WELLNESS CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

2008-2009

Wellness is an integrated curriculum combining aspects of both traditional health classes with physical education, initiative games, fitness skills and other mind-body connection skills. The goals of the Wellness program developed by members of the Parker community are: to develop and nurture resilience; to foster and promote healthy decision-making and action; and to enhance personal and social responsibility among all Parker community members.  The Wellness program provides an integrated and experiential curriculum for all Parker students that engages, challenges, and supports students across all divisions (grades 7 – 12). 

The Division I and II Wellness curriculum for the 2008-2009 school year at the Parker School will consist of three separate health units exploring violence prevention, substance use/abuse and sexuality.  This curriculum will include a minimum of one or two health classes weekly as well physical activity and movement classes throughout the rest of the week.  While the curriculum is similar for all students each year, the level of autonomy, initiative, and complexity of student work increases as a student advances from Division I to Division II and then onto Division III. 

This program is centered on implementing curriculum that helps students to develop specific skills as defined by National Health Education Standards: accessing information, self-management, internal and external influences, interpersonal communication, decision-making and goal setting, and advocacy (Joint Committee on National Health Education Standards, 1995).  These constitute the Wellness Criteria for Excellence, which can be found on the Parker website under the Wellness link.

Throughout the year, selected physical activity and movement classes are conducted with the goals of increasing fitness levels, introducing the concept of ‘friendly competition’ and encouraging kids to play and play well together.  These activities range from group problem solving initiatives to team handball, capture the flag, cross-country skiing, sledding, and ping pong.  More traditional competitive games such as soccer, basketball, softball, ultimate Frisbee, floor hockey and touch football are also offered.  Individual challenges through track and field activities, rock-climbing, yoga, tai chi, power walking, low rope elements and climbing wall activities are also integrated into the Wellness program.  A major component of our program focuses on the development and maintenance of healthy fitness levels for the individual student.  We utilize the Fitnessgram and are working to have students track their own progress towards healthy zones in flexibility, muscular strength and cardiovascular fitness. 

Students are assessed using the Wellness Criteria for Excellence in addition to criteria for satisfactory completion of Wellness.  Assessments are generally based on in-class work, including group participation, demonstration of learning in class activities, individual exhibitions of health behaviors and a unit project.  Students in Division I and II receive narrative progress reports, mid-year and year-end assessments completed by their Wellness teacher as they do in other areas of learning at the school.

Wellness Staff:

Deborah Chamberlain, Division II Wellness                      dchamberlain@parker.org

Alan Laubenstein, Division I and II Wellness                     alaubenstein@parker.org

Laura Warner, Division I Wellness                                   lauraw@parker.org

 

Unit I:  Violence Prevention

(September-December)

Skill areas addressed:  Interpersonal Communication and Internal/External Resources

Objectives:

The foundation of the violence prevention unit involves teaching students skills and methods to prevent and avoid violence, while recognizing the contributions that individuals can make to violence prevention through good choices, acknowledging the rights of others and living peacefully.  Division I curriculum will focus on friendships, cliques, bullying in all forms, harassment, and media influences (to include video games and music.)  Division II curriculum focuses on how external influences shape how men/boys and women/girls act, and how the popular culture supports behavior that may lead to violence.  Students will learn to identify the social and emotional consequences of harassment, define intolerance and explain how it can contribute to violence, and describe the power of each individual in reducing violence and identify situations where individuals can become active about violence prevention

Reference texts:

Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR) Conflict Resolution Curriculum

“Owning Up” curriculum, by Empower including “Tough Guise” video from the Media Education Foundation

Assessment for Division I:  Students will complete journal assignments each day of class, and the unit will conclude with a reflective writing assignment focused on personal experiences with bullying, harassment, peace-making,

Assessment for Division II:  Students will design an artistic expression piece that will develop a message that reflects the external influences that shape what boys/men and girls/women are expected to act like in order to gain status from their peers, and how the popular culture supports behavior that may lead to violence.

Unit II:  Substance Use/Abuse

(December – March)

Skill areas addressed:  Health Advocacy and Accessing Information

Objectives:

Students will use critical thinking, decision-making skills and open dialoguing to begin to formulate their own values around teen substance use, and to understand the risks associated with their use.   Content will include results from the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey for Massachusetts’ youth as conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, research-based information on various aspects of drug abuse and addiction, including neurobiology, behavioral components, and treatment.  Division I and II will have slightly different units based on developmental needs. Division II students will use the book Smashed: A Story of a Drunken Childhood, as a spring board for discussions around choices, peer pressure, the physiological and emotional affects of alcohol, and then relate it to other substance use.

From Amazon.com:  “Eye- opening and utterly gripping, Koren Zailckas's story is that of thousands of girls like her who are not alcoholics-yet-but who routinely use booze as a shortcut to courage and a stand-in for good judgment. With one stiff sip of Southern Comfort at the age of fourteen, Zailckas is initiated into the world of drinking. From then on, she will drink faithfully, fanatically. In high school, her experimentation will lead to a stomach pumping. In college, her excess will give way to a pattern of self-poisoning that will grow more destructive each year. Smashed is a sober look at how she got there and, after years of blackouts and smashups, what it took for her to realize she had to stop drinking.”

Division I students will have a more general overview of addictive substances, focusing on preventing their use by understanding the consequences.   We will pursue the questions, “What do you advocate for with teen drug, alcohol, and/or tobacco use? Are you at risk? Where can you find valid information and/or help for teens with substance issues?

Assessment for Division I:   TBA

Assessment for Division II:  Informational Brochure—students will assemble and publish an informational brochure about resources for preventing or treating substance addiction, that includes lists of local health assistance and information resources, with descriptions of their services. 

Unit III:  Sexuality

(March-June)

Skill areas addressed:  Decision-Making and Self Management

Objectives:

At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate the ability to utilize various strategies when making decisions related to their sexual health
  • Analyze how their decisions may be influenced by individual, family and community values
  • Predict the consequences of their decisions
  • Identify responsible sexual health behaviors
  • Understand and analyze what constitutes a healthy relationship
  • Identify their own personal needs and values around sexuality
  • Demonstrate ways to avoid and reduce threatening situations

Reference: Get Real Curriculum from Planned Parenthood

The sexuality unit is designed to provide young adults with the information, resources, critical-thinking and decision-making skills necessary to take the personal responsibility to make healthy decisions for themselves.  Throughout the unit, students will explore topics of intimacy, sexual feelings, the spectrum of sexual activities, abstinence, safer sex, sexual orientation, reproductive anatomy, pregnancy and STI/HIV prevention.  All topics will be addressed with the understanding that sexual expression is only emotionally and physically safe in the context of intimate, respectful, committed and communicative relationships.  In this unit we will also explore how media, family, intimate partners, peers and spirituality/religion influence personal decisions and how we can avoid or reduce potentially threatening situations by good communication skills. 

We ask students to reflect on their own and their family’s sexual values by completing a family interview at the start of the unit.  A final project will be completed to assess the skill area of decision-making and/or interpersonal communication.  Parent(s) and guardian(s) will be provided with a copy of the curriculum upon request.

Chapter 71: Section 32A. Sex education; policy regarding notice to parents, exception

Every city, town, regional school district or vocational school district implementing or maintaining curriculum which primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality issues shall adopt a policy ensuring parental/guardian notification. Such policy shall afford parents or guardians the flexibility to exempt their children from any portion of said curriculum through written notification to the school principal. No child so exempted shall be penalized by reason of such exemption.

PARKER SCHOOL CRITERIA FOR EXCELLENCE IN WELLNESS

SELF-MANAGEMENT

  • You identify responsible health behaviors.
  • You identify your personal health needs.
  • You compare your behaviors that are safe to those that are risky or harmful.
  • You demonstrate strategies to improve or maintain your personal health.
  • You develop injury prevention and management strategies for your personal health.
  • You demonstrate ways to avoid and reduce threatening situations.
  • You apply skills to manage stress.

 

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

  • You demonstrate effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills to enhance health.
  • You demonstrate healthy ways to express needs, wants and feelings.
  • You demonstrate ways to communicate care, consideration, and respect of self and others.
  • You demonstrate communication skills to build and maintain healthy relationships.
  • You demonstrate refusal, negotiation, and collaboration skills to manage conflict in healthy ways.

 

ACCESSING INFORMATION

  • You evaluate the validity of health information, products and services.
  • You demonstrate the ability to utilize resources from home, school, and community that provide valid health information.
  • You analyze how media influences the selection of health information and products.
  • You demonstrate the ability to access school and community health services for self and others.

 

DECISION-MAKING and GOAL SETTING

  • You demonstrate the ability to utilize various strategies when making decisions related to health needs.
  • You analyze how health-related decisions are influenced by individuals, family and community values.
  • You predict how decisions regarding health behaviors have consequences for self and others.
  • You implement strategies and skills needed to attain personal health goals.
  • You evaluate progress toward achieving personal health goals.

 

HEALTH ADVOCACY

  • You evaluate the effectiveness of communication methods for accurately expressing health information and ideas.
  • You express information and opinions about health issues.
  • You utilize strategies to overcome barriers when communicating information, ideas, feelings, and opinions about health issues.
  • You demonstrate the ability to influence and support others in making positive health choices.
  • You demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively when advocating for healthy communities.
  • You demonstrate the ability to adapt health messages and communication techniques to your audience.

 

INTERNAL and EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

  • You describe the influence of cultural beliefs on health behaviors and the use of health services.
  • You analyze how messages from media and other sources influence health behaviors.
  • You analyze the influence of technology on personal and family health.
  • You analyze how information from your peers and your community influences health.

 

PHYSICAL FITNESS and MOVEMENT

  • You participate regularly in physical activity and movement.
  • You achieve and maintain a personal health-enhancing level of physical fitness.
  • You exhibit responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical activity settings.
  • You demonstrate competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities to maintain your personal health.