Online Resources for Schools

School Policy and Environment

Health.e.school.org - nutrition, health and fitness resources for teachers. http://www.healtheschool.org.uk/primary/nutrition.htm 

Spot the Block - a program for tweens on using the nutrition facts label. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/spotov.html

Nutrition Explorations - a National Dairy Council website with fun and easy ways to learn and teach nutrition.
http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/index.asp

Class Moves is a packet program that gives ideas about exercising in the classroom.
http://www.healtheschool.org.uk/primary/class_moves.htm

We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition) is a national program designed as a one-stop resource for parents and caregivers interested in practical tools to help children 8-13 years old stay at a healthy weight. Tips and fun activities focus on three critical behaviors: improved food choices, increased physical activity and reduced screen time. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/

Constructive Classroom Rewards - The Center for Science in the Public Interest suggests rewarding students in the classroom need not involve pizza parties, candy and other foods that undermine children's diets and health and reinforce unhealthy eating habits. This site provides some suggestions for alternative rewards.
http://www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/constructive_rewards.pdf.

Fitness and Academic Achievement - When looking at the relationship between test scores and physical fitness, the California Dept of Education reported a strong positive relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement. The relationship between fitness and achievement was stronger for females than for males and stronger for higher socioeconomic status students than for lower socioeconomic students.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/pf/documents/2004pftresults.doc

National Association School Boards of Education provides a variety of resources for school administration related to policy development.
http://www.nasbe.org

National School Boards Association helps school policymakers and educators make informed decisions about health issues affecting the academic achievement and healthy development of students and the effective operation of schools.
http://www.nsba.org/MainMenu/SchoolHealth.aspx

Changing the Scene: Improving the School Nutrition Environment is a tool kit that addresses the entire school nutrition environment.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources/changing.html

How You Can Take Action - Developed by Action for Healthy Kids, these recommendations offer ways parents, school personnel, and others can take action to improve children's nutrition and physical activity in the education environment.
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org

School Health Index - The CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health has released a new online version of the School Health Index: A Self-Assessment and Planning Guide (SHI). The SHI allows schools to assess their policies and programs in relation to physical activity and physical education, healthy eating, tobacco use prevention, and unintentional injury & violence prevention. Elementary, middle, and high schools can all use this guide to create their own reports confidentiality. This tool is free and is available in both online and print formats.
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/shi/default.aspx

School Physical Activity

National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) - provides schools with standards for physical education programs.
http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/

CDC Guidelines for School and Community Programs to Promote Lifelong Physical Activity Among Young People
ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Publications/mmwr/rr/rr4606.pdf

Physical Activity Recommendations - America needs to make changes to ensure all school-age children get 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day, concluded a 13-member panel of health leaders in the June issue of The Journal of Pediatrics. "Both physical education and recess afford opportunities to achieve the daily physical activity goal without any evidence of compromising academic performance.

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) - provides training and support for physical education and health education professionals.
http://www.aahperd.org/aahperd/

President's Council for Physical Fitness and Sports - coordinates and promotes opportunities in physical activity, fitness, and sports for all Americans.
http://www.fitness.gov/

CDC KidsWalk-to-School - a guide that encourages individuals and organizations to work together to identify and create safe walking routes to school.
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/kidswalk/index.htm

Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/sgr.htm

South Dakota Office of Coordinated School Health
http://doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/index.asp

Jump Rope for Kids - An educational fund-raising event for grades K-5 that teaches students the benefits of physical activity, how to keep their heart healthy, and that they can help save lives right in their own community. Register for the event and the American Heart Association will send you everything you need to conduct it.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=924

Hoops for Heart - Gives kids the opportunity to work on basketball skills and play exciting skills games such as Hot-Shot Blitz, Top Gun, and Quick Hands. Program can be implemented in all grades, K-12. It also funds critical research and educational programs that fight heart disease and stroke while bringing students together for a good cause - physical activity and community service. Register for the event and the American Heart Association will send you everything you need to conduct it.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2264

HeartPower! - One of the best resources on the Internet! All resources are downloadable and printable, and best of all, they're free. HeartPower! Online is the American Heart Association's curriculum-based program for teaching about the heart and how to keep it healthy for a lifetime. Nutrition, physical activity, living tobacco-free, and knowing how the heart works all are vital in maintaining a healthy heart.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3003357

Powerline - Connecting you to the Eat Smart, Play Hard campaign
http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhardeducators/userfiles/File/9915_powerline_bro_FA.pdf

Free Wellness Activation Kit for your school - The National Dairy Council ® and the National Football League ® offer schools free Wellness Activation Kits to help students make positive changes in their eating and exercise habits. Kit includes display pieces for use throughout school and kid-centric nutrition and “Play 60” messages. There are also online tools. Targeted at elementary and middle schools though any school may order a kit.
http://www.midwestdairy.com/pages/index.cfm?TREE_ID=520

Stand up (more) & Eat (better) website - an educational and participatory site to help people balance the calories they eat with the calories they burn each day by making active living and healthy eating choices.
http://dev.standupandeat.org/

Health and Human Services Announces Physical Activity Guidelines - get the information!

School Nutrition

Action for Healthy Kids is a coalition of many national organizations trying to improve the school nutrition environment. The group also includes a South Dakota state team.
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org

CDC Fruits and Vegetables of the Month - Recipes, nutrient fact labels, great photos, and interesting facts and preparation information. This could be used for bulletin boards as well. http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/month/cactus.html.

Fruit and Vegetable Galore Book has window clings for sneeze guards, posters,and tips for food service on how to prepare and market fruits and vegetables to students. It is a free tool kit to schools.
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/fv_galore.html

Health Occupations for Today and Tomorrow (HOTT) lesson plans - Are you looking for FREE, standardized lesson plans, games and activities for a variety of subject areas and for grade levels kindergarten through 12th grade? Do you want to ensure a rewarding and guaranteed career for your students? South Dakota’s health care industry is projected to need nearly 13,000 jobs by 2014 – an increase of nearly 30% from 2004 to 2014. The South Dakota Departments of Education, Health, Labor and the Board of Regents have been working collaboratively to address the critical need for healthcare workers in the state. Health Occupations for Today and Tomorrow (HOTT) was created to increase students’ awareness of the wide variety of health careers available to them. Visit www.sdjobs.org/sdhott for valuable information as well as a wide variety of prepared, standardized lesson plans and activities. Check out this example of one on nutrition and physical activity.

Midwest Dairy Council has research-based materials for schools and free educational materials.
http://www.midwestdairy.com/pages/index.cfm?TREE_ID=392

Pennsylvania State Fruit and Vegetable Promotion - Downloadable resources that schools can use to promote fruits and veggies including bulletin boards, newsletters, bookmarks, student activity sheets, etc. http://panen.psu.edu/snap/index.html, then click on the fruit or vegetable of the month to access all the great resources.

South Dakota Team Nutrition - Lots of information and curriculum appropriate for South Dakota.
http://doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/nutrition/index.asp

USDA's Team Nutrition contains information for school meal programs, classrooms, and communities.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/

USDA Healthier US Schools Challenge
http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/HealthierUS/index.html

Powerline - Connecting you to the Eat Smart, Play Hard campaign
http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhardeducators/userfiles/File/9915_powerline_bro_FA.pdf

Free Wellness Activation Kit for your school - The National Dairy Council ® and the National Football League ® offer schools free Wellness Activation Kits to help students make positive changes in their eating and exercise habits. Kit includes display pieces for use throughout school and kid-centric nutrition and “Play 60” messages. There are also online tools. Targeted at elementary and middle schools though any school may order a kit.
http://www.midwestdairy.com/pages/index.cfm?TREE_ID=520