For additional resources on these topics and others related to school health
education and services, visit the School Health Program website at
www.dshs.state.tx.us/schoolhealth
Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child
The education, public health, and school health sectors have each called for greater alignment, integration, and collaboration between education and health to improve each child’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development. Public health and education serve the same children, often in the same settings. The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) focuses on the child to align the common goals of both sectors.
The WSCC model expands on the eight elements of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) coordinated school health approach and is combined with the whole child framework. CDC and ASCD developed this expanded model—in collaboration with key leaders from the fields of health, public health, education, and school health—to strengthen a unified and collaborative approach designed to improve learning and health in our nation’s schools.
Postings and Notifications:
Texas School Health Advisory Committee – Call for Applications for Membership – Deadline: June 26, 2015
The commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) requests your assistance in identifying candidates for appointment to the Texas School Health Advisory Committee (TSHAC). The purpose of the TSHAC is to provide assistance to the State Health Services Council in establishing a leadership role for DSHS in support for and delivery of coordinated school health programs and school health services. The responsibilities of the TSHAC are stated in the rules, which have been posted on the TSHAC website at www.dshs.state.tx.us/schoolhealth/shadvise.shtm. Thirteen positions are open to applicants that qualify in the following categories: Parent (3), Registered Nurse (1), Health Educator (1), Physical Educator (1), School Nutritionist (1), School Counselor (1), School Administrator/Superintendent/School board (2) and Agency/Organization (3). These are 4-year terms beginning July 1, 2016. For the application and instruction letter, go to http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/schoolhealth/. For questions, contact Ellen Smith or 512-776-2140.
2015 Awards for Excellence in Texas School Health – Call for Applications
Deadline to apply: April 27, 2015
The AFE program awardsapproximately $13,500.00 in CASH prizes to schools and districts that implement effective school health programs to improve the lifelong physical, mental and social well-being of students, staff and the greater school community.Sponsored by the Texas Department of State Health Services, School Health Program and funded by the Texas Health Institute and the Texas Pediatric Society Foundation, thisinitiative, now in its 26th year,grants programs just getting started with seed money and recognizes andrewards existing, successful programs and
those that have made improvements or expansions to programs awarded in the past. To learn more and to access an application and instructions, go to www.dshs.state.tx.us/schoolhealth/awards.shtmor contact Ellen Smith at or 512-776-2140.
Get Cooking with the Kids! 4th Annual Healthy Lunchtime Challenge – Deadline: April 30, 2015
Kids 8-12 years old are invited to join a parent or guardian in creating an original MyPlate-inspired recipe that is healthy, tasty, and affordable. The top recipe from each U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia will be selected, and the chef who created it, along with a parent or guardian, will have the opportunity to attend a Kids’ “State Dinner” at the White House this summer where a selection of the top recipes will be served. For more information, go to www.pbs.org/parents/lunchtimechallenge/home.
Webinars, Conferences, Trainings, and Professional Development:
DSHS and TAHPERD Quality PE and Recess Webinar Series Now Available on YouTube
Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (TAHPERD) are offering a second chance viewing of the two-part webinar series on quality physical education and recess. Part 1 – Daily Physical Education and Recess as a Platform for Classroom Learning is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gw9HBsy-eU&list=UU_yTc4ZdFd4-NGKaTzDM1zw. Part 2 – Administrators Showcase: Implementation Strategies for Daily Recesses is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCKqp3OzEb0&list=UU_yTc4ZdFd4-NGKaTzDM1zw.
Global Community Engagement for K-12 Students: Lessons from Greenleaf – April 22, 2015, 3-4:00PM CDT In this webinar, learn about the free Greenleaf Program, an online virtual community with students halfway around the world that will give students insight into children and culture. Each participating Greenleaf classroom in the U.S. is paired with a classroom in China. The program is entirely free for U.S. teachers and includes bilingual support, the classroom matching service, an online platform, and curriculum. The presenter will be speaking about why understanding a larger community helps broaden students' perspectives of other people and cultures, and what important and deep lessons are learned when they get to know students in China who are learning along with them. Register at www.instantpresenter.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=ED57DC85894D.
Policy Matters: Building a Family Engagement System – April 24, 2015, 1-2:15PM CDT
Family engagement is a strategy that seeks to address the effects of social and economic inequality on student learning. As a key element in a system, family engagement is embedded in a number of organizational processes, including leadership, teaching and learning, professional development, resource allocation, and data management for continuous improvement and accountability. The Harvard Family Research Project presents a webinar featuring policy efforts at system building, including the Race to the Top -- Early Learning Challenge grant and the U.S. Department of Education's Family and Community Engagement Framework. To register, go to: http://hfrp-april2015.eventzilla.net/web/event?eventid=2139069678.
Bullying Gets Under Your Skin: Effects of Bullying on Children and Youth – April 27, 2015, 2-3:00PM EDT
This webinar, sponsored by the Children’s Safety Network, explores the relation between being bullied and subsequent mental and physical health problems, such as depression and poorer immune function. To register go to https://events-na1.adobeconnect.com/content/connect.
Physical Environment:
Few High-School Coaches Implement Injury-Prevention Programs
A survey of injury-prevention programs at 15 high schools in Oregon revealed that only six of the 66 head basketball and soccer coaches polled implemented the programs as designed, while 14 used one of the programs with their team. The findings, published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, also showed that those who did not implement the programs found them too difficult to do so or incompatible with the team's needs. Read about it at http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/08/us-teens-coaches-injury-prevention-idUSKBN0MZ1W720150408.
Fatal Crashes Involving Teen Drivers Decline Sharply in U.S
The number of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes dropped by more than half over the past decade as safer vehicles hit the road and more young people received restricted licenses, a U.S. report finds. Read about it at http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/08/us-health-teens-drivers-crashes-idUSKBN0MZ21020150408.
EPA’s Assessment Tool on the Environment, Healthy SEAT
The Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool (HealthySEATv2) is designed to be customized and used by district-level staff to conduct completely voluntary self-assessments of their school (and other) facilities and to track and manage information on environmental conditions school by school. In addition to software that can be used by districts to track any facility issues it chooses, EPA has also included critical elements of all of its regulatory and voluntary programs for schools, as well as web links to more detailed information. Districts and others can download HealthySEATv2 at no cost from the EPA web site at www.epa.gov/schools/guidelinestools/healthySEAT.
Study Evaluates Children's Pedestrian Safety
Researchers studied 139 children and their parents who participated in a virtual street-crossing experiment. Researchers found that children ages 7 to 9 crossed the street when an approaching car was almost 2.95 seconds away and children 10 to 12 allowed a 3.03-second gap before walking into traffic; their parents thought they would allow a gap of 4.19 seconds and 3.85 seconds, respectively. The findings, published in the journal Injury Prevention, indicate pedestrian safety lessons should be taught at an early age, especially for children who live in cities, researchers said. Read about it at http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/10/us-safety-children-streets-idUSKBN0N11H820150410.
Is Lead Exposure Affecting Students' Learning?
Reducing lead exposure among students in Massachusetts has resulted in academic gains, according to a recent study published in the Harvard Educational Review. Researcher Jessica Wolpaw Reyes says lead exposure can result in behavioral issues and reduced IQ. Read more at http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2015/04/14/398314591/if-walls-could-talk-what-lead-is-doing-to-our-students.
Social and Emotional Climate:
NCLB Proposal Maintains Rules for Students with Disabilities
The U.S. Senate education committee this week published a proposed rewrite for No Child Left Behind. The proposal retains two rules concerning students with disabilities, including a limit on how many students can take less-rigorous tests. An earlier proposal lifted the testing cap, causing concern among some disability advocates. Read about it at http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/04/08/senate-retains-testing-cap/20200/.
Bullying among Disabled Students Reduced after Social-Emotional Learning Program
According to a new three-year study led by a researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne, instances of bullying decreased by 20 percent among students with disabilities after they participated in a social and emotional learning program. Read the article at http://psychcentral.com/news/2015/04/06/bullying-among-disabled-students-reduced-after-social-emotional-learning-program/.
Physical Education and Physical Activity:
Physical Education Designated as 'Core Academic Subject' in Proposed ESEA Rewrite
Senators. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, and Patty Murray, D-Washington, unveiled a bipartisan rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Of note to the youth-sports community: The bill designates physical education as a "core academic subject," lumping it in with English, science, math, and history, among other subjects. That marks a change from Senator Alexander's original draft billand the current version of the law, which left physical education off the list of core academic subjects. Read more with free subscription at http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/schooled_in_sports/2015/04/proposed_esea_rewrite_designates_phys_ed_as_core_academic_subject.html.
Young Pitchers Often Pressured to Play Despite Pain
Young baseball players feel pressure from parents or coaches to continue playing despite arm pain, and many parents are unaware of guidelines to reduce injury risk, a pair of recent studies found. Read the article at http://consumer.healthday.com/fitness-information-14/baseball-or-softball-health-news-240/young-pitchers-often-pressured-to-play-despite-pain-study-says-697197.html.
Health Education:
More Teens Using Long-Term Contraception
Nationally, the use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), specifically intrauterine devices and implants, by teens remains low, despite their effectiveness, safety, and ease of use. Although use of LARC by teens remains low nationwide, efforts to improve access to LARC among teens seeking contraception at Title X service sites have increased use of these methods. Read the report at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6413a6.htm?s_cid=mmmm6413a6_w.
Spotlight: Tools for Teaching Students about Parenthood
It's unclear whether school programs that teach sex education using baby simulators are effective, researchers have found. This article explores the history and current iteration of such programs, including a version in which students are asked to care for an egg as if it were a baby. Read more at http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2015/04/09/398074310/the-egg-baby-project-a-lesson-in-sex-education.
Family Engagement:
Study: Family Stressors May Raise Obesity Risk for Teens
Teens who experience family stress, such as a mother's poor health, financial problems and family disruption, may be at an increased risk of being obese or overweight, researchers wrote in Preventive Medicine. Financial problems and family disruption were associated with overweight or obesity in girls by the time they turned 18, while a mother's poor health was linked to overweight or obesity in boys by the time they turned 18. Read more at http://consumer.healthday.com/public-health-information-30/family-health-news-749/family-stress-linked-to-teen-obesity-in-study-698189.html.
Study Finds Young Military Children Have Lower Vaccination Rates
A study in Pediatrics found that 28 percent of 3,421 children younger than 3 whose parents were in the military were not updated on their recommended vaccinations, compared with 21 percent of other children. Researchers also found that the child's age, mother's education and frequent relocation were linked to lower vaccination rates. Read about it at http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/13/us-military-kids-vaccinations-idUSKBN0N41SR20150413.
New Website Toolbox Available for Parents of Teen Drivers from New Hampshire
This website provides statistics and facts about teen drivers and their likelihood of getting in a motor vehicle crash, as well as steps parents can take to prevent this. See the website at http://nhparentsofteendrivers.com/.
Counseling, Psychological, and Social Services:
Schools Prepare for Second Wave of Unaccompanied Minors
Schools are being advised by the Migration Policy Institute to expect a second wave of unaccompanied minors. An analysis by the institute estimates that as many as 39,000 such children are expected to enter the U.S., the second-highest number since 2008. Read more at http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/report-more-unaccompanied-minors-on-the-way-into-u-s-1.10218313.
Adolescent Drug Testing Policies in Schools
School-based drug testing is a controversial approach to preventing substance use by students. Although school drug testing has hypothetical benefits, and studies have noted modest reductions in self-reported student drug use, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) opposes widespread implementation of these programs because of the lack of solid evidence for their effectiveness. To read the AAP policy statement, go to http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2015/03/25/peds.2015-0054.full.pdf+html.
Strategies to Help Schools Curb Dropouts
Some high schools continue to report low graduation rates, despite a national trend of rising graduation rates, a recent report stated. This article highlights three successful turnaround methods that schools have used to help curb dropouts. Read the blog at http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2015/04/13/3-turnaround-tips-for-high-schools-with-low-graduation-rates.
Few Teens Who Tried E-Cigarettes Become Regular Users
Researchers looked at more than 10,000 children ages 10 to 16 from Wales and found that only 1.5 percent of those 11 to 16 used e-cigarettes at least once a month. The findings, published in BMJ Open, revealed that almost 6 percent of children between ages 10 and 11, and about 12 percent of those 11 to 16 had tried e-cigarettes. Read more at http://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/adolescents-and-teen-health-news-719/around-10-percent-of-teens-and-children-may-try-e-cigarettes-study-reports-698403.html.
Quote to Note:
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
Aristotle, Greek philosopher
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The articles and external links to other sites appearing in the Friday Beat are intended to be informational and do not represent an endorsement by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). The sites also may not be accessible to people with disabilities. External email links are provided to you as a courtesy. Please be advised that you are not emailing the DSHS and DSHS policies do not apply should you choose to correspond. For information about any of the programs listed, contact the sponsoring organization directly. For comments or questions about the Friday Beat, contact Ellen Smith at (512) 776- 2140 or by email at . Copyright-free. Permission granted to forward or make copies as needed.
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