Teacher's Wellness Inservice Successful

A teacher in-service helped staff understand the value of role-modeling and taught skills for making positive fruit/veggie and physical activity choices personally and for their students.

The two hour in-service took place after school for 35 teachers, the principal and district assistant superintendent during early release days for students. The HKC HEAR-SEE-DO workshop format provided knowledge, awareness, skill building and goal setting such as:

• self assessment of personal eating and physical activity habits
• demonstration of how to incorporate fruit and vegetable messaging into existing classroom activities
• practice for building skills needed to implement healthy messages into classrooms
• using active play and brain breaks to improve learning
• implementing small consistent actions to create lasting effect for self and students

Teacher survey indicated training benefit:

• 99% felt that they would be able to make some changes in their classroom using the new information they had learned. This included incorporating more movement in the classroom and wellness themes throughout the course of the day.
• each recorded a personal wellness goal/change they would like to make for themselves
• each set a wellness goal/change they would like to make for their classroom

Feedback from the in-service has been used to provide additional classroom resources such as the healthy snack list for sharing day, activity ideas for classroom movement, and will bring a wellness component to International Day.

Williamsburg Community Health Foundation Grant, Charles City Elementary School, Charles City, VA, Kristin Massey, Physical Education Teacher

“Our primary obstacle with the in-service was finding a date and time that worked with the schedules of everyone involved. This event would not have taken place had it not been for the support of my administration. From the superintendent down to the principal; all were very supportive.”