop's overall goals are to facilitate the understanding of fundamental health concepts, build respect for the well-being of one's self and others, promote acceptance of personal responsibility for health enhancing behaviors, and build resiliency into the process of growth and development. 

For more information on this K-8 health curriculum, please visit:

www.TheGreatBodyShop.net

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Simple Tips to Stay Healthy

USDA Unveils New, Simple Tips to Stay Healthy, Active and Fit

MyPlate is only the first step in a multi-year effort to raise awareness and educate consumers of every age. We’ll continue working closely with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative and other stakeholders to deliver tips and information necessary to adopt healthier eating habits balanced with physical activity.

Head over to www.ChooseMyPlate.gov for information, tools, “how-to” materials about healthy eating. While you’re there, check out the interactive tools like the customizable Daily Food Plan or Food Tracker. We hope that MyPlate becomes your plate in the months and years ahead. We’d love to see what’s on your plate so snap a photo of your next meal and share with us on Twitter using the hashtag #MyPlate. 

If you missed the event today, check out this video announcing the new food icon, MyPlate:

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Fair Housing Legal Advice Line

Boise, Idaho 8/10/2011--Idaho Legal Aid has implemented a Fair Housing Legal Advice Line to address issues or questions about housing discrimination.  The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale and rental of housing based on a person’s race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, or familial status (the presence of children under the age of 18).   The Fair Housing Legal Advice Line is funded by a Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  In addition to a toll-free legal advice line, free public training opportunities and workshops are also available.  You may call the legal advice line to obtain advice and assistance regarding:. 

Click here for more information.

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Bankruptcy Basics

Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. hosts a free, monthly Bankruptcy Clinic to teach the basics of filing for bankruptcy “pro se” (on your own). Every Month at 310 N. 5th St., Boise, Idaho 83702. 

Click here for more information.

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Idaho Home Outreach Program for Empowerment

ID-HOPE assists individuals (adults) who are diagnosed with a mental illness, and who have no existing insurance (including Medicaid), meet their basic needs and improve their quality of life. 

Click here to print the Referral form.

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101 Things to Do Outside in Winter

Click here for suggestions about fun things that you can do outside with your family this winter. 

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Head Lice Treatment

 Lice are small insects which spend their entire lives living on humans. Having lice is not a sign of poor hygiene habits. Properly treated cases are no longer infectious. They are very common and all elementary schools have to deal with them.

REMEMBER: Head lice are not choosy about who they infest. ANYONE can get them. They typically cause no illness - only some inconvenience. The important thing is to treat promptly and thoroughly. Your cooperation is essential in preventing the spread of head lice.

How is it spread?

Lice spread easily by direct contact with the infested person or by sharing scarves, bed sheets, blankets, pillows, combs, or brushes with a person who has lice. Lice do not jump or fly; they only crawl. Animals do not spread human lice.

How would I know if my child has lice? 

Lice cause scalp itching. Look for the lice or their eggs on their hair where the hair comes out of the scalp. Lice are small (less than 1/8 inch long), tan-colored insects, alive and moving. They prefer the back of the scalp, behind the ears, and above the neck. The eggs (nits) are gray-white specks glued to the hair. Even if you cannot find the insects, lice must be there if the eggs are there, and treatment has not been performed.

How do I get rid of head lice?

1. Use a medication prescribed by your doctor or an over-the-counter, nonprescription product from the drug store. Follow the directions as listed on the product. 

2. Clean personal items by any of the following methods:

   • Washing in hot water and soap in a washing machine
   • Putting in a hot clothing dryer for 20 minutes
   • Dry cleaning
   • Storing in a sealed plastic bag for two weeks
   • Boiling combs, brushes, curlers, etc. for ten minutes or soaking in 2% Lysol* and water for one hour
   • Freezing for 12 hours

3. Thorough vacuuming of floors (carpeting), furniture, and cars is recommended. Insecticide sprays are not recommended.

How do I get the nits off after successful treatment?

A fine-tooth comb may be adequate. After two treatments, the removal of nits should not have any effect in preventing more lice as the eggs have either hatched or they are dead.

If you have any questions, please call your local health department office or medical provider.

*Brand names are mentioned for identification purposes only and do not constitute a health department endorsement.

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Flu Prevention Plan

Dear GCCS Parents and Guardians,

As you may know, flu and colds can be easily spread from person to person. Therefore, as part of our “Healthy Schools” program, we are taking steps to reduce the spread of flu in Garden City Community School. We want to keep the school open to students and functioning in a normal manner during any flu seasons this year. But, we need your help to do this!

We continue to teach our children about good health and how to keep themselves and their environment clean, so we hope to continue our ability to keep our school population as healthy as we have in the past!

For now we are doing everything we can to keep our school functioning as usual. Here are a few things you can do to help.

• Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub. You can set a good example by doing this yourself.
• Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve instead of the hand when a tissue is unavailable.
• Help them get plenty of sleep, fresh air and exercise!
• Know the signs and symptoms of the flu. Symptoms of the flu include fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.8 degrees Celsius or greater), cough, sore throat, a runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, and feeling very tired. Some people may also vomit or have diarrhea.
• Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever or do not have signs of fever, without using fever-reducing drugs.  Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected.
• Do not send children to school if they are sick. Any children who are determined to be sick while at school will be sent home.

For more information, visit www.flu.gov, or call 1-800-CDC-INFO for the most current information about the flu. For more information about flu in our community and what our school is doing, visit our website at www.gardencityschool.org. 

We will notify you of any additional changes to our school’s strategy to prevent the spread of flu.  

Sincerely,

Cindy Hoovel, Director

(208) 377-0011

cindy.hoovel@gardencityschool.org  

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Revised: 09/26/11